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ties home prices to zoning Edward Glaeser, lead author of the study, said over-regulation by cities and towns are driving up the cost of housing in Massachusetts, driving away residents and putting pressure on businesses to keep highly-skilled workers. Massachusetts lost nearly 10,200 residents from July 2003 to July 2004, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and another 8,600 by July 2005. "High housing prices not only affect the residents, but firms (businesses) and wages and their ability to attract workers," Glaeser said while presenting his study in Boston Thursday. Glaeser is a Harvard economist and director of the Harvard University Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. The two-year study, released last week by the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and the Rappaport Institute, collected zoning data on 187 communities within 50 miles of Boston. The data does not include Boston or Cape Cod. Pro-development groups including Homebuilders Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Massachusetts Lumber Retailers Association paid for the survey, but the groups did not pay Glaeser for his analysis or report. Each time a community increases minimum lot sizes by a quarter-acre, roughly 10 percent fewer homes are permitted, the study said. Towns such as Carlisle, Dunstable, Groton and Townsend are among the top 14 communities with minimum lot-size requirements of two or more acres. Half of the towns surveyed have at least a one-acre minimum lot-size requirement. Glaeser said communities such as Concord, Lincoln and Weston are "incredibly low-density areas," with homes on less than 13,000 acres out of a combined 39,000 acres. The study also found construction drops by 10 percent when municipalities impose rules for septic systems that are stricter than state standards. But local officials say they put their regulations in place for good reason. Groton officials doubled its lot-size requirement from roughly one to two acres in 1980 to protect open space and the town's water supply, said Planning Board administrator Michelle Collette. "You have to take into account the suitability of the land, if you don't have municipal sewage or water, that means private septic tanks and wells," Collette said. "It's the protection of the environment and natural resources that are real quality-of-life issues. I think people move to towns like Groton and Dunstable because people care about our drinking water and agriculture." In Townsend, officials say their two- or three-acre lot size requirements help protect the town's sole water supply. "If we put a dense amount of development over our groundwater, the water quality will be compromised," said Townsend land-use coordinator Katy Araujo. "It's just something we have to take care of. ... If we lose our water quality, we lose our way of life." Townsend Planning Board Chairman Jeffrey Peduzzi dismissed the study, saying looser building regulations won't solve the problem of affordable housing. "They make an assumption with our zoning that we are trying to stop building. I've never heard of these people," Peduzzi said. Peduzzi said state Chapter 40B regulations push for affordable housing based on the state's median income, not the income of local residents. "40B was intended to keep your high-school graduates from moving to Minnesota, not to let yuppies from Boston have a better house for less money," Peduzzi said. "We are already under pressure from Boston developers to do just that." Collette acknowledged that regulations do drive up the cost of housing, but called it "an unintended consequence." Townsend and Groton officials both said their towns have had success with cluster development, allowing smaller lot sizes for developments that conserve open space, though getting permission to build them can be difficult. "It's a rigorous process, but if you want an outcome that protects the natural environment and provide good housing than the process should be rigorous," Collette said. "If you have a process that's too permissive ... it's not the developer who pays the price, but the subsequent homeowner." Still, members of the development industry say that tough regulations can make it impossible to build in certain areas. "The study brings to light what all our industries have been saying for a long time: that over-regulation in the building industry does drive up the housing costs," said Nancy Beane of the North East Builders Association, which includes 29 communities in and around Greater Lowell. "In some cases (regulations are passed) in good faith, but in some cases if a community has restrictions on building permits or only build on excessive land lots, that is in a way restricting growth and building. ... Some communities don't want any development at all." Glaeser suggested the state may have to step in and override local control to push for more housing. "They might want something like 40B on steroids," Glaeser said. "There would be blood on the street in Lincoln after that." Glaeser also said state legislators should consider offering more incentives to communities for allowing more building or building in a certain way, such as the new 40S law that reimburses local governments for costs incurred by allowing "smart growth" developments. Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, said most communities would likely not relinquish local control. "Having the state be able to override important local zoning decisions is very dangerous," Beckwith said. "No one has been able to propose a way for accountability or ways to make sure that sustainable development is what's achieved. That's what local officials in overwhelming numbers want." Beckwith said the state lawmakers should look for ways to bolster local aid to support new growth, rather than circumvent local laws. "We
are interested to make sure communities can offer basic services that
people have come to expect in Massachusetts, and we are a high-cost state,"
Beckwith said. DUNSTABLE Median Sales Price for a single-family home: $567,875 Adopted a wetland bylaw or ordinance? Yes Has the conservation commission adopted regulations? Yes Regulate activities in buffer zones around isolated wetlands? No Additional septic regulations beyond state law? Yes Does zoning include provisions for age-restricted development? Yes GROTON Median Sales Price for a single-family home: $470,000 Adopted a wetland bylaw or ordinance? Yes Has the conservation commission adopted regulations? No Regulate activities in buffer zones around isolated wetlands? Yes Additional septic regulations beyond state law? Yes Does zoning include provisions for age-restricted development? Yes BILLERICA Median Sales Price for a single-family home: $369,900 Adopted a wetland bylaw or ordinance? Yes Has the conservation commission adopted regulations? Yes Regulate activities in buffer zones around isolated wetlands? Yes Additional septic regulations beyond state law? Yes Does zoning include provisions for age-restricted development? No LOWELL Median Sales Price for a single-family home: $265,300 Adopted a wetland bylaw or ordinance? Yes Has the conservation commission adopted regulations? No Regulate activities in buffer zones around isolated wetlands? No Additional septic regulations beyond state law? No Does zoning include provisions for age-restricted development? No * Zoning data: "Regulation and the Rise of Housing Prices in Greater Boston," Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research and Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. **Housing
costs source: Banker & Tradesman |