| The Massachusetts Smart Growth Zoning and Housing Production Statute, Chapter 40R, was signed into law in June 2004. The law allows a municipality to apply to the state's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) for a zoning overlay district that must conform to density, affordability, and permitting requirements. In return for adopting a district the municipality is eligible to receive payments from the state's Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund that are based on the increased number of housing units that can be built on the land, beyond the amount allowed through the underlying zoning.; Although the statute gives ''smart growth'' as a rationale for high-density housing, it does not provide an option for preserving open space that is far from town centers---a major principle of smart growth planning. Design standards set by the city or town can be rejected by DHCD if they are considered ''unreasonable.'' In addition, it does not require municipalities to include a mix of uses, such as retail or commercial space.; Interviews with city and town planners reveal intriguing information about the law's benefits and problems. The benefits of Chapter 40R, as described by the planners, include the affordability requirement, the ability to single out a particular parcel as a district (''spot'' zoning), limits on appeals from abutters of projects within a district, the ready-made package of zoning (especially for small planning offices), and payments from the state for adopting a district. The problems with Chapter 40R include the lack of an open space preservation mechanism, the loss of the power to require a special permit subject to site plan review for projects within a district (and therefore the loss of power to collect linkage fees from developers), the instability of the funding source for the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund, the penalty of lower state payments to municipalities that have high-density underlying zoning, and the requirement that construction must begin within three years of the passage of a zoning overlay district. Overall, Chapter 40R does not follow through on its promise to ''encourage smart growth;'' it only encourages high-density residential development. |
