6. Should the state further incentivize the development of affordable housing in communities that have achieved 40B Safe Harbor status? If so, how?

Rick Lipof

It’s all about incentivizing affordable housing.  We need to increase the availability of state grants and subsidies for safe harbor communities, as well as tax credits to developers.  Density bonuses and streamlining the permitting process can further reduce time and costs.  Addressing concerns of new development through community engagement is a must.  Balancing state resources to ensure that both Safe Harbor and non-Safe Harbor communities can develop affordable housing is important to maintain equity.  Further incentivizing affordable housing in Massachusetts communities that have achieved 40B Safe Harbor status could help meet ongoing housing needs, promote inclusivity, and stimulate economic growth. 

Bill Humphrey

Creating a real estate transfer fee local option for municipal affordable housing trusts to collaborate with low-income housing developers would be an important step.

For municipalities that are less actively interested in that work, further inducements might be needed, either as incentives rewarding further production or as soft disincentives for stopping at the bare minimum. For example, the state might consider a greater degree of intervention into the special permit and rezoning process (as they did when abolishing some of the two-thirds majority requirements) to create a maximum timetable for review for low-income housing developers who are much more affected by prolonged current processes than market-rate developers who have less complicated funding stacks and do not use the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program as part of their financing.

I also support proposals to provide funding to renovate dilapidated public housing stock, so that we don’t lose existing affordable units.

Amy Mah Sangiolo

Chapter 40B currently allows all units within the development to count toward the municipalities’ 10% calculation, even though the majority of the units are market rate. That means that even when a community has achieved 40B Safe Harbor status, its percentage of affordable housing is not actually at 10%. The state should provide incentives to communities that increase their percentage of actual affordable housing units by granting the community access to additional state funding to mitigate any fiscal impacts and address any infrastructure needs.

Alex Jablon

See answer to 7

Additional Information for Voters

“40B Safe Harbor” refers to circumstances that make it permissible for a local Zoning Board of Appeals to deny a comprehensive permit to a developer without the risk that the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee will overturn the denial.  40B Safe Harbor status depends, in part, on how many housing units in the city or town are considered “affordable” on the date of a developer’s comprehensive permit application.  The most widely known 40B Safe Harbor is met if at least ten percent of a city or town’s total number of housing units are low or moderate income housing units. This 40B Handbook for Zoning Boards of Appeals provides more information. For more detail on 40B Safe Harbor status, also see this Powerpoint from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.