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Affordable Housing In Suburbia: The Importance But Limited Power And Effectiveness Of The State Override Tool, Sam Stonefield Jan 2001

Affordable Housing In Suburbia: The Importance But Limited Power And Effectiveness Of The State Override Tool, Sam Stonefield

Faculty Scholarship

Through this Article the Author offers a brief comparative overview and critique of the four statutes explored at the Western New England College School of Law hosted conference, titled "Increasing Affordable Housing and Mobility in Three New England States and New Jersey: Comparative Perspectives on the Occasion of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Law." The Author discusses these statutes, which address such major themes as urban decline and suburban growth, racial and economic segregation, and localism versus regionalism. The four state statutes are intertwined with these themes and with other statutes and programs that have helped to …


Rural Low-Income Housing And Massachusetts Chapter 40b: A Perspective From The Zoning Board Of Appeals, Eric J. Gouvin Jan 2001

Rural Low-Income Housing And Massachusetts Chapter 40b: A Perspective From The Zoning Board Of Appeals, Eric J. Gouvin

Faculty Scholarship

The Massachusetts Low and Moderate Income Housing Act ("Act") was enacted in 1969 to promote the construction of lowincome housing in restrictively zoned Massachusetts communities. It seeks to achieve its goal by providing a builder's remedy which, in effect, overrides local zoning ordinances. The local Zoning Board of Appeals ("ZBA"), in deciding whether to issue a Comprehensive Permit under the Act, must evaluate the local and regional need for low-to moderate-income housing and weigh that need against local concerns over health, safety, design, and open space conservation. This Article examines the difficulty of applying the Act in rural towns. First, …