Bill > S134

This bill aims to address the shortage of affordable, high-quality housing in Massachusetts, particularly in Eastern Massachusetts. The bill authorizes the Department of Communities and Development to create "Community Housing Packages" (CHPs) to help expand and strengthen local communities, focusing on affordable, safe, and durable housing units. The department is also empowered to create regulations to provide for the provisions of the statute, taking into account local preferences and incorporating state-of-the-art, fire-resistant, and energy-efficient standards. The bill encourages mixed-use development and the use of pre-screened, neighborhood, and community-friendly developers and contractors with high-quality construction standards. Additionally, the Department of Housing and Community Development is tasked with establishing and maintaining a list of such developers and contractors, and the CHPs are required to consider relevant modest to medium intensity regional transit options to support local economic development.