Smart Growth News

Massachusetts

Medway, Massachusetts, Looks To Become State-Designated ''Green Community''

Medway, Massachusetts, ''is going green in order to save some green,'' reports The Milford Daily News. As part of ''an effort to become more competitive for state grants and save money on utilities,'' Medway is striving to become a state-designated 'green community.'''

Medway must meet several criteria in order to achieve this designation, according to the article. First, Medway ''must revise its zoning bylaws to allow alternative energy generation facilities and renewable energy manufacturing facilities in designated locations.'' It must also develop both an expedited permitting process and a policy that addresses fuel-efficient vehicles. The town ''will have to establish an energy inventory of all municipal buildings and put in place a program to reduce energy use by 20 percent throughout the next five years.'' Finally, Medway must require all residential construction more than 3,000 square feet and all new commercial or industrial construction to reduce energy costs.   1/25/2010

Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/

Smart Growth Design and Reuse Competition Targets Three Pioneer Valley Sites

In a joint initiative with the Springfield-based Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) and Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (WMAIA), the Valley Development Council (VDC) announced an international interdisciplinary Smart Growth Design & Reuse Competition of ideas for sprawl-free transformation of three sites in Palmer, Southampton and Hadley into models for sustainable, equitable and smart development and redevelopment across the state's western 103-town and 11-city region.

Under the new land use plan for the Pioneer Valley -- a 1,200-square-mile area along the Connecticut River, flanked by the Berkshire foothills on the west and the central uplands on the east, and described as prone to sprawl without population growth -- the competition co-sponsors want to preserve and enhance agricultural assets, scenic beauty, quiet villages, downtown and historic areas, and the overall quality of life and economic potential.

The three sites chosen for the smart growth design and reuse competition represent ''a variety of conditions'' found in the valley, with participants ''free to focus on one, two or all three,'' but expected to outline a unique approach in each case and to take into account the need for housing.

In Palmer, a four-village community of some 13,300 residents once sustained by textile mills, the challenge is to create a ''sustainable village center, with a main focus on the Energy Thorndike Site and the adjacent parcels.''

In Southampton, a former rural community turned into a sprawling middle-to-upper income suburb of 5,900 dwellers, the task is to design a town center, which would strengthen the sense of community and find ''creative uses for the Larrabee (school) building and adjacent town land,'' including vacant portions of the town hall.

In Hadley, a 350-year-old town of about 5,200 largely dispersed inhabitants, the goal is to make development of its Allard parcel, between the Norwottuck Rail Trail and the Hampshire Mall, a model for ''the commercial box store edge'' and to establish ''a successful interface with protected farmland, residential and commercial uses without compromising the need for mixed-use, low-impact development.''

The competition's early registration deadline is October 15, with late registration and proposal submissions open until January 15, 2010.

More about the region's issues and the Smart Growth design competition at www.pvpc.org, www.wmaia.org, www.valleyideas.org, and www.wmaia.org/documents/competitionbrief.pdf (PDF, 58 pages/8.5mb). -- Pioneer Valley Planning Commission   9/30/2009

Resource(s): www.pvpc.org/index.shtml

Unused Rail Bed Could Be Key to Smart Growth in Newton and Needham

The best option for smart growth in Newton and adjacent Needham, some six and eight miles west of Boston, ''may lie in the unused rail bed'' along their shared north-southwest Needham Street-Highland Avenue corridor, writes Newton resident Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic in a Boston Globe guest column, backing a proposal to reclaim the tracks for light rail, which would attract transit-oriented development to the corridor and link with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway's Green Line to central and north Boston.

Citing economic and environmental light-rail benefits reaped in many metro areas, the guest columnist mentions increased business and employment opportunities, a stronger tax base, higher real estate values and tourist revenue, a greater sense of safety and less road traffic and air pollution.

Light rail, he writes, would ease significant public concerns over prospective congestion as a result of recent residential and planned commercial development, which could increase Needham Street-Highland Avenue traffic by 10,000 vehicle trips a day.

''Rehabilitating the rail line would offer a way to offset traffic increase from desired new growth while allowing economically sustainable projects to get approved,'' he points out, confident that the new rail line would carry at least 6,900 riders a day, which would not only help reduce road travel times, air pollution and gas consumption, but also facilitate transformation of Needham Street into a ''complete'' street, ''equally accessible to pedestrians, bicyclists, (and) transit, as well as cars.'' -- Boston Globe   7/24/2009

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

New England Governors Earmark ARRA Funds for Regional Rail Projects

Unanimous about a great chance for their interdependent transportation systems thanks to an unprecedented federal commitment of $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money to High-Speed and Intercity Rail, the six New England governors announced joint efforts to advance six key projects in regional rail corridors and to double ridership by 2030, with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick stressing, ''By investing in a strengthened high speed rail network we will be supporting economic development and smart growth, connecting our vibrant urban areas, and providing people with the opportunity to move more quickly throughout the New England region.''

Having submitted preliminary applications for $95 million to re-route Amtrak's Vermonter and for $500 million to upgrade the inland Boston-Worcester-Springfield commuter line, reports Springfield Republican writer Dan Ring, Governor Patrick and his Transportation Secretary James A. Aloisi outlined recently the state's and region's plans to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, with the governor also supporting a $500 million application by Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, to establish a high-speed commuter rail line from New Haven north to Springfield.

Instructed by the six governors -- Patrick, Rell, and John Baldacci of Maine, John Lynch of New Hampshire, Donald Carcieri of Rhode Island and Jim Douglas of Vermont -- their secretaries of transportation will be meeting regularly with the New England Congressional delegation to move their coordinated grant applications forward and seek other federal funds infrastructure and transit improvements.

They will find receptive House and Senate partners.

''Intercity rail projects are exactly the kind of investments we should be making,'' said Senator Edward Kennedy, ''They put people back to work and stimulate the economy, as well as reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.''

Senator John Kerry echoed the statement.

''The need for a world-class high-speed rail in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast region could not be more clear. It'll drastically improve our severely overcrowded highways, reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on foreign oil, and help get our economy moving again,'' he pointed out. ''I applaud Governor Patrick and his administration, as well as the other New England Governors, for their efforts and commitment to the issue.''

Details of the New England High-Speed and Intercity Rail Network plans, including a map, at www.mass.gov/Agov3/docs/PR071309.pdf and www.coneg.org/reports/corr/tr090511.pdf. -- Republican   7/13/2009

Resource(s): www.mass.gov/ ; www.masslive.com/

Lawsuits Delay Natick Smart Growth Project

Its Smart Growth Overlay zoning granted at the Natick Town Meeting in December 2006 and upheld last April, the redevelopment of the former Natick Paperboard factory into a 138-apartment and 12-townhouse complex, with a 177-car garage and 58-space parking lot, has to wait for a Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on a claim by the owner of adjacent 83 apartments, Michael Carr, that slight recent changes in the planned project could spell flooding for his property.

The project proponent, developer Jim Williams of Barberry Homes, is optimistic.

''We'd be under construction right now if it weren't for the lawsuits,'' he told Worcester Business Journal writer Eileen Kennedy. ''We worked long and hard with the town, with the design review committee, the open space committee, the neighborhood and the planning board to make something everybody could live with.''

He said he redesigned the project after the town asked him to consider its 40R designation, which requires 20 percent of the units to be reserved for residents earning no more than 80 percent of area median income and which would bring in state money for affordable housing.

Natick, the writer observes, has already received $200,000 in state incentive money for creating the Smart Growth District and will receive $2,000 per unit once the project is built.

''When more people are attracted to downtown,'' observed Naticks Community Development Director Patrick Reffett, ''it collectively equates to more vibrancy and it helps the business economy.''

Click here for more on 40R. -- Worcester Business Journal, MetroWest Daily News   6/30/2009

Resource(s): www.wbjournal.com/

Midterm Report: Gov. Patrick Gets Good Grades on Environmental Issues

Having made global warming and the environment key for his electoral campaign, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick has brought about both ''a strong improvement over previous administrations and groundbreaking on some environmental issues'' in his first two years, reports the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters (MLEV), giving the administration 11 positive, 3 negative and 4 mixed marks in seven categories, including two mixed and one positive in the Smart Growth category -- for policy, sustainability and zoning reform, respectively.

The Patrick administration, the MLEV says in explanation of its mixed marks for Smart Growth policy and sustainability, replaced the Office of Commonwealth Development (OCD) with a Development Cabinet, but without the OCD ''there is not a dedicated office responsible for day-to-day implementation of smart growth policy,'' while adoption of sustainable development principles hasn't sparked ''a robust, consistent effort to align state funding and policy with the principles to date.''

The positive mark for zoning reform the MLEV credits to the administration's lead on the issue, with a broad-based task force drawing up legislation that ''will produce smart growth outcomes, give municipalities new tools to guide development, and offer the development community more predictability and transparency when cities and towns make development decisions.''

The administration also received three positive marks for its efforts and programs in the Energy and Global Warming category; a positive and a negative in the Fish and Wildlife category; two positives and a mixed in the Land Conservation category; a positive and a negative in the Toxics category; two positives in the Transportation category; and a negative, a positive and a mixed in the Water category.

The first in a planned regular series of environmental assessments at the mid-term and end of each Massachusetts administration, observes Boston Globe writer Beth Daley, the MLEV report notes that Governor Patrick quickly signed the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, abandoned by his Republican predecessor at the last moment, and pushed for ''an early, 100 percent auction of credits, the first of which were auctioned in 2008.''

He also merged state environmental and energy agencies, and ordered increases in energy-efficiency and consideration of global warming impacts in development decisions.

Committing resources and ensuring extra public input for timely implementation of the Ocean Management Act, including exploration of renewable offshore power, the administration is on or near schedule for meeting the deadlines for the similarly energy-related Green Communities Act, Global Warming Solutions Act and Green Jobs Act.

On the other hand, comments the Globe writer, the economic crisis forced budget cuts and obstructed the governor's environmental efforts, with the MLEV giving him minuses on river protection funding and toxics funding, because of 40 and 60 percent budget cuts, and on water-related permits and appeals, because they are now more difficult to pursue.

''The governor has made remarkable strides to protect the environment, but there's more work to be done,'' pointed out MLEV Executive Director Lora Wondolowski, with state Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles welcoming the largely positive report.

''We appreciate,'' he said, ''this recognition for Governor Patrick's nation-leading steps toward creating a clean energy feature and his historic commitment to land conservation.'' -- Boston Globe   4/22/2009

Resource(s): www.boston.com/ ; www.mlev.org/

Commentary: Cutting School Building Costs Through Smart Choices

As school construction costs are skyrocketing, due partly to high energy and material prices, the state ''cannot afford the 'edu-palaces' some communities want, replete with extra municipal amenities such as swimming pools and hockey rinks,'' writes Boston Society of Architects President Diane Georgopulous in a Boston Globe guest opinion, sharing state Treasurer Timothy Cahill's view that school budgets shouldn't include non-educational items, but also cautioning against relocation of schools to outer areas where land may be cheaper.

''If communities are pressured to relocate schools to open space on the outskirts of town,'' she points out, ''they will cut into green space and put more children on buses, the antithesis of smart growth planning.''

She credits the treasurer and the Massachusetts School Building Authority for their efforts to rein in the school construction costs, including their pilot plan for affordable ''model schools'' as easy to replicate in many towns, but she notes that models schools ''have been attempted in 25 states, with limited results.''

Calling ''off the shelf'' designs static, with today's ''model'' school using plans drawn up five to 10 years ago, she observes that such a school ''may look good, but building codes have changed in terms of energy efficiency, accessibility, and dimensional restriction, not to mention local changes affecting special needs, class size, and curriculum.''

