Topsfield, Hamilton to Battle Chapter 40B

The Salem News reports that Selectmen in Topsfield and Hamilton have joined a group called the Municipal Coalition for Affordable Housing, which is asking the State Legislature to make changes in Chapter 40B.

Chapter 40B requires that communities develop 10% of their housing as affordable to people who make 80% or less than the median income locally. In Essex County, the income limits range from $46,300 for a single person to $66,150 for a family of four. If communities fail to meet the 10% threshold, developers can use Chapter 40B to circumvent local zoning regulations, such as lot size, housing density and proximity to wetlands, so long as they make 25% of the units in a development affordable.

According to the article, not one of the smaller towns in the North Shore has reached the 10% goal. In Hamilton, for example, the number is 3.3%; Topsfield is 5.4%. The Coalition aiming to change the law is made up of 31 communities, nearly all of them small and most of them affluent.

Read the entire Salem News Article