Bill > S601

This bill amends Chapter 40B of the Massachusetts General Laws, which deals with affordable housing development, by adding a new paragraph to Section 21. Specifically, it requires that any application to build low or moderate income housing within an historic district, as defined by Chapter 40C, must first obtain a "certificate of appropriateness" from the local historic commission. This means the historic commission must approve the project's design and its compatibility with the historic character of the area. The bill mandates that the historic commission's hearing must happen at the same time as the local zoning board's hearing, and any conditions set by the historic commission must be incorporated into the building permit. Importantly, these conditions cannot be challenged as "uneconomic" (meaning they cannot be argued as too expensive to implement) before the housing appeals committee, and the application cannot be rejected solely because it is located within an historic district.