AGAWAM — In the face of rising housing costs around Western Massachusetts, Agawam may pursue either 40R or 40Y housing districts or accessory dwelling units to increase its affordable housing stock, said City Council President Rosemary Sandlin.
But that depends on the outcome of a statewide housing bill, she said.
The law known as Chapter 40R encourages communities to create dense, residential or mixed-use development zones in a location the municipality chooses for itself. The 40R zoning district would allow those sorts of developments by right, meaning they won’t require a special permit, though they will still need a site plan review from the local Planning Board.
“Communities often implement these in places where no or limited residential is allowed by right,” said William Reyelt, of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Towns can’t place 40R districts just anywhere. In a July 8 presentation to the City Council, Reyelt said they can be either within half a mile of public transit; in an already concentrated area, such as a downtown or a commercial district; or in other places that have characteristics of those areas, such as walkability. Sandlin said the former Games and Lanes site could work as the site of a 40R, as it is close to retail and is in a walkable neighborhood.
The developments built under 40R zoning must be primarily residential. Between 20% and 25% of the housing units built must be classified as “affordable” for those making 80% the area median income.
A total of 49 municipalities in Massachusetts have adopted 40R districts so far, according to a chart provided by Reyelt. They include Easthampton, which has had 73 housing units built or under construction since adopting the zone in 2010; Ludlow, which has had 170 since 2014, and Westfield, which adopted 40R in 2008 but has had no developments related to it. Reyelt spotlighted Reading, an eastern Massachusetts suburb whose downtown 40R district has produced 205 units.
The districts come with monetary incentives for the host community: an increase in 20 by-right housing units on land considered developable nets the municipality $10,000 from the state; more than 501 units nets it $600,000. Once the units are permitted, municipalities are eligible for density bonus payments, Reyelt said, which offer $3,000 for every unit previously not allowed by right. There are also Chapter 40S reimbursements, which cover any increased school costs.
“It’s kind of an insurance plan for any increase in school costs,” said Reyelt. “It was adopted to take that concern off the table.”
The districts, Reyelt said, also give municipalities control over the placement of “Chapter 40B” developments, affordable housing projects that can override the town’s zoning and environmental laws. Any town with less than 10% of its housing stock enrolled as “affordable housing” is vulnerable to a 40B project.
“If a municipality doesn’t like where 40B developers are proposing projects in their community,” said Reyelt, “one way to potentially change that is to adopt a 40R district that allows for the higher densities typically consistent with 40B projects in locations where they want to see higher density.”
A developer who wanted a project eligiblity letter from the state for a 40B development in Reading, he said, was denied the letter because the development was proposed to be outside its 40R district.
Reyelt also noted in his presentation the existence of Chapter 40Y Starter Home Zoning Districts, which requires four housing units per acre of space, and 10% of them to be affordable to those making 110% the area median income.
Sandlin said the presentation was to bring to the City Council’s attention something the Housing Committee had been discussing to increase the percentage of affordable housing units in town. Only 4.5% of Agawam’s housing stock is “affordable,” she said. She called the districts “interesting.”
“There’s some incentive there but it didn’t seem like there was a lot of incentives for Agawam,” she said.
Whether a 40R or 40Y district is implemented is up to Mayor Christopher Johnson and the City Council, Sandlin said. However, what the town does to increase its affordable housing stock will, “in effect,” she said, depend on the outcome of a statewide housing bill, which could make accessory dwelling units by right in single-family housing districts all across the state.
“We have to prioritize what project we want to take on,” she said. “We can’t have too many irons in the fire.”
Accessory dwellilng units, also known as in-law apartments, are “self-standing accessory dwellings,” said Sandlin. Should they be permitted by right, she said, the state would tell municipalities how to implement them, whether they wanted them or not.
“It’s an issue because what it does is it takes residential areas, sometimes, and makes them multifamily,” she said.
In November 2020, the council voted down a bylaw for Agawam that would have allowed accessory dwellings if used by immediate family members of “owner-occupied and primarily residential single-family homes.” Council members were concerned about how to enforce the bylaw, the cost on homeowners, and impact on the neighborhoods.
Sandlin suggested that, since it failed the first time, the City Council might want to take up the issue again.
Both the state House of Representatives and Senate have passed their versions of the housing bill; they are currently being combined by the conference committee, who will propose a compromise version that both chambers will vote on. If the accessory dwelling unit provision becomes law, Sandlin said, Councilor Gerald Smith, chair of the Housing Committee, will see how it applies to Agawam.
