Municipal association urges flexibility: transfer fee, inclusionary-zoning and 40R tweaks among priorities

Adam Chaplain, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), and David Kaufman, the MMA's legislative director, told the Joint Committee on Housing that municipalities need flexibility and implementation support to meet local housing goals.

Chaplain said the MMA represents all 351 cities and towns and supports state–local partnership: "The MMA is committed to partnering with this committee and your colleagues on policies that can provide needed flexibility to support municipalities in meeting their local housing goals." He highlighted successful state tools such as MassWorks, Housing Works grants, and the Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) and said the association supports additional investments in those programs.

The MMA urged the committee to consider a local-option transfer fee as a dedicated revenue source for local affordable housing, and to study tax options such as taxing commercial uses of apartments or new abatements and exemptions. Chaplain and Kaufman recommended lowering thresholds for inclusionary zoning, better tapping 40R and 40S incentive payments, aligning site-plan-review definitions across localities, and streamlining abutter appeal processes so they do not arbitrarily delay projects. They also asked the committee for help communicating new statutory rights from recent laws (for example, condo-conversion protections in the bond bill and provisions of the Affordable Homes Act) to local officials.

Committee members asked MMA about reactions to MBTA Communities and ADU implementation; MMA said responses vary by community and recommended more technical assistance and communication from state offices, including the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.