Thus, the state must look at other elements ''that can save greater taxpayer dollars,'' she concludes. ''It must modernize the construction bidding and management practices; develop a centralized design clearinghouse to rotate 'best practice' ideas; and build energy-efficient schools that dramatically reduce operating costs for decades to come.'' -- Boston Globe   11/15/2008

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Searching for Smart Growth Solutions on Martha's Vineyard

Just south of Cape Cod, the picturesque, celebrity-studded, 56,000-acre Martha's Vineyard island -- some 16,000 year-round residents but 57 percent of its 18,000 homes occupied only in summer -- has become increasingly sought-after in the past 20 years and could see another 6,000 main and 3,000 guest houses under current zoning by the late 2030s, a prospect most islanders want to regulate through a long-range Island Plan now in the works, report Vineyard Gazette writers Jim Hickey and Mike Seccombe separately, with officials looking for the best ways to ensure smart growth, especially to save land, preserve neighborhood character, and expand affordable housing.

''It's an important question -- what is the relationship between growth and affordability?'' stressed Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC) Executive Director Mark London. ''What if we softened the zoning regulations and allowed more construction in certain areas, would it make housing cheaper? Or what if we made the zoning more stringent and limited growth. The concern is that the Island is already too small and so many people want to be here; the cost of property could skyrocket.''

Commission senior planner Bill Veno said some under-utilized tracts near services and transit, including the area around Tisbury Park and Ride, may be well-suited for mixed-use development, but all choices ultimately depend on public involvement and input into the planning process.

A Tisbury planning board member, architect Henry Stephenson, believes so, too.

''I personally think we are heading toward more succinct land use regulations and building codes, but there are other ways to plan responsibly. The first step is to discover more potential for more development,'' he observed. ''I would say the recent period of large developments is over, but that does not mean we won't be seeing more development here, because we will.''

Noting that the island development pattern began to change between 1970 and 2000 from 70 percent in town centers to almost 50 percent in the countryside, MVC Director London told a public forum on the Island Plan that should the trend continue, most of the new housing would spread over the 17,000 undeveloped acres, and the public would likely protect only 20 percent of that acreage given the current land acquisition rate.

Forum attendees argued many issues ''back and forth with no real conclusions or consensus,'' but ''almost everyone wanted some kind of extra regulation; the concept of the free market took a beating,'' reports Gazette's Mike Seccombe, quoting a participant.

''Markets are never unregulated,'' he said, calling them always regulated either ''collectively or by the most powerful.'' -- Vineyard Gazette   8/26/2008

Resource(s): www.mvgazette.com/ ; http://away.com/destination-overview/Marthas-Vineyard-3709-travel-guide.html

Boston Schoolyard Initiative Now a National Model for Children's Health, Academic Performance

Little noticed elsewhere when Mayor Thomas Menino launched it in 1995, the Boston Schoolyard Initiative -- which brought together city leaders, school officials, local residents and private funders to transform asphalt schoolyards into community-shared green spaces, some with outdoor classrooms added after 2004 -- has now become a national model as cities moved to reduce ''both childhood obesity and academic gaps,'' reports Christian Science Monitor writer Stacy Teicher Khadaroo from a recent schoolyard tour for out-of-state visitors from six cities.

''We don't refer to them as playgrounds, because they are more than that,'' said Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative interim director Kim Comart about the 71 schoolyards converted so far, totaling 125 acres and serving 25,000 children a day.

They offer colorful climbing structures, landscaped paths, and public art, the writer observes, with the outdoor classrooms featuring wilderness zones, gardening plots, and other elements helpful in everything from science lessons to writing assignments.

In the William Monroe Trotter Elementary School's outdoor classroom on a once-vacant ''trashy lot,'' third-grade teacher Christine Whittemore told the visitors its plot of corn, beans, and squash replicates a native ''three sisters'' garden with which the Wampanoag Indians amazed Pilgrims and that relates well to social study themes.

The children ''recognize this as kind of a special space,'' she stressed. ''They're quieter, more orderly.''

According to recent educational-outcome research, the writer notes, the schools with renovated yards had about 25 percent more fourth-grade students passing the state math test.

The yearly capital investment in Boston schoolyards' overhaul includes about $1.2 million from the city and $600,000 from the Funders Collaborative, which also spends $450,000 on operations and professional service for teachers.

The city expects the number of green schoolyards to reach 87 by 2010, including 27 with outdoor classrooms.

The visitors, helped by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and technical support from the National League of Cities and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the writer finds, are working for similar goals in their six cities, with the recent Oakland (California) Schoolyard Initiative expected to transform 50 asphalt schoolyards within 10 years.

''School leaders over the last few years have really started to look at these connections between health and wellness and kids being successful in schools,'' said AASA project director Rebecca Roberts, confident that schools can continue such efforts despite tight budgets if they secure private funds and community support.

The federal government may also help, the writer adds, pointing out that the No Child Left Inside Act introduced in Congress would give states more funds for environmental education and outdoor learning, both mostly overlooked because of the No Child Left Behind Act's focus on test scores. -- Christian Science Monitor   8/20/2008

Resource(s): www.csmonitor.com/

Reading Officials, Developer Working on Downtown Smart Growth 40R District

Having won overwhelming Special Town Meeting approval for a Gateway Smart Growth District last December as part of redevelopment near the I-97/Main Street interchange, reports Reading Advocate writer Stephen Vittorioso, Reading officials are now working with Watertown-based Housing Partners, Inc. and Boston-based Abacus Architects and Planners on a proposed Smart Growth 40R District downtown, where about a quarter of the new 500 housing units would be affordable.

Under state law Chapter 40R, towns approving higher-development densities then current zoning allows in their central or infrastructure areas and near transit qualify for state zoning-incentive payments and a $3,000 bonus for each new housing unit, at least 20 percent of which must be affordable for those with 80 percent or less of the area's median income.

''The idea of a Smart Growth District in downtown is born out of the community's interest and economic revitalization of downtown,'' said community services director and town planner Carol Kowalski. ''You need a critical mass of people to have the kind of retail mix that we're looking for in downtown.''

Residents of the prospective Smart Growth 40R District downtown, the writer notes, would enjoy easy access to public transportation, including a nearby station of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail line.

Still in a conceptual phase and eventually dependent on a two-thirds Town Meeting vote, the project ''is not going to happen by itself,'' said Carol Kowalski, ''so it's important for us to actively seek out opportunities for input from residents, groups, boards and commissions'' to ensure its best plan.

Details about Smart Growth Chapter 40R requirements and payments at www.mass.gov/envir/smart_growth_toolkit/pages/mod-40R.html. -- Advocate   7/22/2008

Resource(s): www.wickedlocal.com/reading

Open Space Protection, Resource Conservation Highlight Mass. Gov. Patrick's New Commonwealth Capital Policy

While many people in small towns strive to protect their cherished open space, many in crowded urban areas often think it's only fair to put any additional homes or factories in the less congested suburbs, but they should realize that ''everyone loses'' as land is paved over for yet another subdivision or strip mall and as ever longer commutes jam roads, says a Newburyport Daily News editorial, supportive of Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's new ''Commonwealth Capital Policy,'' which calls on municipalities ''to site and build homes and businesses in ways that that conserve energy and natural resources.''

Launched in the wake of a recent MetroFutures report from the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, which recommends directing growth to the region's cities and mature suburbs, and ''making every effort to keep what's left of our fields and forests undisturbed,'' the editorial observes, the capital policy pursues the same goals.

It seeks to reward ''those communities that have taken formal and significant action to work with neighboring communities to foster development projects, land and water conservation, and other outcomes that have regional and multi-community benefits.''

It also advocates environmental responsibility, including steps to reduce energy consumption and to rely on power from renewable sources; advises municipalities to follow the state's lead in expediting projects that meet their overall development targets; and recommends encouraging people to leave their cars and depend more on transit, bikes and their own feet for mobility.

And as ''some communities continue to fight over the use of former rail right-of-way for bike and walking paths, 'smart growth' decrees that these be expanded,'' the editorial points out, concluding that the governor's policy ''also makes a good case for directing new residential growth to those neighborhoods -- many of them older -- with easy access to rail and bus lines.'' -- Daily News   7/9/2008

Resource(s): www.newburyportnews.com/headerlink

Green Communities Act Will Help Bring Renewable Energy Home in Massachusetts

''Climate change is the challenge of our times, and we in Massachusetts are rising to that challenge,'' said Democratic Governor Deval Patrick at Boston's Museum of Science as he signed the Green Communities Act, a landmark energy bill that commits $10 million a year to help communities become more energy-efficient or invest in renewable sources and requires utilities to increase their renewable energy purchases from 3.5 to 25 percent by 2030, while allowing them to own solar electric panels, whose rentals will gradually cover their cost while enabling customers to cut their energy bills.

The law, reports Boston Globe writer Beth Daley, also requires utilities to invest in energy efficiency to meet increased demand if such investment costs are equal or lower than those of extra power purchases -- a requirement expected to avert the need for additional construction of costly and emission-intense power plants.

What's more, the law authorizes the use of at least 80 percent of the revenue from the regional effort to cap plant emissions for efficiency programs, including home energy audits to identify potential savings for owners; requires new buildings to meet updated building codes with new efficiency provisions; and makes it easier for customers who install solar panels or wind turbines to sell energy surplus.

All this together, the writer notes, will likely motivate utilities to devise customized energy-saving plans for home owners and businesses alike and to provide rebates for installation of insulated windows, high-efficiency boilers and similar fixtures.

Utility officials and environmentalists are hailing the Green Communities Act as one of the most innovative efforts in the nation to stabilize energy rates, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and spur clean technologies that don't further global warming.

''It pushes us to a new level,'' said NStar CEO Tom May. ''We get to cross the street to our customers' side and help them with energy choices . . . such as windmills in a neighborhood or solar panels. It's helping them reduce their carbon footprint.''

Environment Northeast attorney Sam Krasnow and Conservation Law Foundation lawyer Sue Reid feel the same way.

''The leanest power plant is the one that never gets built. Energy efficiency is the cheapest and cleanest energy resource available,'' pointed out the former, with the latter stressing, ''This is a tremendous advancement that comes not a moment too soon, giver rising energy prices and the climate crisis.'' -- Boston Globe   7/3/2008

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Planners Working to Minimize Traffic Impact of Mixed-Use Jamaica Plain Project

In its largest transit-oriented development endeavor, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), its planning led by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is readying a dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly complex on 16 acres around the Forest Hills rail and bus station in Jamaica Plain, five miles southwest of central Boston, with some concerned that the prospective offices, shops and 700 households of the ''green'' project would increase congestion too much, but officials and consultants confident the problem can be solved, particularly since local residents think the two two-way arteries flanking the station should carry only one-way traffic, in opposite directions.

''What we heard is that folks want to see the area made more functional, especially for pedestrians and cyclists,'' said BRA project manager John Dalzell of the Forest Hills station. ''Right now the area seems both poorly functional and car oriented.''

Adaptation of these arteries, Washington Street and Hyde Park Avenue, to one-way traffic would include setting aside one of the four lanes on each for bicyclists and parking, reports Boston Globe correspondent Ted Siefer, but the remaining three lanes in each direction would facilitate better traffic flow, with consultants expecting the planned computerization of traffic signals to eliminate most slowdowns and vehicle idling at intersections.

Although the MBTA wants potential developers to replace its 240-car commuter parking lot at the station, possibly with a 500-car garage, to accommodate project residents and shoppers from nearby neighborhoods, consultants estimate the development would only generate an average 6 percent traffic increase during rush-hour commutes.

''Having this parking,'' explained MBTA real estate director Mark Boyle, ''also keeps local folks from having to drive in to Boston.''

National Development managing partner Ted Tye, whose company built transit-oriented projects in Newton and Medford, testified to their wider benefits.

''Some of our residents have no cars,'' he noted. ''Some supplement their needs with Zipcar. And I expect this phenomenon will only accelerate in times of $4-a-gallon gas.''

