Legislative Committee Update

By Betsy Logan

Several bills are gaining traction in the State House & Senate related to housing affordability and reducing barriers to housing. Currently, five House Bills have been introduced and are in committee. A brief summary and links to the bills are provided below:

• Legalizing ADUs (HB2186 Housing Committee): Allows ADUs by right in single-family zoning districts; municipalities may add reasonable restrictions.
• Municipal Occupancy Reform (HB2109 Housing Committee): Prohibits local occupancy limits on unrelated people unless directly tied to health, safety, or fire codes.
• Eliminating Parking Minimums (HB2155 Housing Committee): Prohibits parking mandates to allow developers to build parking at levels that more accurately reflect demand rather than outdated formulas.
• Creation of a Housing Council (HB2192 Housing Committee): Creates a Commonwealth Housing Council to coordinate housing policy across state agencies to develop a uniform set of housing goals, benchmarks, and priorities every 5 years.
• Duplex/Triplex/Fourplexes on Single-Family Lots (HB2185 Local Gov Committee): Requires municipalities (5,000+ population) to permit duplex, triplex, and quadplex housing in single-family residential districts.

Additional proposals circulating include TODs incentives, grant programs, pre-approved housing plans, annual housing targets, property tax abatement, regulatory streamlining and enforcement reform. The Legislative Committee with support from 10,000 Friends has been reviewing and providing feedback on these legislative items.