House and Senate Advance Housing Bond Legislation
The House of Representatives and State Senate recently approved separate versions of a Housing Bond Bill that will allocate billions of dollars for the development of new housing as well as improvements to existing units. These bills are expected to increase housing production by an estimated 40,000 units. The House version authorizes over $6 billion in spending while the Senate’s authorization is $5.4 billion. Governor Healey estimates that Massachusetts needs a minimum of 200,000 new homes to meet the demands of its citizens.
Accessory Dwelling Units
Both bills include language that will require every community in the state to allow for the construction of accessory dwelling units as a matter of right so that the owner does not need to acquire a special permit from the local permitting authority. This provision was included in the Governor’s original version of this legislation, so she is guaranteed to sign that provision into law.
Local Option Transfer Tax
The House and Senate chose not to include a proposal advanced by Governor Healey that would have allowed individual cities and towns to adopt a local option transfer tax on the sale of homes over $1 million in value. The proceeds from the taxes would have been directed to the construction of affordable housing units. Earlier this year, Speaker Mariano voiced support for the tax but ultimately decided to oppose the measure. He argued that it might help wealthy communities with expensive homes but would not help the many lower-income communities that have very few home sales over $1 million. The Senate leadership decided to follow the lead of the House despite much more support for the measure among members of the Senate.
Expansion of MWRA Water Supplies
The House also included $1 billion in bond authorization to enable the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to expand its services into communities that currently have limited water supplies. Speaker Mariano has said the expansion of the MWRA into the Town of Weymouth would enable the construction of up to 6,000 housing units at the closed Weymouth Naval Air Station. Development of that parcel has been in the works for decades but construction has been limited due to the limited access to water services. The Senate did not include this provision in their version but it is almost certain it will be included in the final negotiated version that will be sent to the Governor for her signature.
Adjacent Lot Zoning
The Senate also included language in their bill that will allow owners of property to subdivide their land in order to create new buildable lots. Property owners will be able to subdivide an existing lot if the new lot contains 10,000 square feet and provides 75 feet of frontage. The owner will only be able to build a single-family residence that is no larger than 1,850 square feet and has no more than 3 bedrooms. The home must be occupied year-round and cannot be used for a seasonal or year-round rental. The House will need to agree to this proposal before it can be sent to the Governor.
Housing in Seasonal Communities
The Senate bill also contains several provisions that are designed to preserve year-round housing in seasonal communities. Seasonal communities are defined as those towns that have 40% or more of their housing dedicated to seasonal use or rental. The Senate proposal will allow communities to purchase deed restrictions from the owners of property that will ensure that the home will be used for year-round housing and not made available for rental. Their bill also enables communities to offer tax incentives to owners for this same purpose. Cape Cod and the 2 islands along with Berkshire County are the areas of the state that have been identified as facing the greatest shortage of year-round housing due to the high percentage of seasonal rental units.
House Passes Local-Option Sprinkler Code
The House of Representatives has passed on a voice vote and without debate, the legislation that would enable individual cities and towns to adopt a zoning ordinance to require the installation of sprinkler systems in one- and two-family homes. The House of Representatives also approved this legislation last year but the Senate did not pass this bill before the end of the formal session on July 31st. We are working together with the Home Builders Association to oppose this bill in the Senate due to the significant cost it would add to the construction of one to two-family homes.
Registry of Motor Vehicles Releases Truck Side Guard Regulations
During the last legislative session, the Governor signed a law that will require all contractors that participate in state contracts to install convex mirrors, backup cameras, and rail side guards in their delivery vehicles. The law directed the Registry of Motor Vehicles to develop regulations to further govern the administration of this new law. The MRLDA opposed the mandatory installation of side guards due to the limits they will place on servicing the side of the vehicles with forklifts. We believe the limitation imposed by those devices will make it harder to load and unload materials and will jeopardize the safety of the forklift drivers. The regulations provide for a waiver application for contractors to file with the RMV if they think the requirements will impact the safe operation of the vehicle. Each contractor will need to submit a separate waiver application. We will review the application once it is made public with the goal of providing one uniform application form for our members.