In addition, the writer observes, ''in diversity minded'' Jamaica Plain, more important than additional traffic is additional affordable housing, and local participants in the project planning want it to exceed Boston's mandatory 15 percent and reach perhaps 50 percent.

''I'm OK with building dense near a transportation hub,'' stressed JP Neighborhood Council chair of housing and development Francesca Fordiani, saying if more traffic results from a project good for affordable housing, it is ''a trade-off I'm willing to take.'' -- Boston Globe   6/15/2008

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Williamstown Residents Approve Affordable Housing Measure, Reject Smart Growth and Wetlands Bylaws

With these three issues dominant at their Annual Town Meeting, Williamstown residents voted 346-38 to spend $800,000 in community preservation funds for purchase and conversion of a former church and rectory into affordable housing, but in a 192-61 vote defeated a ''smart growth'' bylaw, under which developers would have clustered buildings while leaving half of their land as open space, and in a 222-191 vote rejected a wetlands bylaw, which would have protected intermittent headwater streams, vernal pools and isolated wetlands, shielding these breeding grounds and reducing the risk of flooding.

Drafted by the Conservation Commission and expected to affect 590 acres, including 240 properties, reports North Adams Transcript writer Jennifer Huberdeau, the wetlands bylaw set off the most spirited debate.

Leading opponents, a fourth-generation resident of this small town in the state's northwest corner, builder Albert Cummings IV, argued that 74 percent of Williamstown land is protected by state wetlands laws, that the other 26 percent has houses on it, and that town policies are already too restrictive.

''I'm seeing more and more restrictions being put on young families who can not afford to move here,'' he told selectmen. ''If we want to be honest, everything in this town is a wetland going back to Baskin Lake.''

He has built many multimillion-dollar homes outside the town for people who ''just didn't want to deal'' with its policies, he said, noting, ''We're losing out on $30,000 to $50,000 that could be added to the tax base every time that happens.''

Selectman Thomas Costley also thought the bylaw would deter prospective newcomers, and resident Robert Scerbo pointed out that the Conservation Commission's map shows only the approximate location of the affected land and leaves too much up to the commission.

''How can anyone know with surety what is affected?'' he asked. ''I'm sure anyone here would be up in arms if it was left at the discretion of the tax collector to approximate what your taxes were every year.''

On the other side, resident Erin Kleiser-Clark called the bylaw ''a good thing,'' even if it would affect her property.

''What this bylaw does is make you think about building a different way,'' she stressed. ''It will increase costs about 2 percent and change the way we build. It won't stop development, just change the way we develop. Choosing between our wallets and salamanders is what it comes down to.'' -- North Adams Transcript   5/23/2008

Resource(s): www.berkshireeagle.com/

Former Weymouth Air Base Receives Growth District Designation

Delighted by Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's designation of the former Weymouth Naval Air Station, some 15 miles south of central Boston, as an official ''growth district'' -- a move that ensures substantial state funding and fast-track permitting for its redevelopment into the meticulously planned mixed-use SouthField complex -- South Shore Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Peter Forman asked the state to consider ''the entire South Shore a 'smart growth' region'' in need of targeted infrastructure and transportation investment.

With the state's earlier promise to fund the $42.5 million construction of the East/West Parkway through SouthField, a local quasi-government agency's current investment of $90 million in the project's infrastructure, and a developer's commitment to spend more than $250 million on its residences and offices, reports Boston Globe writer Milton J. Valencia, Governor Patrick stressed the role of designated growth districts as ''hubs of economic growth and housing development'' throughout the state.

''By identifying districts and focusing our collective resources on making each one development ready, we are creating the conditions for business growth and community revitalization for years to come,'' he said at his SouthField tour, pointing out that base redevelopment, including coordinated plans for 2,855 residential units and 2 million square feet of commercial space, will help map future area growth.

''Where is affordable housing going to be? Where is public transportation going to be, and how is it going to be planned?'' he said. ''SouthField is a very natural choice as a growth district.'' -- Boston Globe   4/27/2008

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Somerville Leaders Want Zoning Loopholes Closed to Prevent Further Overcrowding

Just at the northwestern flank of Boston, Somerville became one of the most densely populated areas nationwide and its leaders want Strategic Planning and Community Development Director Monica Lamboy to work out necessary zoning reform to close loopholes and prevent further overcrowding, reports Somerville Journal writer S.H. Bagley, with Alderman Tom Taylor calling code changes long overdue and stressing, ''Developers take advantage of us.''

Aldermen Bob Trane and Rebekah Gewirtz echoed his alarm, the former saying, ''It's ridiculous, what's going on right now from some of the developers,'' the latter adding, ''There are developers who want to cash in, try to make a buck, and leave.''

Having recently had to deal with ''overzealous'' developers, she said the city forced them to drastically scale down a proposed development complex only by refusing to remove trees for a fire lane.

While all three and Alderman Maryann Heuston focused mostly on residential categories, Aldermen Sean O'Donovan and Jack Connolly thought the entire zoning code should be studied and updated.

''Let's look at the big picture,'' said Alderman Connolly. ''Transit-oriented development, that's the word now.'' -- Somerville Journal   4/3/2008

Resource(s): www.wickedlocal.com/somerville

Mixed-Use Zoning Could Bring Business Back to Randolph Industrial Park

Its revenue and business district hurt by relocation of companies gone elsewhere for tax breaks, Randolph, some 10 miles south of central Boston, could bring its abandoned industrial park ''back to life'' and rebound fiscally by rezoning it for ''work where you live'' development, observed Selectman James Burgess, saying real estate professionals told him that housing within walking distance to jobs is especially attractive to biotech firms looking for the best places to relocate.

Under a proposed zoning change, reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Fred Hanson, the park could accommodate up to 30 apartments per acre.

With 25 percent of the apartments affordable and set aside for renters at below market prices, the town could also benefit from the state's smart-growth incentive program.

Still, some park neighbors attending a recent planning board hearing expressed concerns over added traffic and the density impact on water resources.

''We do need the business, but we need something from it as well,'' said resident Cynthia Johnson, who would like to see a compromise on prospective park development.

Accordingly, the writer adds, the planning board delayed its vote until April 14, with Chairman Richard Goodhue noting the need for more details to recommend for or against the current rezoning proposal, which will be considered by a town meeting on May 27. -- Patriot Ledger   4/1/2008

Resource(s): www.patriotledger.com/

State Environmental League President Seeks Corporate Involvement in Massachusetts Smart Growth Advocacy

''We think smart growth is an economic argument,'' said new Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) President George A. Bachrach as he seeks strong corporate involvement in smart growth advocacy and greenhouse gas reduction, telling Boston Globe interviewer Binyamin Applebaum that ELM and the Massachusetts Environmental Collaborative need to form ''counterintuitive'' coalitions with the business community, often found antagonistic, because ''(p)art of being heard depends on who is carrying the message,'' and because now ''the science is clear'' on global warming.

Having taken the helm held for the past 14 years by former Governor Michael Dukakis' environmental undersecretary Jim Gomes, the new president credited his leadership, in an October letter, with significant policy accomplishments, ''from toxic reductions to smart growth to the overall protection of our land, water and air,'' and in the Globe interview restated ELM's readiness to ''marry the business community to a plan for action'' to ensure sustainability.

''We are pro-development and pro-jobs. The question is: Where are they going? We need to rethink where we develop and where we leave space open,'' said the former three-term state Democratic senator, now a Boston University journalism professor and consulting firm principal. ''I believe we should create greater incentives for growth in some places. If you develop close to town centers, you're going to have an economic ripple effect.''

In response to the interviewer's concern that ''green'' building costs can cost more, while the state needs to spur affordable housing, the ELM president said: ''I think it's a terrible mistake when we create new, less efficient affordable housing. People need to understand that 40 to 45 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings and construction. That's a major issue in terms of controlling climate change.''

Eager to work across the spectrum for ''tangible results'' as an ''antidote to the cynicism and frustration,'' he would like to see windmills on all roofs and incentives for the use of hybrid cars, saying, ''We need to push people dramatically.''

Admitting that he doesn't drive a hybrid yet, though he should, he stressed, ''I don't think any of us do enough. We all need to do more.'' -- Boston Globe   1/20/2008

Resource(s): www.boston.com/bostonglobe/; www.massland.org/

Gov. Patrick Seeks $2.9 Billion for Massachusetts Transportation Work

''The Commonwealth needs a transportation system that improves our quality of life and serves as a catalyst for economic growth,'' said Democratic Governor Deval Patrick, filing a three-year, $2.9 billion transportation bond bill -- its $1.3 billion for road and bridge repair expected to leverage $1.9 billion in federal funds, and the other $1.6 billion targeted for a variety of long underfunded projects and programs, including rail extensions, environmental mitigation, and municipal infrastructure and affordable housing improvements to support transit-oriented development (TOD).

Noting that earlier this year the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission (TFC) found a $15 billion to $19 billion gap between the state's anticipated resources and the cost of maintenance and the necessary upgrades of its transportation system over the next 20 years, the governor said, ''This legislation will allow us to address many of our most pressing transportation needs while we work towards long-term transportation reform.''

Specifically, the legislation earmarks $700 million for legally mandated steps to mitigate the impact of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel (Big Dig) project, including Fairmount commuter rail improvements, Green Line extension, Red Line-Blue Line connector design and engineering, and parking space expansion at transit nodes.

It also assigns $100 million for rail and transit planning; $75 million for Fitchburg commuter rail improvements; $60 million for regional transit authorities; $40 million for regional airports; $50 million for municipal economic development grants; $20 million for infrastructure and affordable housing in TOD zones; and $15 million for transportation grants to small towns with populations of up to 7,000.

As a result, the governor's bill is expected to create some 10,000 construction jobs. -- Commonwealth of Massachusetts, The Boston Globe   11/30/2007

Resource(s): www.mass.gov/ ; www.boston.com/

Local, Environmental Concerns Grow as Developments Transform Boston's Outer Communities

Unprecedented for sheer project size and mix of uses, a recent development wave through Boston area towns and even pristine outer land is bringing in new tax revenue and urban amenities, but also spawning local and environmental concerns, reports Boston Globe writer James Vaznis, with builders saying that today's suburbanites, ''tired of stop-and-go traffic and office park isolation,'' want everything within walking distance, but with Canton selectmen moving to sue the state for approval of the 103-acre mixed-use Westwood Station in Westwood, three miles away, as certain to flood their town with traffic and exacerbate backups at its decades-old junction of I-95 and I-93.

Planned next to a commuter rail stop, with developers ready to spend $60 million on off-side improvements, the writer notes, Westwood Station would include 1,000 condos, plus stores, offices, restaurants, hotels and parking garages -- all generating about $12.6 million a year in property taxes, more than 20 percent of Westwood's operating budget.

But its Everett Forbes Neighborhood Association President John Harding questions the project's impact not only on traffic, but also on local character, and pointing to other developments considered for the southern suburbs, he asks, ''How many Talbots do you need?''

Westwood Station would be one of the biggest of about 50 medium and large developments recently opened, under construction or on the drawing boards in the region, the writer observes, quoting Metropolitan Area Planning Council Executive Director Marc Draisen.

''Communities are desperate for cash these days, and commercial development, in particular, generates strong revenues,'' he said. ''You find some communities eager -- some may say too eager -- to encourage large-scale commercial developments.''

Westwood Station developers Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, Commonfund Realty Inc., and New England Development expect to complete half of the project, including all retail, in two years, with the next stages dependent on market demand.

''Part of the problem in Massachusetts is we are not keeping enough young people here,'' commented Cabot, Cabot & Forbes President Jay Doherty. ''They want more public transportation options and more amenities in their lifestyles. They want more shopping and restaurants than prior generations, and if they can't find it here they will go somewhere else.'' -- Boston Globe   11/23/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Planner Suggests Using Clearer Terms to Describe Smart Growth

All professions have specific languages and verbal peculiarities that may confuse the general public, with lawyers wielding ''torts and writs,'' football coaches deploying ''schemes and nickel packages,'' doctors employing ''illegible handwriting,'' and planners ''too often guilty of overusing the term 'smart growth' as an all-encompassing cure-all for traffic jams, environmental degradation and often just plain ugly development,'' said Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District Executive Director Stephen C. Smith at a New Bedford Standard-Times land use forum, pointing out that since planners participate in ''setting and executing public policy, the last thing that we can afford to be is obscure and unclear.''

