Bill > S588

This bill aims to increase affordable housing by requiring state departments to collect and report data on group home units and their locations, and by mandating that cities and towns count their low or moderate-income housing units biennially. It also revises the definition of "affordable housing threshold" under Chapter 40B of the General Laws, which is a state law designed to help create affordable housing, to require at least 10 percent of year-round housing units to meet affordability criteria or be located on sites zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use. The bill introduces new provisions for determining if local zoning decisions are "consistent with local needs," which is a key concept in Chapter 40B that allows for exceptions to local zoning to promote affordable housing, by outlining specific conditions under which a city or town can deny or condition affordable housing projects, such as having a comprehensive affordable housing plan or making progress towards its housing goals. Additionally, it shifts the responsibility for reviewing comprehensive permit applications from a board of appeals to a planning board and establishes a special commission to study increasing affordable housing by redeveloping brownfield sites and commercial areas.