YIMBY Action’s Post

A recent meeting in Rockport sounded like the rumblings of a revolution. Inside a meeting room, residents from all over Cape Ann used words like “sovereignty,” “invasion,” and “blackmail.” This meeting was yet another spark in the fast-growing resistance against the state’s ambitious new housing law, which will require towns like Rockport to find room for waves of new apartments and condos by the end of this year. On the heels of Milton’s vote last month to shoot down that town’s version of the plan, those sparks are multiplying rapidly. The law, known as the MBTA Communities Act, requires cities and towns served by transit to zone for more multifamily housing, in a bid by state lawmakers to tackle the region’s deep housing crisis. But it does so by challenging the state’s long, proud history of letting towns control their own zoning. And some residents are very unhappy. Read the full story:

80% We recently conducted a survey of all PadSplit members across all markets, and more than 80% reported being persons of color. Racial makeup was the key factor leading to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Yet almost every city in America since that point has maintained legislation attempting to restrict the rental of individual rooms or the number of unrelated persons allowed to live together in a home. The correlation between race and income has long been acknowledged; so the disparate impact of laws that inhibit housing affordability could already be inferred to impact race. But we now have enough data to prove clearly that such laws directly & disproportionately impact minorities in clear violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Local zoning laws that prohibit more than 2 unrelated persons from living in a house but allow an unlimited number or related persons or their "domestic servants" clearly violate both the spirit and letter of federal housing protections based on race, but are easily found in hundreds of local codes across the country. Please join me in asking HUD to spend more time and resources to remove affordable housing barriers that also violate the Fair Housing Act. #fairhousing #affordablehousing Nikitra Bailey, Enterprise Community Partners, Solomon Greene, Carol J Galante, Jeffrey Little, Eugene E. Jones Jr., Len Wolfson, YIMBY Law, Pacific Legal Foundation, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Representative Maxine Waters, Tim Scott, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

“The pushback has been brewing on social media for the better part of a year, and in community meetings in public libraries and town hall basements all over Eastern Massachusetts, from Cape Ann to Wrentham, Winthrop to Holden, and it is boiling over now that Milton has defied the law. 
Now officials in some towns are telling the state they simply will not comply, while residents in others are strategizing referendums of their own and organizing to take over Town Meetings and vote ‘No.’ … Resistance has spread well beyond Cape Ann. Town officials in several communities have taken votes in recent weeks to ask the state for exemptions, with the caveat that if they do not receive those exemptions, their next move may very well be outright defiance. … While Massachusetts has long deferred to towns on zoning matters, the ultimate power over land use resides with the state, experts say, and there are several state laws that override local zoning control, including Chapter 40B, which allows developers to bypass land-use rules in towns that don’t meet state affordable housing standards.” https://lnkd.in/e7P8jdie

In this piece, Shelterforce Editor-in-Chief Miriam Axel-Lute reveals a troubling trend in housing policy. While tenant protections like rent control and eviction protection are gaining ground, they're simultaneously being weakened through exemptions and loopholes. Key insights: - Developers and landlords are shifting tactics from outright opposition to strategic compromise - Exemptions often exclude those who need protection most - Complexity in laws makes enforcement challenging Could there be a strategic move to end tenant protections? Explore the full article here: https://bit.ly/4da3VDp #TenantProtections #HousingPolicy

What happened in St. Paul should serve as a cautionary tale to advocates everywhere. The most critical weaknesses in rent control and other tenant protections come from loopholes and exemptions. In California, policies at the state level like the Ellis Act and Costa Hawkins mean that even the strongest local protections leave renters vulnerable. We can enable local jurisdictions to make laws that best support their communities' needs by ending these harmful policies that came from real estate industry lobbying in response to tenant organizing.

Is Portland's affordable housing law working? Yes and no, watchdog report finds Contact me to discuss the latest scoop in real estate! #portlandrealestate #pdxrealtor #pdxrealestate #pdxrealestateagent #listingagent #pdxhomes #portlandhomes #portlandhomesforsale #Realty #DougHurlburt

Last week I attended the League of California Cities conference: Securing the Roof Over Our Heads: Developing Solutions to California’s Housing Needs | Southwestern Law School (https://lnkd.in/gqDsWwCU) along with my colleagues who were speaking: Jena Shoaf Acos, Mack Carlson, and Cody Sargeant.   A few interesting takeaways: 1. California is not going to litigate its way out of the housing crisis. 2. Policies around houselessness are still being driven by the myth that people choose to be houseless (or that people are drawn to CA for “better weather or better public benefits” – see here: The Myth of Homeless Migration - The Atlantic [https://lnkd.in/gHfHbwyt]), this needs to change for policy to adequately address the crisis. 3. Cities should do their best to articulate development standards as clearly as possible so that developers can more confidently invest in #affordablehousing. 4. The public sector has four options for encouraging affordable housing: subsidize it, require it, incentivize it, or plan for it. 5. Lawyers are uniquely positioned to use their problem-solving skills to address this issue through creative problem solving.

Is Portland's affordable housing law working? Yes and no, watchdog report finds Contact me to discuss the latest scoop in real estate! #oregon #oregonhomes #oregonrealestate #oregonrealtor #oregonhousing #oregonrentals #housing #realestate #realtor #oregonrealtor

Flagging this very important and exciting housing position that is open with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office! Take a look: The Housing Affordability Unit is committed to representing the statewide interest in expanding the availability of housing — particularly, affordable and multi-family housing — by pursuing legal advocacy and collaborating with state and local partners. The Unit will directly engage on zoning, land use, and related issues that implicate fair housing laws, as well as state laws and programs intended to facilitate the development of affordable housing. Specifically, the Unit will enforce state law, as appropriate; provide resources and guidance to municipalities and developers; and file amicus briefs or intervene in litigation to assert the Commonwealth’s interest in certain core legal issues related to fair and affordable housing development. In addition, the Housing Affordability Unit will provide additional land use expertise to areas of the Office already engaged in issues related to housing, including, but not limited to, our Civil Rights Division’s enforcement of state anti-discrimination laws; the use of receivership authority to rehabilitate housing by our Neighborhood Renewal Division; and our Government Bureau’s representation of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (and its constituent and related agencies, including the Housing Appeals Committee) when its decisions are challenged. https://lnkd.in/ekGVSbWq #housing #zoning #law

The chaos in Milton around their MBTA Communities (3A) compliance is just one example of why, whether it happens today or in 5-years, the Massachusetts Legislature will need to step in and implement more aggressive zoning changes to correct our growing housing crisis. Milton went through a 2-year extensive community process in an effort to comply with what will be a minimal change to the a Town's zoning code that was heavily restricted 50+ years ago to prevent largely any new housing production in the Town. In other communities, even compliance with the law will still not necessarily produce "as-of-right" housing production and many things like dimensional requirements, open space per unit mandates and parking minimums will inevitably preclude much of this newly zoned housing from being built. While 3A compliance is a needed tool, the process surrounding it in many communities is a sign that it sadly won't be nearly enough and we need to be adding more "tools to the toolkit" to enable more housing production across Massachusetts... before it's too late. https://lnkd.in/ex7yyJQx