One of the planners who prefers to ''define smart growth in non-technical terms,'' Director Smith said, ''Think of smart growth as development similar to what we recall from one or more generations ago, characterized by vibrant neighborhoods, busy downtowns and abundant open space and public places.''

Its antithesis, he continued, is ''endless commercial strip development, long commutes, and residences barely within shouting distance of each other.''

To follow such area examples of smart growth as Padanaram Village and New Bedford's historic district, and to prevent their antithesis, like most development along Route 6 and many new subdivisions, he advised local governments to take ''10 smart growth steps,'' all involving bylaw or policy changes and not all easy, but mostly within their jurisdictional control.

One, he said, promote mixed-use development through zoning changes. Two, provide more housing choices by allowing in-law apartments, duplexes, apartment complexes, and varied lot sizes for single-family homes.

Three, preserve agriculture by offering farmers tax breaks and the purchase of development rights.

Four, promote cluster development to preserve the saved land as open space.

Five, keep municipal buildings, courthouses, post offices, libraries and schools downtown as the lifeblood of the urban cores.

Six, transfer development rights to areas targeted for higher densities.

Seven, preserve your history, remembering that a building hundreds of years old is individual and unique but a new McDonald's or Wal-Mart is not.

Eight, preserve open space, using state grants, land trust funds and local preservation money, as this may be your community's best long-term investment.

Nine, minimize pavement width by allowing narrower residential streets to improve safety and restore neighborhood cohesion.

And ten, expand water and sewer service wisely because these pipes will guide future development.

''The details of zoning and other local development regulations can be pretty boring stuff,'' Director Smith concluded, ''but we need to pay attention to these details because local bylaws are our best means to translate our visions into reality.'' -- Standard-Times   10/19/2007

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/

Lincoln Institute to Focus on Land Use in Addressing Global Warming

''At a time when climate change and energy efficiency are more and more on people's minds, our goal is to bring a sharp focus on the land use component in addressing global warming,'' said the Cambridge-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's Department of Planning and Urban Form Chairman Armando Carbonell in a press release ahead of the Institute's annual New England Smart Growth Leadership Forum, organized in partnership with the U.S. EPA and key regional advocacy, research and professional institutions November 1 in Boston.

Entitled Climate Change: The Emerging Role of Land Use, open to the public, and co-sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and the Boston Society of Architects, the forum will focus on metropolitan and regional growth policies and greenhouse gas reduction plans as factors in the fight against climate change.

Speakers and panelists include Tufts University Professor Paul Kirshen, Center for Clean Air Policy Transportation Program Manager Steve Winkelman, Sarrafix founding partner Douglas I. Foy, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy, Grow Smart Rhode Island Executive Director Scott Wolf, Grow Smart Maine project director Beth Nagusky, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Executive Director Andre Leroux, and EPA's Development, Community and Environment Division Director Geoff Anderson. -- Lincoln Institute of Land Policy   10/16/2007

Resource(s): www.lincolninst.edu

Editorial: Massachusetts Should Approve Funds for Smart Growth Housing Trust

''Smart growth is smart money,'' says a Boston Globe editorial, expecting the Legislature ''to keep its word to cities and towns'' and approve Governor Deval Patrick's supplemental budget proposal to replenish the cash-needy Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund with $15 million from ''the sale of housing once subsidized by the state,'' since municipalities count on these incentive dollars when they move to create dense smart-growth districts near transit, with 25 percent of units affordable to lower-income buyers and renters.

Established with $3.7 million in 2004, the fund shrank to $1.3 million and would be some $8 million short if asked to pay all it owes now, the editorial observes, noting that 16 communities have created smart-growth districts, including six that took further steps and issued housing permits, and that another five are considering potential district benefits.

''Economic growth in Massachusetts hinges on an increase in the supply of moderately priced housing,'' the editorial stresses. ''The smart-growth program uses the gentle prod of money to encourage cities and towns to loosen restrictive zoning in a few selected spots. It's a gradualist approach that deserves continuing support.''

The $15 million requested by the governor ''would keep the fund solvent for 18 months,'' giving lawmakers enough time to secure ''a lasting revenue stream.''

Noting that Senate Democratic President Therese Murray pledged to find a way of paying for the commitments, and that Republican minority leaders Senator Richard Tisei and Representative Bradley Jones have also been pressing others to act, the editorial concludes, ''Legislative action in the next couple of months will increase the supply of housing and clear the way for economic growth.'' -- Boston Globe   8/15/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

$7.9 Million Needed to Meet Bay State Smart Growth Housing Fund Obligations

Set up by state lawmakers in 2004 to help municipalities create smart growth districts near transit and reward them for related residential construction, the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund has only $1.3 million left and would face a $7.9 million deficit if the 16 communities on its ''owe'' list asked for the money now, wrote Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Secretary Daniel O'Connell to budget committee leaders in both chambers, asking for quick approval of $15 million requested by Governor Deval Patrick to replenish the fund.

The fund, reports Newburyport Daily News writer Edward Mason, offers municipalities incentive payments to establish smart growth districts, with amounts dependent on the size of the development, where 25 percent of housing must be affordable to buyers or renters making 80 percent of the area's median income. Next, the fund pays $3,000 for each of these affordable units.

Currently, the state owes a total of $4.2 million to 10 communities for the creation of smart growth districts, and a total of $5 million to six communities in affordable housing bonuses.

Another $1.4 million will be needed when Boston, Belmont, Gardner and Northampton approve their promised smart growth districts.

The writer could reach neither House Ways and Means Committee Democratic Chairman Robert DeLeo nor his Senate counterpart Steven Panagiotakos, but House Republican Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr. said, ''I want the Legislature to step up to the plate and put funding in place so these commitments can be fulfilled.''

Housing and Economic Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks worries that should lawmakers delay this funding municipalities could be discouraged form battling sprawl.

''I would hate to slow down progress,'' she said, ''because there's no money.'' -- Daily News   8/8/2007

Resource(s): www.newburyportnews.com/

Boston's Western Suburbs Need Smart Growth Solutions Now, Study Urges

Without smart growth planning for higher urban densities around transit hubs by 2030, the Boston region, especially the western suburbs, can only expect lower quality of life at higher cost, due to constant sprawl, open space loss, housing and water shortages, and skilled workforce flight, warns the 101-town Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in its recent study-based MetroFuture regional plan, urging communities to prepare now for almost a half million more residents within the next two decades.

They will take 240,000 jobs and need more than 300,000 housing units, and if municipalities shun regional cooperation to spur multi-family housing in mixed-use town centers, convert industrial properties into studios and small business, and step up water conservation, writes Boston Globe correspondent John Dyer, they will have to pave over more than 150,000 acres of the countryside.

''We're trying to preserve open space and natural resources by concentrating growth in areas where services and infrastructure already exist,'' said MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen, concerned about the region's disadvantages in national and global economic competition. ''We're thinking big, and I make no apologies for thinking big.''

According to MetroFuture's 2030 population and land use forecasts, regional planning and smart growth would reduce the open space loss in an average western-suburb municipality from more than 1,000 to about 250 acres, and its new housing need from more than 1,600 to 1,500 units, most likely built in tight clusters.

The projections for each town vary, depending on its characteristics.

For example, the correspondent reports, urbanized Waltham, eight miles west of Boston, would lose just 140 instead of 250 acres, while gaining some 3,700 rather than 3,000 units, mostly in dense mixed-use buildings.

Bucolic Upton, 30 miles southwest of Boston, would limit its open space loss and housing needs from 2,400 to 320 acres and from 1,800 to 850 units.

Tiny Westborough nearby would cut the loss and needs from 1,700 to 470 acres and from 1,600 to 1,160 units.

Like some other Boston region towns, Westborough has already adopted smart growth principles for land protection and compact housing, with Town Planner Jim Robbins pointing to the 300-unit condo and townhouse project on 33 acres across from a commuter rail station.

''To create housing opportunities for middle-class America,'' he advised builders and buyers, ''if you can't afford a one-family house, you get townhouses near a commuter rail.''

Still, said Massachusetts Housing Partnership Executive Director Clark Ziegler, the state may need to nudge municipalities into providing more housing, with a focus on modest homes, multi-family dwellings, and flats over stores.

''If towns are free to snub their noses at that, I don't think we'll succeed,'' he observed. ''We have to find a way to ensure every city and town is part of the solution and moving in the right direction.'' -- Boston Globe 07.19.2007 www.boston.com/   7/19/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Without Smart Growth, MetroFuture Report Paints Bleak Picture for Northern Boston Communities

To protect their quality of life from erosion by sprawl or at least to limit its harms, many Boston area communities, especially in the north, should concentrate development around urban centers and transportation hubs, cluster housing on smaller lots, build affordable units and otherwise pursue smart growth, recommends the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in its ''MetroFuture'' forecast for 2030.

''A lot of communities felt they were growing too fast, so they adopted large-lot zoning as a way out of the problem,'' observed MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen. ''They have since discovered they are losing open space just as fast to lawns and driveways.''

According to the forecast, report Boston Globe writers Kay Lazar and Matt Carroll, without the recommended land use changes, builders will scatter some 5,100 new housing units mostly throughout open space, the region will lose more than 19,000 acres instead of just 5,700, and the number of communities seriously threatened by water shortages will jump from 4 to 12.

Though some northern tier communities saved more open space than others did, they often fail to meet the state's target of making 10 percent of housing affordable to lower income residents.

In Boxford, the last on the state list, only 0.7 percent of the housing is deemed affordable, with its planning board member Holly Langer saying some residents ''have grown up and are working in town, and can't afford to stay here.''

Still, she doesn't see how the town could build the recommended cluster and affordable housing, given its two tiny village centers on opposite sides, and the lack of any commercial base, public transit or municipal water supply.

On the other hand, several other communities ''are aggressively seizing smart-growth opportunities,'' the writers note, mentioning Lynn, Salem and Peabody.

Lynn will move power lines from its underused waterfront to prepare it for mixed-use development; the other two are transforming industrial buildings downtown into retail stores, lofts and other residences.

''More diversified types of housing in a region will definitely aid in the economy, especially if there are high-quality options for all income ranges,'' pointed out North Shore Chamber of Commerce President Robert Bradford. ''The suburban sprawl -- people can't afford it any longer.'' -- Boston Globe   7/5/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Editorial Suggests Casting Careful Eye at Projects Labeled ''Smart Growth''

Known for its prestigious Smith College, Northampton can also be proud of ''prime examples of Smart Growth,'' in which ''architects created structures that worked within the fabric of the buildings around them,'' but Mayor Clare Higgins and city planner Wayne Feiden still misapply the term to a planned downtown Hilton hotel, writes Easthampton Valley Advocate online producer Mark M. Roessler, noting that the project may meet two of the 10 EPA smart growth principles, and asking, ''What about the rest?''

The two principles ''the hotel remotely matches are 'mixed land uses' and 'take advantage of compact building design,' and these are debatable,'' the producer observes, disturbed by claims that the project is good for the city.

''An ugly hotel will diminish the investments made by private citizens seeking to protect the way our Main Street looks,'' he continues. ''Despite assurances that Northampton will get a bigger park, we will in fact lose the only such public space downtown when the space becomes the front doorstep of a multi-million dollar business.''

This is not a matter of a single term, though ''given the widespread use of the term in City Hall, you'd think someone might have looked it up,'' since ''it appears the misunderstanding has spread to other words, like 'preservation','' he writes, mentioning Community Preservation Committee head Jack Hornor.

