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October 23, 2007

Local legislators testify in favor of changes to 40B

BOSTON, MA– Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), Rep. Frank Hynes (D-Marshfield), and Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham) each testified today before the Joint Committee on Housing in favor of bills altering Chapter 40B, the state’s so-called affordable housing law.

Developers who build projects under Chapter 40B are allowed to skirt local zoning and planning regulations in exchange for deeding between 20 and 25 percent of the built housing units as affordable according to state housing guidelines.

While the legislators support the need for affordable housing in their districts, they feel that Chapter 40B is not working; that the law is instead being abused by developers looking to maximize profits at the expense of the host communities.

“To me, the ‘B’ in 40B stands for ‘broken,’” said Sen. Hedlund. “Too often Chapter 40B is being abused by unscrupulous developers with little interest in actually providing affordable housing. They hijack a well-intentioned law and use it to build as many units as they can, for as much money as possible, with little regard to the impact on the town.”

Both Sen. Hedlund and Rep. Hynes have filed legislation calling for a state-wide moratorium on projects proposed under Chapter 40B.

“It has been several years since the Senate has had a chance to debate this problematic law and until we do, I don’t think its fair for the towns I represent to continue to be hammered by these projects,” Sen. Hedlund said.

In addition to the moratorium, Sen. Hedlund has also filed a bill that would require 100 percent of all housing units built under Chapter 40B be classified as “affordable,” up from the current requirement of between 20 and 25 percent.

Rep. Bradley has filed bills that would expand the definition of affordable units, require a full audit by the inspector general’s office of Chapter 40B project profit levels, and allow zoning boards of appeal to take into consideration the financial feasibility of projects.

“It is clear that 40B has not worked and has been abused,” Rep. Bradley said. “I will continue to work with Representative Hynes and Senator Hedlund to allow our communities to have more of a say on potential projects. Many developers have been using loop-holes in the 40B law to bypass local regulations and that is wrong. We must return some level of local control to communities.”

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