Clock likely to run out on Senate’s controversial housing and zoning bill

With the 2015-16 formal legislative session set to close at the end of this month, it appears very unlikely that the House will take up a controversial zoning and housing bill that passed the Senate on June 10.
 
The Senate voted, 23-15, to approve a bill that would require cities and towns across the state to make zoning changes to create “as of right” multi-family housing districts or face legal action brought by the attorney general or builders and land developers seeking permits.
 
The bill would also require “accessory apartments” to be permitted “as of right” and would override dozens of “accessory apartment” bylaws currently in place based on special permits.
 
The bill would also subject municipal zoning codes to challenge under the state’s anti-discrimination statue.
 
The Senate bill did include specific statutory authority, supported by the MMA, for cities and towns to adopt inclusionary zoning as a way of ensuring the development of affordable housing.
 
The Senate bill would allow cities and towns to charge development impact fees to be used for studies to review a specific project and for related infrastructure improvements.
 
In order to better connect planning and zoning, cities and towns would be required to develop a comprehensive master plan, and local government would be given the option to reduce the two-thirds majority legislative vote required to make zoning changes to a simple majority or a percentage in between.
 
The Senate bill was based on legislation long in the works to modernize the state’s increasingly obsolete land use laws, including planning and zoning statutes. Earlier versions of the legislation were substantially reworked and expanded by the Senate Ways and Means Committee to add housing provisions that were originally part of separate housing-production legislation.
 
The MMA, which strongly opposed the local preemption aspects of the far-reaching Senate bill, is continuing discussions with stakeholder groups to find common ground on zoning and land use issues, which are likely to be a topic of legislation again next session.