In April, he spoke in Florence about the state's Community Preservation Act, which authorizes the use of taxpayer dollars for historic preservation, open space preservation and affordable housing, but he focused solely on the latter, without addressing the other two items.

Afraid that the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission also misses ''the point of Smart Growth,'' because it has given Northampton its awards based on only six smart growth principles instead of EPA's 10, the producer concludes: ''We should be wary of projects which are sold to us under the rubric of Smart Growth until the civic leaders in our region demonstrate a better understanding of the concept.'' -- Valley Advocate   6/21/2007

Resource(s): www.valleyadvocate.com/

Editorial: State Incentives for Affordable Housing Needed to Stem Flight of Educated Workers

Boston region officials are slowly ''accepting the logic of smart growth'' and density ''isn't the dirty word it was a decade ago,'' but since some people still resist new housing, especially for families, as requiring more in municipal services than it brings in taxes, the state must continue to provide housing incentives regardless of any potential political shifts and budgetary constrains or priorities, says a Milford Daily News editorial, calling housing construction ''an economic imperative'' to stem the flight of educated workers, who can't find affordable homes in the state.

Although the state's Chapter 40B lets developers skirt local zoning to build affordable housing, and Chapters 40R and 40S offer communities affordable unit incentives, the editorial observes, such monetary aid could now be guaranteed for many years ahead under bills proposed by state Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler and Representative Kevin Honan.

The bills would establish ''a trust fund that could only be used to reimburse schools and municipalities for costs generated by smart growth developments,'' a fund constantly fueled by state income taxes from smart-growth-district residents.

Considering it an idea worthy of inclusion in a comprehensive state housing policy, reportedly being prepared by Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's administration, the editorial once again points out that affordable housing barriers exist at the local, not the state level.

While the state may need more housing, municipalities may feel they cannot afford it, the editorial says, convinced that the proposed dedicated fund is a step in the right direction, but that the best way to remedy the situation ''is through tax and school-financing reform that reduces reliance on the property tax for education.'' -- Milford Daily News   6/10/2007

Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/

After 134 Years, Budget Cuts Spell Closure for Newburyport's Kelley Elementary School

Opened in 1873, the Kelley Elementary School two blocks from Town Hall in the middle of Newburyport, most likely the nation's second oldest elementary school still in operation, will close for good June 20 as part of a structural change to save the school department some $650,000 of the $1.6 million budget shortfall.

Fully aware of the closure's ramifications, reports Boston Globe correspondent Wendy Killeen, the older generation -- teachers, staffers, parents and past graduates -- call it ''devastating,'' ''heartbreaking,'' ''terrible,'' and ''foolish'' to give up the large classrooms, wide hallways and much of local history, while some of the 115 students being dispersed to three other schools think change could be fun.

''It's much harder for adults than kids,'' says Kelley principal Dave Archambault, interested only in posts at small neighborhood schools. ''The kids do have their sad moments, absolutely. But, mostly, they are excited.''

Former principal Marin Fortune considers the closing ''the end of an era,'' since ''they don't make'' such buildings any more.

''It's a great learning environment because the kids have plenty of space,'' he observes. ''It's nice that students have been able to walk to school and that will be lost for a lot of kids.''

A 1949 graduate, Muriel Cummings, says the kids ''do well here compared to bigger schools,'' and a 1942 graduate, former mayor Byron Matthews, comments, ''It's a sad day. It's part of progress, but it's hard to take away a building that has meant so much to the children of Newburyport.''

Longtime teachers Ruth Connors and Christine Johnson feel the same, the latter saying, ''It's always been such a wonderful and nurturing school, just a real sense of community.''

Plagued by budgets cuts, other Essex County communities also face closures of old schools, the correspondent notes, mentioning the 190-student Machon Elementary School in Swampscott and the 550-student Fuller Elementary School in Gloucester. -- Boston Globe   6/3/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Walk-to-School Program Growing in Massachusetts

As suburban sprawl rolled ahead and big schools on the outskirts proliferated in the past 40 years, the number of students living within a mile of school declined from 34 to 21 percent and the number of those walking or biking that distance plummeted from 87 to under 15 percent, reports Boston Globe writer Peter Schworm, glad that ''a growing walk-to-school movement is trying to make a dent in the car-centric suburbs and the prevailing drive-to school culture.''

Alarmed by childhood obesity rates, school, transportation, and public health officials are taking ''aggressive steps to promote walking among today's youth, hoping that even a modest amount of exercise will improve fitness and encourage regular physical activity.''

Parents are getting involved, too. In Massachusetts, they have been leading a weekly ''walking school bus'' in 40 communities, including Abington, Canton, Hingham, Scituate and Weymouth, as part of the state's Safe Routes to School program.

''A little exercise, a little less congestion, a little less pollution,'' said Abington Center School principal Marilyn Weber. ''That's the goal.''

The marching students, the writer observes, are vastly outnumbered by their schoolmates in cars and SUVs, because parents ''find it simpler to drop off their children on their way to work, and are spared the worry of their young ones crossing busy streets or encountering unsavory strangers.''

A Hingham resident, the state's Safe Routes to School program leader Donna Smallwood, understands parental fears, given the obstacles -- heavy traffic, far-flung schools and scarce sidewalks -- though she feels ''most kids want to walk.''

Donna Smallwood was recently named chairwoman of the National Safe Routes to School Task Force, which is working on a plan to boost walking and biking throughout the country.

The national program, the writer adds, is allocating funds to all 50 states for their bike path and sidewalk projects and for educational campaigns ''to coax children to shed their sedentary ways.'' -- Boston Globe   4/29/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Gov. Patrick Unveils $1.4 Billion Boston Commuter Rail Plan

True to his electoral plank on transit and transit-oriented development, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick unveiled a $1.4 billion plan for commuter rail from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford, some 50 miles to the south, confident the line will help bring private investment to the underserved corridor, expand affordable workforce housing, reduce car dependency and improve air quality.

''For nearly 20 years, Massachusetts governors have promised the residents of Southeast Massachusetts access to the transit system that links cities and towns all across Eastern Massachusetts,'' he said at a press conference at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. ''I am here today to end the talking and get to work.''

Had Republican Governors William F. Weld and Mitt Romney acted on such promises during their terms, observes Boston Globe writer Mac Daniel, the southern commuter rail line could have cost much less, perhaps only the $156 million projected in 1995 or the $670 million projected in 2005, respectively.

Announced now, just a week after the Transportation Finance Commission estimated the state's transportation repair and maintenance backlog at $15 billion to $19 billion, the project will be much harder to fund.

Administration officials expect most of the $1.4 billion to come from taxes generated by development in the rail corridor, hopefully even before line construction begins.

The details, stressed Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen, still have to be worked out.

''I can't sit here today,'' he told reporters, ''and say I know how much is going to come from economic development, how much is going to come from the federal government, how much is going to come from restructuring the way we finance transportation.''

The project, the writer adds, envisions four new tracks at Boston's South Station and relocation of the adjacent U.S. Postal Service's General Mail Facility.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement the project ''will have tremendous transportation, public-realm, and economic development impacts on the South Boston Waterfront.'' -- Boston Globe   4/5/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Financial Crisis Looms for Massachusetts Transportation Systems

''Things will just go downhill if we don't figure out a way to make the investments that need to be made,'' commented state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen on a legislative report projecting an at least $15 billion to $19 billion shortfall just for system repair and maintenance over the next 20 years, excluding any new road or transit projects. ''It's something that should matter to everyone in the state who takes a bus, rides a train, or drives an automobile.''

After two years of study, reports Boston Globe writer Mac Daniel, the bipartisan Transportation Finance Commission concluded that without cost cuts and new revenue, the mobility crisis could damage the state's economy.

Finding that every state transportation agency suffers from a deficit and resorts to short-term fixes, the commission asked officials to consider a higher state gas tax -- raised to 21 cent per gallon in 1990 -- new toll roads, and public-private partnerships for necessary projects.

It warned that the 25 percent toll increases along the Massachusetts Turnpike may have to be higher and start before January, that the promised elimination of turnpike tolls by 2017 should be reviewed, and that the state should change funding for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to free its budget from reliance on fare increases.

With legislative hearings on the crisis starting this month and specific commission recommendations expected in May or June, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick told Cabinet secretaries to review the report and help find long-term solutions. -- Boston Globe   3/29/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Bay State Transportation Secretary Encourages Potential Rail Communities to Pursue Smart Growth

Having promised Democratic Governor Deval Patrick an April 4 report on the possible Boston commuter rail extension from Stoughton to New Bedford, some 45 miles further south, his Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen took a bus tour through six municipalities on the route, telling rail advocates that they can boost chances for both the line and the related urban revitalization by pursuing Smart Growth.

''Commuter rail, by itself, is not a panacea,'' he cautioned the Southeastern Massachusetts Commuter Rail Task Force at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center. ''Develop a really effective Smart Growth program that will help support the railroad, because the railroad alone won't do it. I can't underscore that any more than I have.''

Secretary Cohen, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray and several area lawmakers, all brought on the tour by the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD), reports New Bedford Standard-Times writer Joseph R. LaPlante, learned in turn that commuter rail ''is as unwelcome in Easton, Raynham and Stoughton,'' as ''it is welcome in Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford.''

A task force member, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Director Dr. Kyla Bennett, organized a protest in Easton, convinced that the proposed route could endanger the Hockomock Swamp.

Telling the writer that ''commuter trains with diesel locomotives'' are risky for the environment, she cited an Environmental Defense Fund study and EPA estimates that the locomotives will emit as much nitrogen oxide and as many harmful particulates as 120 and 70 coal-fired power plants, respectively.

Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce President and Executive Director Peter Kortright said PEER ''needs to review its mission,'' criticizing also the task force's members who don't know ''whether it is promoting commuter rail or weighing on the issues.''

New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang, Fall River Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr, state Democratic Representatives David Sullivan, John Quinn and Robert Correia, and the region's economic development official were adamant they need the rail extension.

Mayor Lang and City Planner David Kennedy pointed out that Smart Growth principles are at the base of a New Bedford Master Plan due this summer, with the former saying, the train ''will be a spine that we build around.'' Mayor Lambert called the rail extension ''an economic justice issue'' for Fall River, a statement echoed by Representatives Sullivan and Quinn.

Representative Correia was equally blunt. ''Twenty-five years ago, we put money in for a study and the study said it should be done. Twenty-five years ago, it took one hour to get (from Fall River) to Boston; today, it takes two hours. We must have rail service,'' he stressed. ''We can reduce the number of cars on Route 24 and that helps the environment.'' -- Standard-Times, Herald News   2/24/2007

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/ ; www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1710

Smart Growth Law Bringing Some Relief in Massachusetts Housing Crunch; Lawmakers Introduce New Measures for Starter Homes

''Massachusetts cannot sustain itself unless young, educated workers can afford to put down roots and raise families here,'' says a Boston Globe editorial, glad that ''the state's smart-growth law is proving effective in promoting one- and two-bedroom condominiums near commuter rail lines,'' and that housing experts and some lawmakers are now addressing the scarcity of affordable single-family and other starter homes on small lots as vital for economic expansion.

With a new Commonwealth Housing Task Force panel focused on the issue, Joint Committee on Housing Democratic Co-Chairmen Representative Kevin Honan and Senator Brian A. Joyce took the first legislative steps toward a starter-home strategy by introducing their separate bills to help first-time buyers.

Under Representative Honan's bill, the editorial notes, state financial incentives for dense development near rail stations and ferry and bus terminals would also benefit communities along bus lines, letting them designate their stop areas as smart-growth districts.

Since the bill would treat any area with commercial or industrial zoning as ''a potential smart-growth location'' and, in contrast to the current smart-growth minimums of eight single-family homes or 20 multifamily units per acre, allow just four units of any housing type per acre, the editorial considers it ''too permissive,'' even if in many towns with large minimum lots ''allowing four single-family homes per acre would be an improvement over the status quo.''

