Howard Cohen – Spoke for CHAPA

Saying the state’s anti-snob zoning laws were being used as a “chainsaw,” Woburn Mayor Robert Dever urged state leaders to make changes to Chapter 40B.

“What we have in Chapter 40B is a chainsaw,” Dever said. “What we need is a scalpel.”

Dever, whose city is facing two developments under the state’s Chapter 40B law that would add 750 housing units, was one of more than 20 state and local officials and developers who spoke at a state Department of Housing and Community Development hearing last week.

DHCD is considering several regulatory changes to Chapter 40B, also known as the state’s comprehensive permit law. The law allows developers to bypass local zoning rules when they plan to build developments that include housing for low- to moderate-income families in communities where less than 10 percent of the total housing stock is affordable.

DHCD is reviewing Gov. Jane Swift’s proposed changes, some of which are similar to a housing bill approved by the state House of Representatives last month. The proposals would:

• Allow communities to count homes and units for the mentally ill and mentally retarded as affordable.

• Cap developments proposed under Chapter 40B at 300 units, or 2 percent of total housing, whichever is greater.

• Enable communities to count units for low- and moderate-income people as affordable as soon as they are permitted. Currently, units are counted when they are constructed.

• Enact a “cooling-off” period that would keep developers from applying for a comprehensive permit to build on a particular site after local officials have rejected other development plans for that property for at least six months.

• Give a break to communities that have made significant progress in building affordable housing even if they have not reached the 10 percent threshold.

• Require developers to file more detailed plans and permit applications.

Several town officials, including Dever, said they support the changes largely because they believe developers are abusing the law and using it as a threat when local planning boards reject their development proposals.

“We really resent that [comprehensive permitting] process,” said Dever.

In Woburn, the city has been battling Denver-based Archstone Communities for nearly a year over a comprehensive permit application to build a 640-unit apartment complex.

Archstone applied for the comprehensive permit after the company got the “sense” that its original plan to construct 420 luxury apartments was going to be denied, said Dever.

The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals is planning to have another meeting on the issue Wednesday night.

Woburn isn’t the only city negotiating with Archstone Communities over a development proposal.

City officials in Methuen have been struggling to get a handle on an Archstone proposal to build a 430-unit apartment complex that will include apartments for low- and moderate-income people.

Methuen fire and police officials worry that the location of the apartments on a steep hill would create serious public safety issues during emergency situations. Firefighters also fear they will be unable to negotiate trucks and other equipment through the area unless wide fire lanes are created.

At the hearing last week, several town officials said the 300-unit cap was too high and not easily achievable by small communities that lack land and face environmental and infrastructure constraints.

Dan Fortier, town planner for Dennis, said his community is already at 95 percent build-out and even if the remaining 5 percent of undeveloped land was used for housing low- and moderate-income families, the small Cape Cod town still would not reach the state-set 10 percent mandate.

It would be nearly impossible for Dennis to increase its affordable housing supply unless the town gets state assistance to acquire units and convert them into affordable housing, Fortier said.

‘Targeted’ Changes
However, several people argued that the 300-unit cap was an “arbitrary number” that was too low for many larger cities that can handle the influx of more housing.

Some said the cap would further encourage communities to shut out affordable housing by pressuring homebuilders to reduce the size of their developments.

Paul E. Cusson, a real estate developer with Delphic Assoc. in New Bedford, said the changes would make the development of affordable housing more difficult.

Cusson opposed a general cap, saying such restrictions should be used on a “case-by-case basis,” with officials considering community size, land availability and the type of housing that is being proposed.

He also recommended that the lengthy permitting process be expedited by requiring local zoning boards to decide on comprehensive permit applications within a certain amount of time.

The lengthy process often increases the overall costs of development, making it difficult for builders to construct housing for low- to moderate-income households, Cusson said.

The Citizens and Housing and Planning Association, a key defender of Chapter 40B, supports the proposed regulatory changes.

Howard Cohen, president of Beacon Residential Properties, speaking on behalf of CHAPA, praised the “targeted nature” of the changes. He also said CHAPA is pleased that DHCD’s proposals do not include a measure that would permit communities to count homes where state-subsidized Section 8 voucher holders live as affordable housing.

CHAPA was one of several advocacy groups that opposed a provision in the recently passed House bill that would allow communities to count mobile homes and apartments with Section 8 tenants as affordable. Currently, only 23 out of 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts have met the 10 percent affordable housing stock goals. According to CHAPA, that number would be pushed up to 67 communities without the creation of a single new affordable housing unit if mobile homes and Section 8 tenants were included in the calculation of affordable homes.

The group argues that allowing communities to count existing units does nothing to ease the affordable housing crisis. The Senate is expected to vote on the House bill later this summer.

Alexander Whiteside, DHCD’s chief counsel, said the state department is accepting written comments about the regulatory modifications through Friday. He said DHCD has not set a deadline for deciding on the proposed changes.