Housing – Page 2 – Belmont Citizens Forum

How Affordable Housing Works in Belmont

Construction and Housing, Newsletter, Sept/Oct 2020 Comments Off

Sep 032020

By Meg Muckenhoupt With 12 townhouses proposed for a half-acre site at 91 Beatrice Circle, Belmont is buzzing with questions about how a developer can suggest such a dense development. The answers—because this question does not have a single, simple answer—have to do with a law known as Chapter 40B, aka the “Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Law,” the legal definition of “affordable housing,” and how Belmont has developed up to now. What is Chapter 40B? Chapter 40B is a state law that was passed in 1969 to increase the supply of affordable housing in Massachusetts. As the Department of Housing and [READ MORE]

Affordable Housing on Belmont Hill

Construction and Housing, Sept/Oct 2020 Comments Off

Sep 032020

By Sumner Brown Affordable housing and Chapter 40B affordable housing are not exactly the same. My wife and I moved to Belmont from Cambridge while I was a graduate student. We rented. It was wonderful! We had wildlife, trees, and grass outside our windows. We had a parking spot. We bicycled to work and school. We liked the neighbors and the neighborhood. We lived in the lower part of a single-family house while the owner, Miss Bryant, an elderly woman, and her dog Zangy were upstairs. The building was of very high quality, but this was not luxurious housing. There [READ MORE]

Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

Board of Selectmen, March/April 2020, Newsletter Comments Off

Mar 022020

Select Board Candidate Answers BCF Questions

Each year, the Belmont Citzens Forum asks Select Board candidates questions about issues facing our town. This year, Adam Dash provided answers. He was limited to 1,200 words. What steps would you take to ensure that the design and construction of the Belmont Community Path proceed efficiently? Finally, after decades of Belmont residents waiting, the community path is being brought to reality. Parts 1A (the Alexander Avenue tunnel under the railroad tracks) and 1B (from Brighton Street to the Clark Street Bridge) are currently being designed. We need to make sure that the construction of Parts 1A and 1B gets [READ MORE]

Zoning: Re-drawing Between the Lines

Newsletter, Parking, Traffic Comments Off

Jul 202016

Housing Availability Affects Business Climate By Vincent Stanton Jr. Last month the Massachusetts Senate, for the first time in over two decades, passed legislation that would significantly alter state zoning law. The proposed legislation (which will not become law this year as there is not yet a corresponding bill in the House) would superimpose on local zoning a new set of rules designed to encourage greater housing density, particularly near jobs and mass transit. The new law would reduce the considerable freedom that cities and towns currently have to formulate their own zoning laws in three ways. One is providing [READ MORE]

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