As to Senator Joyce's bill, the editorial continues, it would offer moderate-income Massachusetts-educated residents $10,000 grants for their first homes, with other lawmakers mentioning possible awards for companies that help workers pay for housing.

The problem is that when buyers have more money, ''prices tend to rise unless the supply of homes expands,'' the editorial observes, confident that lawmakers could spur construction ''without changing a word of the smart-growth laws,'' simply by budgeting enough money for smart-growth incentives ''to make residential development -- whether single-family or multifamily -- more attractive to cities and towns.''

Alarmed that many young people from denser suburban neighborhoods ''haven't a prayer of finding similar homes in their own price range,'' the editorial concludes: ''Until more such homes are available, even people with advanced degrees and solidly middle-class income will be destined for downward mobility -- or will just make their lives somewhere else.'' -- Boston Globe   2/11/2007

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

City Council Approves Smart-Growth District Designation for Downtown Haverhill

Championed by Mayor James Fiorentini for two years, the designation of 40 acres in historic downtown Haverhill as a smart-growth district under the state's Chapter 40R, which offers municipalities cash for dense mixed-use redevelopment near transit, was at last approved by the City Council in a 7-2 vote, with Councilor John Courtin opposed because of the potential impact on schools, and Councilor William Macek because of uncertainty about Democratic Governor-elect Deval Patrick's support for 40R funding.

In the audience, reports North Andover Eagle-Tribune writer Jason Tait, former Councilor Louis Fossarelli restated his earlier concerns about the state's earlier Chapter 40B, which lets developers sidestep some local zoning to build affordable units, saying, ''40R is nothing but 40B with a check and a smiley face.''

Under the program, the writer notes, the city should receive $600,000 upfront and $3,000 for each of the new housing units, 20 percent of which must be affordable to lower-income residents.

With about 300 condos and apartments already in the pipeline, and another few hundred likely, the council's majority and other officials expressed confidence in the smart-growth district prospects, pointing out that the city, some 30 miles north of Boston, needs additional affordable housing.

City Planning Director William Pillsbury believes that most of new downtown buyers and renters to be young professionals who won't overburden schools. Mayor Fiorentini expects the smart growth district to put the city at the state's ''forefront'' in downtown redevelopment.

Among those interested in the higher density district zoning, the writer adds, are a Boston Archdiocese affiliate, who plans a 57-unit project, and Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, which envisions construction of 300 rentals. -- Eagle-Tribune   12/20/2006

Resource(s): www.eagletribune.com/

Office for Commonwealth Development Provides Needed Coordination Between Massachusetts State Agencies, Says Former OCD Education Director

Just when it took root and produced the first smart growth results, some advisers persuaded Democratic Governor-elect Deval Patrick that the Office for Commonwealth Development (OCD), created by outgoing Republican Governor Mitt Romney in 2003 to coordinate the work of the housing, transportation, energy and environmental agencies, should be replaced by a special gubernatorial assistant, writes former OCD education director Anthony Flint on the Boston Globe op-ed page, convinced that the office ''would send a stronger signal'' to the system and the public.

It would ensure, he writes, wider coordination between the two newly created cabinet posts -- one for housing and economic development, the other for environment and energy -- while linking them closer ''to the all-important area of transportation.''

Prompted by the OCD -- for its first three years led by former longtime New England Conservation Law Foundation Director Douglas I. Foy -- agencies that have previously competed with or almost ignored one another are now partners, the writer observes, mentioning the Department of Conservation and Recreation's work with MassHighway, and the Department of Housing and Community Development's cooperation with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Consequently, he continues, the state ''has been able to encourage dense residential development in town centers and downtowns through Chapter 40R and 40S; provide $30 million for transit-oriented development; set priorities by filtering $500 million in funds for local infrastructure projects through a scoring system known as Commonwealth Capital; and help cities and towns create their own sustainable development initiatives.''

The writer, currently Cambridge-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy public affairs manager, notes that although ''new governors understandably want to make a fresh start,'' sometimes they overreach, as in Maryland in 2003, when newly elected, and now unseated, Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ''all but dismantled'' the smart growth office of his Democratic predecessor Parris N. Glendening.

Pointing out that the Massachusetts growth-management model has attracted other states, with Connecticut Republican Governor Jodi Rell establishing the Office for Responsible Growth last September, Virginia Democratic Governor Tim Kaine and business leaders researching its ideas; and New York Democratic Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer considering a similar concept, the writer makes his view perfectly clear.

''We should be happy to share our experience with other states concerned about housing, transportation, energy, and the environment,'' he stresses. ''But it would be ironic if the Massachusetts model was in place all around the country -- and not in Massachusetts.'' -- Boston Globe   12/19/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Bay State's Governor-Elect Patrick May Emphasize Link Between Energy Efficiency and Smart Growth

Governor-elect Deval Patrick ''is not only the Bay State's first-ever black governor and the first Democrat to take the corner office in 16 years, he's trying to be the greenest, too,'' reports Boston University student Daily Free Press writer Priyanka Dayal, pointing to his calls for energy efficiency and incentives for mass transit and transit-oriented development, all necessary for smart-growth.

The governor-elect's spokesman Richard Chacon described investment in the environment as investment in economic prosperity. ''His vision is for Massachusetts to prioritize the expansion of alternative and renewable energy,'' he said. ''He is also a big believer in making power plants more efficient.''

Advancing the outgoing Republican administration's efforts to ease the permitting process for housing near transportation, the democratic governor will move to expand the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), increase its funding, make it more affordable, and spur transit ridership. He will also make good on Governor Romney's unfulfilled promise to sign the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which obliges seven New England and mid-Atlantic states to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

''Governor Romney was going to sign on to it,'' said Legislature's Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture researcher Mehreen Butt. ''The night before he was supposed to sign on it, he pulled out.''

The hallmark of the governor-elect's stance on energy, the writer observes, is his support for the controversial project to build 130 wind turbines off the Cape Cod coast. Outlined in 2001, and backed by the outgoing administration, but opposed by some Republicans, local residents, environmentalists and leading Democrats, including Senator Edward Kennedy, the Cape Wind project is currently under state and federal agency reviews, expected to take another year.

Like most state residents, the governor-elect believes that harnessing wind energy would outweigh the project's impact on area residents and the environment, said his spokesman, noting, ''He, more than anyone, understands the complexities of the issue.''

The Massachusetts Audubon Society's director of public policy and government relations director Jack Clarke explained that his group will wait with support for Cape Wind until further research proves it won't harm wildlife.

Unlike Environmental League of Massachusetts Vice President Nancy Goodman, he also said that the state should significantly increase land protection funds. With less than 1 percent of the state budget earmarked for the environment, the league vice president hailed the potential of current programs, saying, ''We're (already) doing an enormous amount with a small amount of money.''

But director Clarke seeks at least $50 million more, stressing the neglect of the state's parks over the last 16 years and the link between environmental policy and economic growth. ''The governor needs to work with developers and the environmental community to figure out a way to provide affordable housing ... and protect the brain trade,'' he said. ''This is the biggest economic problem for Massachusetts: 25-to-35-year-old are leaving the state. Right now, it's just too expensive.'' -- Daily Free Press   11/21/2006

Resource(s): www.dailyfreepress.com/home/

Multifamily Housing, Transit-Oriented and Brownfield Redevelopment Part of Governor-Elect Patrick's Plans to Boost Development in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts construction industry feels the 56-percent victory of Democrat Deval Patrick over Republican Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey opens new opportunities for denser housing, brownfield reuse and transit-oriented development, with Boston Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties CEO David Begelfer saying the Romney administration has focused its ''Smart Growth'' policy just on urban centers, while Governor-elect Patrick will apply it statewide.

''He comes from a business perspective,'' he noted, ''and clearly understands that there has to be (development) if there is going to be growth.''

In his first year in office, reports the New York-based commercial real estate industry's Globest.com writer Beverly Ford, the state's first Democratic Governor-elect in 16 years expects to streamline and shorten the project approval-permit process to six months, and work with localities and others stakeholders to ''pre-permit development sites and anticipate infrastructure needs so that they are development ready.'' This would include pre-permits for multifamily housing. He also wants to sign an economic stimulus package that would include investment in work force training and expansion and brownfield redevelopment.

''He offers the best hope for the future,'' said another local developer. ''If he can accomplish anything to move along the development process, I think we'll see more growth in this state.'' -- Globest.com   11/9/2006

Resource(s): www.globest.com/

Bay State Gubernatorial Candidate Patrick Would Emphasize Smart Growth Development Near Public Transportation

Asked by Berkshire Eagle editors about his three top and other priorities if elected as governor, Democrat Deval L. Patrick, former U.S. Justice Department civil rights division head in the Clinton administration and the state's first African-American gubernatorial nominee, promised to focus on economic stimulation, public education and health-care reform implementation, along with efforts to spur affordable housing in communities still below the 10-percent minimum by emphasizing ''smart growth development near public transportation.''

Since ''additional housing places greater demands on local schools and other services,'' he said, ''we will restore local aid so that communities can meet the needs and demands'' and ''we will simplify the permitting and approval process and make it more inclusive of local residents.''

Patrick also promised to roll the state's income tax back to 5 percent, as voters demanded in 2000, but not immediately. ''I believe that the tax to cut is the property tax because it is a special hardship on seniors, people on fixed income or who are out of work,'' he stated, convinced that his targeted investments in infrastructure and public education will eventually boost the economy enough to sustain the 5 percent income tax rate.

Concerned about the nation's overdependence on foreign oil, he stressed the importance of alternative energy sources, saying that's why he is ''a strong and vocal supporter of the Cape Wind project and the important energy and environmental benefits it will provide.'' -- Berkshire Eagle 11.05.2006 http://www.berkshireeagle.com/   11/5/2006

Resource(s): www.berkshireeagle.com/

Navy Urged to Accelerate Property Transfer, Contaminant Removal at Former South Weymouth Naval Air Station

''We must ensure that job creation, smart growth and remediation of site clean-up is addressed and promoted,'' said Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy in a statement on his and Congressman William Delahunt's push to make the Navy accelerate the removal of contaminants from the 1440-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station and the transfer of the last 835 acres to South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., which will be overseeing its transformation into the mixed-use SouthField complex.

Under the base redevelopment plan, approved by the Weymouth Town Council and by Abington and Rockland town meetings last year, reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Jack Encarnacao, LNR Property Corp. will build 2,855 houses and condos, 2 million square feet of commercial space, a sports center, a golf course and recreation fields by 2017, with 671 acres left as wetlands, grassland, forest and other open space.

Earlier this month, LNR submitted a draft environmental impact report to the state's Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, with a cover letter from a citizens' advisory committee asking Secretary Robert W. Golledge, Jr. to focus review on the traffic impact. The committee ''had a very thorough vetting of all the issues,'' LNR spokesman Rich Kleiman commented on the cover letter. ''Certain issues we admitted in the document weren't completely resolved and we need to get a little bit more information.''

At the same time, state Superior Court Judge John Connor rejected a lawsuit by 10 Weymouth residents to halt redevelopment until Tri-Town and LNR know the environmental conditions of the base better, including the degree of contamination on 11 federal Superfund waste sites, and corporation officials restated that nothing will be built on any tract before it's cleaned up.

Plaintiff Peter Scannell, who argued for the injunction, agreed with the judge that the suit's allegations were too ''vague,'' but added, ''Hopefully, a little bit more pressure is on the proponent to be more forthcoming and a little more considerate of the host communities.''

