Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's administration is considering making regions responsible for minimum levels of affordable housing in Massachusetts. In a recent article published in the Boston Globe researchers are said to be skeptical of the idea.

The Boston Globe
March 12, 2003, Wednesday ,THIRD EDITION
Anthony Flint can be reached at flint@globe.com.

Researchers of a new national report are skeptical of the idea of making regions instead of individual towns responsible for minimum levels of affordable housing, a strategy Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney administration officials are considering.

"Unless local governments are under extraordinary pressure to provide opportunities for affordable housing, it won't happen," said Stuart Meck, senior research fellow at the American Planning Association, which analyzed 23 programs nationwide designed to produce affordable housing.

Douglas Foy, secretary of the new Office of Commonwealth Development, said recently that he was "intrigued" by the idea of a geographical region meeting the standard of 10 percent affordable housing, rather than every town having that goal.

Under the state's current "anti-snob zoning" law, otherwise known as Chapter 40B, residential developments that include below-market rate units get fast-tracked in communities in which less than 10 percent of the housing is classified as affordable. Governor Romney recently appointed a task force to study ways to revamp the 33-year-old law.

Chapter 40B is a classic example of a "builder's remedy," the APA report says. That is, it clears the way for the construction of more housing through a permit process that overrides local zoning, but it ultimately relies on developers to push the projects through.

"The role of state government is "passive" in this system," Meck said. "The state does not review plans or follow up, intervene aggressively in the appeals process, or withhold money to local governments that don't meet housing production goals."

As a result, little housing may actually get built because "no one is really in charge. There are limited resources for subsidies, or there are no consequences for failing to carry out plans," Meck said.

States must be tough when trying to get communities to build affordable housing because cities and towns won't do it on their own, the report concludes.

The report, "Regional Approaches to Affordable Housing," took two years to compile and is the first analysis of its kind in a decade. Its conclusions are one more indication that planners and organizations associated with the "smart growth" movement are zeroing in on the need for more housing, rather than efforts to contain growth and development.

In addition to Massachusetts, the report looks at programs and policies designed to increase housing in New Jersey, where the Mount Laurel court rulings require suburban communities to produce a "fair share" of affordable housing; regional housing trust funds in California, Ohio, Vermont, and Washington; a new incentive-based program in Minneapolis-St. Paul; housing appeal statutes in Connecticut and Rhode Island; and private-sector and nonprofit initiatives in San Francisco and Chicago.

The report is available at the planning association's website, www.planning.org.

Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company