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Lowell Council votes to send letter opposing House Bill 2347 after extended public comment
Summary
After more than an hour of public comment and debate, the Lowell City Council voted to direct the city manager to send a letter to the city’s state delegation and the speaker of the Massachusetts House opposing House Bill 2347, known as “Yes in God’s Backyard.” A separate motion to refer the matter to a council housing subcommittee failed.
The Lowell City Council voted Tuesday to ask the city manager to send a letter opposing House Bill 2347, known in testimony as “Yes in God’s Backyard,” after public speakers and councilors debated the bill’s potential effects on local zoning, parking, tax status and neighborhood density.
The motion, made by Councilor Getje and seconded by Councilor Robinson, passed on a roll call with the majority voting yes; one councilor abstained and several voted no on a later procedural attempt to send the measure to the council’s housing subcommittee.
Supporters of the bill addressed the council during public comment, arguing the proposal would expand affordable housing by allowing religious institutions to build multifamily units on land they own. Ryan Oates, speaking through a clerk’s designee and identified in the record as a resident of Lowell, told the council, “This bill allows religious institutions all across the state to build affordable housing on their own property.” He urged the city to collaborate…
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