With LNR planning to launch construction of 500 housing units on a 57-acre parcel in spring or summer under a state environmental waiver, the writer notes, Senator Kennedy and Congressman Delahunt pledged their continuing help in negotiations to transfer the rest of the base to the corporations. The redevelopment, reads Senator Kennedy's statement, ''will provide a significant economic boost to the region by providing affordable housing, new construction jobs and long term economic opportunities for the region.'' -- Patriot Ledger   10/26/2006

Resource(s): http://ledger.southofboston.com/

Dedham Officials Learn Importance of Providing Pedestrian Access to Commuter Stations

The new Jefferson at Dedham Station apartment complex across Rustcraft Road from the commuter rail stop in Dedham, some nine miles southwest of central Boston, would fully warrant its smart-growth designation if those who live in its first 150 units had easy access to trains instead of having to chance the busy road to ''a hole in the chain-link fence'' along the tracks, take the complex's shuttle bus on a nearly three-mile detour, or drive to a parking lot with a $2 fee.

Having required only shuttle buses when approving the Jefferson complex, reports Boston Globe correspondent Robert Preer, town officials had learned their lesson for the adjacent Fairfield Green apartment project now about to break ground, requiring it to provide pedestrian access to the station.

Once completed, both complexes will offer about 600 apartments. ''When you have that many people in that many units, the idea is for them to keep their cars in the garage,'' said Dedham Selectman James A. MacDonald. ''If they have to drive to the parking lot to take the train, it doesn't make any sense.''

Fairfield Green developer, Maryland-based Fairfield Residential, has drafted a Rustcraft Road crosswalk plan, and company vice president Kevin Maley expects to work with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) on the station's design changes, to allow pedestrian access from the road.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pasturo assured all interested that the agency ''certainly supports pedestrian access to the station.'' But for now, the correspondent adds, the shuttles or the hole in the fence remain the best options. -- Boston Globe   9/21/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Hudson Hopes Smart Growth Incentives Will Help Transform Vacant Mill Sites to Downtown Housing

Long hoping for reuse of its old mills, Hudson, about 25 miles west of central Boston, is now banking on state smart-growth incentives and planning to rezone 13 mill and other vacant downtown sites for dense mixed uses next year, a move that could increase the downtown housing stock by 551 units, including 20 percent for lower-income residents.

''Over the years, many mill owners have come to us and asked us what their options are,'' said community development director Michelle Ciccolo, pointing out that the ''financial windfall'' for creating a smart-growth overlay district downtown is substantial.

For adopting the bylaw, reports Milford Daily News writer Carolyn Kessel Stewart, the town would get $600,000, plus $3,000 for each new housing unit and additional funds for education if new residents have school-age children. At the same time, adjacent land would remain undeveloped and town wouldn't need to spend on service and infrastructure expansion. Selectmen will discuss the creation of a smart-growth overlay district once staff determines whether the town has sufficient water and sewer capacity.

In contrast to the almost 500 condos, apartments and townhouses already built or approved for seniors, the writer notes, the smart-growth district would accommodate all ages. ''We hear that all the time, there's no place for people just starting out,'' observed director Ciccolo, adding that the district ''really makes sense for Hudson that has older facilities that aren't necessarily in use.'' -- Daily News   8/9/2006

Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/

Missing Link in Boston's 200-Mile Bay Circuit Trail Could Soon Be Filled

A key ''missing link'' in the Boston region's 200-mile Bay Circuit Trail through 50 towns, the 1.75-mile multipurpose Concord River Greenway in Lowell will soon begin to be filled, with the City Council using a $138,000 state grant to buy 3.17 acres for its first segment, seen by Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust Executive Director Jane Calvin as an important southern ''gateway'' to the city.

Besides the purchase grant from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, reports Lowell Sun writer Andrew Restuccia, the project receives financial support from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Recreational Trail Program and the New England Fund for the Arts. The rest of land needed for the greenway along the river's eastern bank belongs to private owners, with whom city chief planner George Proakis expects to work out mutually beneficial easement agreements.

The river's unique history and rich wildlife ecosystem, with otters, herons, wood ducks and occasionally spotted bald eagles, said director Calvin, will be incorporated into the conceptual greenway design ''to make sure the plan isn't just from the engineers' perspective.''

Involved in the task, artists Mags Harries and Lajos Heder intend to use granite and other local material for the greenway art pieces. ''It's such a phenomenal river that it's hard to compete with,'' observed Mags Harries. ''We have to choreograph it so that it will be a unique pathway. We don't want to engineer a pathway without areas to stop and enjoy the river.'' -- Lowell Sun   8/8/2006

Resource(s): www.lowellsun.com/

East Longmeadow Residents Speak Out for Sidewalks So Kids Can Walk to School

Many East Longmeadow residents inside the two-mile Mountainview School radius, where they get courtesy busing for a fee, would prefer their children to walk to school, but this nice town just southeast of Springfield has no sidewalks along school routes, a problem town officials promised to address after getting an earful at a recent public speakout, especially from parent William Bednarzyk Jr.

The police reviewed the route his daughter would be taking to school and found it unsafe, notes Springfield Republican writer Azell Murphy Cavaan, quoting its evaluation report. ''The police department does not recommend students walk along main roadways,'' wrote Sgt. Richard C. Bates, ''without the benefit of sidewalks.''

Pressed by parents each year to do something about it, Superintendent of Schools Edward W. Costa II told the Board of Selectmen in a letter, ''Clearly, the construction and design of sidewalks is outside our jurisdiction as a school department.''

And finally things may change, with Board of Selectmen Chairman James D. Driscoll preparing an inter-departmental meeting on the issue.

As to William Bednarzyk Jr., the writer observes, he refuses to drive his daughter to school, gather a carpool or pay for courtesy busing until the sidewalks are installed. If she must ride a school bus, his tax dollars should cover the transportation fees, he said, adding, ''I am asking them to provide busing for unsafe routes at no cost.'' -- Republican   7/24/2006

Resource(s): www.masslive.com/republican/

New Development Secretary Gottlieb Outlines Financial Rewards for Commonwealth's High-Density Downtown Residential Districts

Smart growth helps communities build more housing and expand ''the housing choices beyond large-lot, single-family subdivisions,'' writes new state Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Andrew Gottlieb in a Boston Herald guest opinion, pointing out that each of the five municipalities that have recently approved special high-density residential districts downtown, in town centers, on postindustrial sites or near transit, with 20 percent of units affordable to lower-income residents, will receive $3,000 per new housing unit and an up to $600,000 lump sum under Chapter 40R, plus funds covering school costs for children in these districts under Chapter 40S.

Plymouth will rehabilitate an old rope-making factory for more than 670 housing units; Dartmouth will transform an old amusement park into a 200-home complex; Norwood will redevelop a church property, North Reading will use the former J.T. Berry campus for mixed-use development, and Chelsea will build high-density housing steps from its commercial center and transit, he writes, stressing that Plymouth will get more than $2 million for its project.

''The increased production and the diversity of the housing stock,'' the secretary continues, ''opens up new possibilities for the young, the elderly, and the teachers and police officers who have been frustrated by the region's high home prices for so many years.''

Noting that alternatives to sprawl help the environment and ''increase energy efficiency in these times of high fuel prices,'' and that compact mixed-use construction adds value and ''provides a foundation for new jobs and economic development,'' he calls smart growth ''a handy term to refer to all these benefits.'' -- Boston Herald   7/5/2006

Resource(s): http://news.bostonherald.com/

New Bedford's $13 Million Historic District Investment Spurs Downtown Business, Private Investment in Neighboring Areas

While some focus on million-dollar condos or even more costly mansions in the suburbs, it took just $13 million for New Bedford and its partners to restore five turn-of-the-century buildings in the downtown historic districts as the Union Street Lofts, with 35 apartments, including 20 affordable units, and 15,000 square feet of retail and commercial space -- a three-year project that has spurred downtown business, fueled private investment in adjacent areas, and may entice others to follow smart growth.

''This is a momentous day as we celebrate the reuse of these historic properties as homes,'' said Mayor Scott Lang at the project opening. ''The Union Street Lofts project has not only provided the city with new housing, it has also provided jobs to our local contractors and has stimulated our economy.''

Others in the partnership echoed the statement. ''Union Street Lofts represent the best of what a public-private partnership is about,'' pointed out HallKeen Management President and CEO Andrew Burnes. ''The initiative embodies key smart growth principles and will be viewed as a model for future partnerships.'' Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE) Board President Dan Perry called the joint efforts to change the face of downtown ''a great example of community, economic and neighborhood development accomplished through historic preservation.''

The key financial partner was Sovereign Bank, whose Massachusetts Market CEO Patrick J. Sullivan said, ''Sovereign understands that private capital is needed to help fund projects that will jump-start economic revitalization. Bringing these buildings back on the tax rolls and back into the community will have positive effects on other private investment in the neighborhood.''

The lofts include studios and one-bedroom and two-bedroom rentals, featuring restored brick and stone exteriors, new electrical, plumbing and heating systems, air conditioning, cable television and broadband internet, with each designed to capture the maximum of natural light and several offering harbor views.   6/28/2006

Resource(s): www.prnewswire.com/ ; www.unionstreetlofts.com

South Weymouth Redevelopment Oversight Agency Approves First Regulatory Documents for Project

With LNR Property Corporation expected to break ground this summer for redevelopment of the 1,405-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station into a transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly community of 2,855 housing units, 10 percent of them affordable, and 2 million square feet of commercial space, plus a school, parks, recreational fields, an 18-hole golf course and other amenities, its public oversight agency, the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corporation, approved the first nine chapters of a ''regulatory framework'' for the 15-year project, one of the provisions calling for a land-use administrator whose qualifications must include ''a background in architecture, and/or urban design, demonstrated experience with the principles of neighborhood design and smart growth projects and demonstrated experience with code enforcement at the municipal level.''

The job, reports Abington Mariner writer Ed Baker, will likely go to Tri-Town environmental resource director James Young. Applying both to the Central Redevelopment Area, controlled by Tri-Town, and to the small Perimeter Areas of 52, 127 and 229 acres, controlled respectively by Abington, Weymouth and Rockland, the regulatory framework sets detailed quality requirements and bans, the latter including fences of chain link metal, razor or plastic wire.

''The toughest part will be to issue the first building permit,'' said Tri-Town Executive Director Terry Fancher. ''People will look at the first permit and see that is the established standard. It's more or less like when people driving into a housing development and see a model at the front gate.''

Called Southfield, he noted, the future community ''will have some lasting value and add value to the three communities in which the base resides.'' With earlier reported bans on vinyl siding, blank walls and other dull features or cheap materials, all accompanied by guidelines for landscaping and types of trees, shrubs and grass, the writer now cites additional framework details.

Builder plans will have to specify the proposed housing type, building materials, preliminary colors of structures, exterior features, landscaping, provisions for pedestrian and emergency vehicle access, studies of prospective car use in the area and of peak vehicle traffic generated by given projects, outdoor lighting, natural resource preservation measures, historical structure location and significance, and solid waste disposal and facility screening methods.

Weymouth Mayor David M. Madden called the regulatory document ''very good,'' expecting it to spur ''the type of economic growth we want to occur at the base.'' -- Abington Mariner   6/16/2006

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/abington

Is Smart Growth Housing Market Heating Up as National Housing Markets Cool?

Although the housing market is cooling down, especially in the Northwest, its smart-growth segment may be heating up, with Cabot, Cabot & Forbes (CC&F) planning a $1.5 billion complex of stores, offices and 1,000 condos on 135 acres near a future commuter rail station in Westwood, some 10 miles from central Boston, reports Westwood Press writer Priscilla Yeon, quoting CC&F President Jay Doherty, who stressed, ''We're here because of the commuter rail aspects'' and ''we want this project to be the nation's leading Smart Growth project.''

The condos, mostly one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, starting at $550,000 to $600,000, will target empty nesters and young professionals with no children. These are groups ''willing to take the T,'' the builder said, noting that 5 percent of the units will be set aside for moderate-income buyers and 12 percent designated as affordable for lower-income residents.

