Advocates for greater housing production in the Bay State are applauding a move by the state Senate to include language that calls for the creation of an affordable housing study committee in its version of the fiscal year 2001 state budget.

The language was included in the budget released by the Senate Ways & Means Committee in the middle of last month and has thus far survived on the Senate floor with only minor amendments. If included in the final budget signed by Gov. Paul Cellucci, industry leaders say recommendations put forth by the committee could spark changes in the process which builders must go through before gaining approval to construct new housing units.

“We think this is something that’s very significant,” said Edwin Shanahan, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “It’s an acknowledgement, however subtle, that the solution to the housing imbalance is to increase the supply. And it further acknowledges that there are most assuredly obstacles in the way of increasing that supply.”

Section 295 of the Senate budget states “There shall be a special commission to study regulatory obstacles to affordable housing production, including zoning and building regulation that may prevent maximum efficiency in the production of additional affordable housing for the citizens of the commonwealth.”

Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, D-Chelsea, drafted the proposal for the committee.

“We went in to see Birmingham in early March to talk about the housing problem,” said Finley H. Perry of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts. “He listened to us, and he obviously heard what we had to say.”

“The inclusion of this study commission in the Senate Ways & Means Committee’s budget is evidence of the Senate president’s commitment to solving the housing problem in Massachusetts,” said Benjamin Fierro III, legal counsel for HBAM. “If he wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t have done this.”

Industry leaders say the list of organizations chosen to provide representation on the committee is exhaustive and incorporates a variety of interests ranging from Realtors and builders to environmentalists and affordable housing advocates. Should representatives from those backgrounds come to a consensus and make recommendations, they said they would carry a lot of merit.

The committee would have no fewer than 20 members, including the chairs of the legislative joint committee on housing and urban development, the chairs of the joint committee on local affairs, and a representative from the Department of Housing and Community Development. Also included are representatives from Realtor associations, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, HBAM, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, and others.

“It’s a diverse, multifaceted partnership,” said Christopher Hardy, legislative liaison of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. “Nothing half-baked is going to come out of this committee. Everything will be considered from all angles.

“In a state like Massachusetts that is highly urbanized without a lot of open space left, it behooves us in the environmental community to join with the real estate community and work together,” he continued. “Our goal is not to prevent development, but to make sure it’s planned responsibly.”

Specific Focus
The proposal for the committee comes just months after Cellucci issued an executive order giving preference for grant funding to towns with plans in place to make housing more affordable and offered financial assistance in making those plans to towns that needed it.

It also comes weeks after political leaders were presented with more than 100,000 signatures of people who wanted housing made a top legislative priority. The signatures were collected by the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, which will also have a representative on the committee.

“What’s significant to us is the very specific focus of this commission,” Fierro said. “This will study the regulatory obstacles to housing production. In our view, that is the root cause of the housing crisis in Massachusetts.

“This is not just another study on housing in broad terms,” he continued. “There is a specific charge to be carried out in a short term.”

If the budget were passed in July, the committee would have roughly six months to meet and come up with recommendations and drafts of legislation before a deadline of Jan. 31, 2001.

“If they want something done in six months, I don’t think they’re going to see anything controversial or dramatic happen,” Perry said. “But you will see a consensus from all these groups, which can be dramatic.” Perry said he hoped the commission would focus on streamlining the overall permitting process for bringing more housing units into a community.

“We have the third highest cost of housing in the nation,” Perry said. “It’s clear that going through the regulatory process contributes dramatically to the costs of building. Because it takes so long to get through the process, and because you have to hire consultants and other sources for all that time, huge amounts are added to the costs, which is passed on to the buyer. How you pull back from that is a huge political problem.”

“This is a prime example of the Senate finally focusing in on the problem,” Shanahan said. “We’re anxious to see this type of commission formed.”

Fred Meyer, 2000 MAR president, said his organization is excited to begin working on the committee if it’s included in the budget that Cellucci signs. “It’s hard for Realtors alone to get changes made in the laws, so we’re in favor of anything that takes a look at zoning and building regulations.

“Birmingham happens to be my senator, and I know [House Speaker] Tom Finneran well, and they both have a genuine desire to increase the supply of housing. I don’t see this as being a committee that would make recommendations and just see them sent off to languish in study,” Meyer said

“I think it will be useful. We’re supportive of the study,” said CHAPA Executive Director Aaron Gornstein, who added that several other organizations, both governmental and private, are also looking at the issue of affordable housing.

“We all know what the obstacles are – a lack of funding, trouble with zoning … and community resistance,” he said.