Report: Massachusetts zoning reform not enough to stimulate ADU production

A new Massachusetts law legalizing ADUs has not yielded as much new housing production as state officials anticipated, reports Jennifer Smith in the Commonwealth Beacon. "Massachusetts municipalities received more than 1,600 applications for accessory dwelling unit permits and issued more than 1,200 in the past year. That is a sizable increase from the few hundred ADUs constructed over the past decades through local policies, but falls short of what advocates say is needed, and short of the Healey administration’s own target of 1,600 to 2,000 units per year."

According to a report from Abundant Housing Massachusetts, complex local permitting processes and local wetlands and sewer regulations are contributing to slow growth in the ADU sector. "The report argues the permitting gap doesn’t reflect a lack of homeowner interest, but rather a regulatory system that was never designed to handle an influx of development of the small housing units across 351 cities and towns with their own set of permitting rules."

The report suggests that the state should consolidate more control over regulations to make it easier for homeowners to build ADUs. "Even if, on paper, our law is stronger than some other states, the unique aspects of local control and fragmented permitting and regulatory oversight of new housing development in Massachusetts remains a barrier to achieving the full impact of the state ADU law that many of us in the housing advocacy community seek."