State Court Gives Local Zoning Control Over 40B
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision yesterday that could give local zoning boards more control over affordable housing projects.
The case involves a dense housing project totaling 640 units of housing, 25 percent of which were slated to be "affordable" in the town of Woburn. The developer on the project, which was planned for a 74-acre parcel owned by Northeastern University, is Archstone-Smith of Colorado.
The project was initially permitted by the town under the condition that the scope be reduced to only 300 units, but Archstone-Smith appealed the decision. The Supreme Court sided with the town's restrictions, clearly giving zoning boards the right to take a hard look at the size and scope of affordable housing projects.
"Our decision thus allows a local board unfettered discretion to stymie the construction of an affordable housing project without actually denying it or rendering it uneconomic..." a concurring opinion by Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall states.
Affordable housing projects have been green-lighted by the state's 40-year-old 40B law, which reduces a town's ability to reject affordable housing projects until it has reached a threshold of 10 percent affordable units.
Gary S. Brackett, of the Worcester law firm Brackett & Lucas, represented the board of appeals for Woburn in the case.
To read the decision, click here.
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