MBTA Communities Draft Guidelines presentation

For the purposes of this section, a district of reasonable size shall: (i) have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code established pursuant to section 13 of chapter 21A; and (ii) be located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.

The purpose of Section 3A is to encourage MBTA communities to adopt zoning districts where multi-family zoning is permitted as of right, and that meet other requirements set forth in the statute.

The Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, is required to promulgate guidelines to determine if an MBTA community is in compliance with Section 3A. DHCD promulgated preliminary guidance on January 29, 2021. DHCD updated that preliminary guidance on December 15, 2021. These guidelines provide further information on how MBTA communities may achieve compliance with Section 3A.

2. Definitions

“Adjacent community” means an MBTA community with no transit station within its border or within 0.5 mile of its border.

“Age-restricted housing” means any housing unit encumbered by a title restriction requiring occupancy by at least one person age 55 or older.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING &

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Charles D. Baker, Governor  Karyn E. Polito, Lt. Governor  Jennifer D. Maddox, Undersecretary

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 300

www.mass.gov/dhcd

Boston, Massachusetts 02114

[phone removed]

2 “Bus service community” means an MBTA community with a bus station within its borders or within 0.5 miles of its border, or an MBTA bus stop within its borders, and no subway station or commuter rail station within its border, or within 0.5 mile of its border.

“Bus station” means a building located at the intersection of two or more public bus lines, within which services are available to bus passengers; provided that a bus station does not include a shelter or other structure without walls and a foundation.

“Chief executive officer” means the mayor in a city, and the board of selectmen in a town, unless some other municipal office is designated to be the chief executive officer under the provisions of a local charter.

“Commonwealth’s sustainable development principles” means the principles set forth at https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/11/01/sustainable%20development%20principles.pdf as such principles may be modified and updated from time to time.

“Commuter rail community” means an MBTA community with a commuter rail station within its borders, or within 0.5 mile of its border, and no subway station within its borders, or within 0.5 mile of its border.

“Developable land” means land on which multi-family housing units have been or can be permitted and constructed. Developable land shall not include land under water, wetland resource areas, areas lacking adequate water or wastewater infrastructure or capacity, publicly owned land that is dedicated to existing public uses, or privately owned land encumbered by any kind of use restriction that prohibits residential use.

“Gross density” means a units-per-acre density measurement that includes land occupied by public rights-of-way and any recreational, civic, commercial, and other nonresidential uses.

“Housing suitable for families” means housing comprised of residential dwelling units that are not age-restricted housing, and for which there are no legal restriction on the number of bedrooms, the size of bedrooms, or the number of occupants.

“MBTA community” means a city or town that is: (i) one of the 51 cities and towns as defined in section 1 of chapter 161A; (ii) one of the 14 cities and towns as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; (iii) other served communities as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; or (iv) a municipality that has been added to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority under section 6 of chapter 161A or in accordance with any special law relative to the area constituting the authority.” A list of MBTA communities is attached, including the designation of each MBTA community as a rapid transit community, a bus service community, a commuter rail community or an adjacent community for purposes of these compliance guidelines.

“Multi-family housing” means a building with 3 or more residential dwelling units or 2 or more buildings on the same lot with more than 1 residential dwelling unit in each building.

“Multi-family district” means a zoning district, including an overlay district, in which multi-family uses are allowed by right.

3

“Rapid transit community” means an MBTA community with a subway station within its borders, or within 0.5 mile of its border. An MBTA community with a subway station within its borders, or within 0.5 mile of its border, shall be deemed to be a rapid transit community even if there is one or more commuter rail stations or MBTA bus lines located in that community.

“Reasonable size” means not less than 50 contiguous acres of land with a unit capacity equal to or greater than the unit capacity specified in section 5 below.

“Residential dwelling unit” means a dwelling unit equipped with a full kitchen and bathroom.

“Unit capacity” means an estimate of the total number of multi-family housing units that can be developed as of right within the multi-family district, made in accordance with the requirements of section 5.b below.

3.

General Principles of Compliance

a. These compliance guidelines describe how an MBTA community can comply with the requirements of Section 3A. The guidelines specifically address:

 What it means to permit multi-family housing “as of right”;

 The metrics that determine if a multi-family district is “of reasonable size”;

 How to determine if a multi-family district has a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code;

 The meaning of Section 3A’s mandate that “such multi-family housing shall be without age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children”; and

 The extent to which MBTA communities have flexibility to choose the location of a multi- family district.

b. The following general principles have informed the more specific compliance criteria that follow:

 All MBTA communities should contribute to the production of new housing stock.

 MBTA communities with subway stations, commuter rail stations and other transit stations benefit from having these assets located within their boundaries and should provide opportunity for multi-family housing development around these assets. MBTA communities with no transit stations within their boundaries nonetheless benefit from being close to transit stations in nearby communities.