By Elizabeth Plese, Boston University Statehouse Program
The “Yes in My Backyard” (YIMBY) movement is backing a legislative proposal that would amend local zoning laws statewide – except for Boston – and allow for a broader range of housing options, including streamlined approval for small lot subdivisions, the abolition of minimum parking lot requirements and the lifting of limits on accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
While the ongoing effort is important, said Dorchester’s Lori Hurlebaus of Dorchester Not For Sale, a neighborhood housing organization, it doesn’t go far enough to meet the needs of communities like hers.
“The idea that zoning restrictions are what is the driving force behind housing production is false,” she said. “What we truly need in our community is affordable housing,” she added, citing proposals like the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which died in a State House committee in 2023, and efforts at rent control paired with zoning changes.
Her group wants to ensure that new housing is built with strong anti-displacement protections, she said, noting that “when we are building just housing, without pairing that with protections and housing that’s actually affordable to the residents that live here now, then it just deserves to drive us out of the very communities that we built.”
As to the exemption of Boston from the “YIMBY” proposal, interviews with backers of a Housing Abundance Amendment effort show that they want the YIMBY bill to include Boston because, they say, what happens in the city would play a key role in addressing the housing crisis in Massachusetts.
Said Jesse Kanson-Benav, the executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts, Boston’s zoning laws allow changes to come from anywhere in municipal government before they are sent to the Zoning Board of Appeal and then to the mayor. Since the city’s zoning code is outdated, contractors in Boston deviate from the code and develop housing by variance.
The proposed amendment would allow ADUs to be built in every neighborhood, reduce parking requirements, allow buildings to be six stories – and up to 12 stories for developments within a half mile of public transit, Kanson-Benav said.
“We need other cities and towns to step up and do more,” said Kanson-Benav. “So, things like the legalization of ADUs statewide or the MBTA Communities Act, both of which don’t apply to the city of Boston, are important steps to make sure other communities are building new homes. The YIMBY bill is another step toward that goal.”
Advocates said the bill would cut some of the “red tape” that slows development. “Right now, [housing] opportunities are blocked by outdated zoning rules, minimum lot sizes, excessive frontage requirements, and parking mandates to make small projects financially challenging and restrict design options,” said Keith Fairey, president and CEO of Wayfinders, a Springfield-based organization that helps connect families with housing.
He noted the scarcity of multistory apartment buildings in communities like Springfield as part of the problem. The YIMBY bill would support changes to housing codes that would streamline projects and create a process for the missing middle-housing division.
Massachusetts zoning laws do not outline uniform permitting standards, which means that contractors need permits from each municipality. Site plan review is the only way for a community to review a project before it grants a permit, but since it is not codified in state law, the process varies across the Commonwealth.
“With 351 different versions, the current site plan is not predictable, efficient or universal,” said Rep. Kristin Kassner, (D-Hamilton). “Meaning that there are no criteria or time to review projects. Some communities do site plans very well, others do not, which can result in lengthy and unnecessary delays.”
Another issue that arises from municipal zoning regulations is that parking regulations are often outdated and result in extra expenses.
“The [parking] codes were not adopted through careful study and analysis,” says Daniel Herriges, policy director at the Parking Reform Network. Most often, they were copied verbatim from one town to another, and planning reports from the post-World War II era readily admit that they were quite simply guesswork.”
