{"id":1179,"date":"2013-08-11T14:36:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-11T14:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/real-estate\/2013\/08\/11\/10-highlights-of-an-act-promoting-the-planning-and-development-of-sustainable-communities\/"},"modified":"2021-09-20T19:42:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T19:42:40","slug":"10-highlights-of-an-act-promoting-the-planning-and-development-of-sustainable-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherin.com\/real-estate\/2013\/08\/11\/10-highlights-of-an-act-promoting-the-planning-and-development-of-sustainable-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Highlights of “An Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities”"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the support of numerous environmental, housing and planning groups (along with some municipal leaders and, most recently, The Boston Globe<\/a>), House Bill 1859 entitled \u201cAn Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities<\/a>\u201d has been referred to the Legislature\u2019s Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government.\u00a0 Introduced by Representative Stephen Kulik and Senator Daniel Wolf back in February, this bill marks an effort to overhaul 1970\u2019s era Massachusetts state laws governing municipal zoning, subdivision control, and planning. Although previous efforts at land use reform have failed to make it out of committee, this most recent iteration seems to have some momentum.<\/p>\n

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At the end of June, The Boston Globe published an editorial encouraging lawmakers to support the bill, specifically to allow communities to designate dense-growth zones with increased access to state aid would help to \u201cease Massachusetts\u2019 housing woes.\u201d\u00a0 Some municipal leaders have supported the bill, touting its potential positive impact on housing development including Winchester Town Manager Richard Howard (in the Globe article<\/a>) and Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone (see link to editorial<\/a>).\u00a0 Proponents of the bill have argued that smart growth projects like Somerville\u2019s Assembly Square development would be beneficiaries of the new bill.<\/p>\n

Developers will likely find H.B. 1859 a mixed bag.\u00a0 Proposals allowing communities to consolidate permitting for projects would no doubt be a welcome change, however, the expansion of municipalities\u2019 right to impose impact fees (mandatory payments from developers to mitigate impacts of development on municipal infrastructure) will not be viewed as desirable.<\/p>\n

Below are some highlights:<\/p>\n