Linking Smart Growth To Funding

Massachusetts' strategy to build more affordable housing "and limit sprawl is drawing little enthusiasm...

Under the new program, spelled out in Chapter 40R of the Massachusetts General Laws, cities and towns that change their zoning for more dense development in the designated areas get about $1,000 per planned housing unit and another $3,000 per unit once the housing is actually built.

Dense development is defined as eight single-family dwellings per acre, 12 two- or three-family residences per acre, or 20 apartments or condominiums per acre, all on land that is either downtown, near a town center, near transit, or on a vacant industrial site.

Once the rules for building and design are established in the districts, the local government cannot require developers to go through any further regulatory hoops, a provision added to cut red tape to achieve the goal of 30,000 new housing units statewide within 10 years."

Thanks to Jimmy Hicks