National Association of Realtors senior economist Lawrence Yun called the CC&F project ''bolder'' than similar projects in metro centers. In densely populated city areas people ''need to live closer to transit centers and pretty much be able to go everywhere,'' he observed, while Westwood is a Boston suburb with about 15,000 residents and this makes the CC&F project a greater gamble. But in Norwood, just two miles southeast, 105 less expensive condos built near the commuter line by Abbot Real Estate Development sold within 18 months, with its principal Gerard Savard recalling ''a very strong demand'' for the units, all priced between $200,000 and mid-$300,000.

Economic Development Advisory Board Chairman Steve Rafsky said a slower demand for the 1,000 CC&F condos will let the town ''naturally phase'' the project in. With the first phase bringing in retail stores and 400 condo units above, officials will evaluate the drain on town services and impact on traffic before approving the rest of the project. -- Westwood Press   6/8/2006

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/westwood

Abolish Zoning As We Know It? Author Points Out That Common-Sense Solutions to Sprawl Problems Are Largely Against the Law

''Soaring gas prices have made a lot of us yearn to drive less, walk more, and work near home,'' writes former Boston Globe reporter turned book author and state Office for Commonwealth Development educational expert Anthony Flint in the Globe's Sunday Magazine, siding with those ready to ''build neighborhoods where we don't have to jump in the car for every errand,'' but since most municipalities prohibit mixed uses, he emphasizes the need ''to abolish zoning as we know it'' or at least ''change the most outdated provisions that stand in the way of compact, concentrated development.''

Sensible at the onset of the last century, when reformers in unhealthy and crowded cities devised ''stricter rules for building and zoning that separated the then-messy functions of life,'' the single-zoning approach was endorsed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1926, but now is outdated. Glad that Boston, Carver, Framingham, Medford, Somerville and some other communities have responded to consumer demand by revising ''cumbersome'' provisions, the expert notes that much more is required and that residents will have to do their part.

''At town meetings, voters shouldn't torpedo a zoning change just because it's different, and neighbors of potential high-density development, if it's well designed, shouldn't respond with a knee-jerk 'Not here','' he writes. ''Good development can be a great thing for communities in need of housing.''

With many governments across the country testing out SmartCode, innovative zoning drawn up by New Urbanists and based on six grades of urban-to-rural density, the writer points out that development rules should change with the times.

''Just as reformers at the turn of the century saw intolerable conditions and pushed a new paradigm, consumers spending $70 a week on gas are going to start looking for alternatives to dispersed living,'' he concludes. ''They're going to be mighty annoyed when they discover that the common-sense solution is against the law.'' -- Boston Globe   6/4/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Gov. Romney Taps Undersecretary Gottlieb to Massachusetts' Office of Commonwealth Development Post

He needed more than a month to replace his first Office of Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy, who left on March 16, but Republican Governor Mitt Romney finally advanced its Undersecretary Andrew Gottlieb to the post, saying he is ''a dedicated public servant whose in-depth knowledge of government and the complexities of development will allow him to be immediately effective in his new role.''

While Douglas Foy had vast extra-governmental experience and prestige, gained during 25 years as the president of New England's six-state Conservation Law Foundation, Andrew Gottlieb became his deputy after 17 years with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Having helped Foy push for smart growth and distribute state dollars for higher-density redevelopment in city and town centers, he was recently involved in promoting zoning changes near stations along the new Greenbush train line between Boston and towns to the southeast, stressing, ''Communities have the opportunity to channel the growth and realize the economic advantages it can bring.'' -- Boston Globe   4/21/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Somerville Enlists Help of Former Smart Growth Secretary Foy to Help Map Long-Term Sustainable Development Agenda

Having resigned last month after three years, the initiator of smart growth in the administration of Republican Governor Mitt Romney, his first Office for Commonwealth Development (OCD) Secretary Douglas Foy, is lending his expertise free to Somerville, just northwest of Boston, as senior urban policy advisor to Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, who stressed, ''He's been an effective and influential governmental leader and public advocate for over three decades -- and we're incredibly fortunate to have access to his wisdom and advice as we map out a sustainable, balanced, long-term development agenda.''

The new advisor returned the compliment. ''Somerville under Mayor Curtatone has been a regional leader in embracing an innovative, transit-friendly, sustainable approach to economic and neighborhood development,'' he said, convinced that the city ''can be a showcase for smart growth'' and ready to work with its ''political, business and community leaders to realize the rich potential of their neighborhoods, city squares, urban renewal zones and transit corridors.''

Listing Somerville among the 19 state communities well on their way toward sustainability, a February OCD press release said the city ''is host to a collection of smart growth initiatives that are unlike any others in the commonwealth.''

Mayor Curtatone, reports Somerville News writer George P. Hassett, will be asking Douglas Foy to help shape development strategies for all these initiatives, which cover the Assembly Square district, Union Square, the planned Green Line extension from Lechmere to Medford Hills, and the Brickbottom, Inner Belt and Boynton Yards revitalization areas. -- Somerville News   4/10/2006

Resource(s): http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/

Gov. Romney Awards $516 Million for Capital Projects in Smart Growth Communities

Marking the last day on the job of Office of Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy, who initiated the state's smart growth efforts three years ago, Republican Governor Mitt Romney awarded a total of $516.5 million for capital projects ''to communities engaged in smart growth'' -- $501 million in low-interest loans for water and sewer system upgrades, and $15.5 million in direct grants for transit-oriented redevelopment, housing, pedestrian and transportation improvements, and ecologically critical parcel protection.

''We found a way to stop what was the prior path, which was just cutting down trees and sprawling the development of our commonwealth further and further away from our city centers,'' said Governor Romney, standing with Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and Secretary Foy in a Chelsea metal workshop, slated for replacement with 18 affordable housing units.

Chelsea, just northwest of central Boston, will receive more than $3 million in grants to redevelop a postindustrial tract near bus and commuter rail hubs -- $2 million for a rental housing project, $560,000 for a home ownership project, and $500,000 for a pedestrian walkway.

''As my last day in state government, it is really nice to go out on such a high mark,'' said Secretary Foy, the former president of the six-state region's Conservation Law Foundation, with Boston Globe writer Mac Daniel noting that the housing grants require developers to make at least 25 percent of units affordable for households with up to 80 percent of the area's median income. See the loan and grant list at www.mas.gov/ocd. -- Boston Globe   3/16/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Tyngsboro Affordable Housing Lottery to Award Homes at Reduced-Market Prices

It's not easy for an average-income earner to afford a home in the Tyngsboro area of northern Massachusetts, where median income is about $58,000 for a family of four and housing prices escalate, but under the town's ''smart growth initiative'' to provide 496 affordable ownership and rental units within four years, lower-income families are entering an inaugural lottery on March 11 to win a chance of buying one of the first five $180,000 homes -- similar to those selling nearby for $429,000 -- with Selectman Kevin O'Connor eager to watch the drawing, because ''It's like seeing people win the Powerball lottery.''

Open to families earning less than 80 percent of the area's median income, reports Lowell Sun writer Rachel Ellner, the affordable housing lottery attracted about 80 hopefuls four days before the March 3 application deadline. Officials promised a priority for town employees, residents and their kin, with many future units reserved for seniors.

''This is ideal for empty-nesters who want to move out of their big hard-to-heat and hard-to-maintain homes,'' noted Selectman O'Connor, both he and Selectman Richard B. Lemoine stressing that the planned total of 496 units will guarantee the town's long-term compliance with Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development goals.

''We have an affordable homeownership plan that will always keep us above the 10 percent (required by the state),'' pointed out Selectman Lemoine. ''When completed it will bring us to 12 percent.''

The four developers in the program, the writer reports, are also paying about $8 million in infrastructure improvements, including $6.5 million for water and sewer lines, almost $1 million for a senior center, $300,000 for water-tower and pumping station upgrades, and $30,000 for new sidewalks.

The next affordable housing lottery is tentatively scheduled for April. -- Lowell Sun   2/28/2006

Resource(s): www.lowellsun.com/

Editorial: Foy Praised for Laying Groundwork for Smart Growth in Massachusetts

Against deep-rooted local habits of sprawl, departing Secretary of Commonwealth Development Douglas Foy made smart growth ''a real model for the way the state exercised its muscle'' to link town revitalization, housing and transit, says the Boston Herald editorial staff, commending him for ''good use of both the carrots and sticks,'' with planning grants and development money benefitting communities that ''got the message,'' instead of those without ''a unit of affordable housing on their roster.''

The secretary ''put an astonishing number of policies in place and planted the seeds of growth in all the right places that should long outlast his tenure,'' the editors observe, pointing out that if the governor was ''more willing to engage and spend a bit more of his own political capital, there's no telling how much more might have been accomplished.''

And concerned about possible ''backsliding'' or ''forgetting the lessons so painfully learned,'' the editors conclude that ''it will take a first-string player like Foy to continue to make things happen.'' -- Boston Herald   2/24/2006

Resource(s): http://news.bostonherald.com/

Editorial: Foy's Successor in Office for Commonwealth Development Faces Challenges in Effort to Slow Sprawl

Although the state's entrenched housing and transportation policies still cost about 40 acres a day lost to sprawl and ever more commuter time spent in traffic, Governor Mitt Romney earned credit for closing their ''separate bureaucratic silos'' and putting them with energy and the environment in the Office for Commonwealth Development under Secretary Douglas Foy, says The Boston Globe in an editorial on the secretary's resignation, noting that he initiated the change and stressing, ''The likelihood that Foy's smart growth work will continue after he is gone would be greater if the Legislature would 'hardwire' his position with a statute, something it has refused to do.''

Whoever gets the job of focusing development on transit centers and underutilized urban sites, the editorial points out, must contend ''with the default position of homebuyers and builders to opt for large-yard houses in remote subdivisions, even if this leads to traffic congestion and needless hours behind the wheel.''

Since recent laws that encourage denser in-town development by offering communities money to cover the additional education costs failed to ignite an urban housing boom, the editorial says, Foy's successor ''will have to work tirelessly'' for zoning reform, transit expansion, and more funds ''to slow sprawl by protecting more open space or to reverse the slow deterioration of the state parks.''

Besides smart growth, the editorial praises the secretary's leadership ''in bringing Northeastern states together in a mini-Kyoto plan to reduce greenhouse gases by putting a cap on the carbon-dioxide emissions on the region's power plants,'' an agreement shunned by Governor Romney, who ''had clearly begun thinking of the effect on his national political chances of being a Kyoto candidate in Republican primaries.'' This Foy initiative, the editorial concludes, also ''will depend on a Romney successor for fulfillment.'' -- The Boston Globe   2/24/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Douglas Foy Resigns from Office for Commonwealth Development; Credited for Bringing Growth Issues to the Fore in Massachusetts

Appointed by Republican Governor Mitt Romney at the onset of his term in January 2003, the state's first secretary of the Office for Commonwealth Development, former Conservation Law Foundation president Douglas I. Foy, suddenly resigned, with the governor thankful for his work to create ''a structure that integrates housing, transportation and environmental policy'' and the secretary glad they have ''re-wired the state for more sensible growth,'' but Boston Globe writer Beth Daley also citing the governor's decision not to seek re-election, their recent split on key issues, and some disappointment among environmentalists.

Last December, the writer notes, the governor refused to join the landmark nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative brokered by the secretary to cut power plant emissions, proposing instead ''far weaker'' limits on carbon dioxide at state plants. This came shortly after the secretary agreed to abstain from discussions on a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Outer Brewster Island in Boston Harbor even though the State Ethic Commission thought his ownership of the company's stock required no such recusal.

There also was a strain over a Nantucket Sound wind-farm idea, opposed by the governor, but backed by the secretary. ''We disagree all the time. He's been a one-man whirling dervish,'' said the governor during their joint news conference, crediting the secretary for stimulating discussions and enormous contributions to the state.

Some conservationists and anti-sprawl experts, who had expected the secretary to be more forceful on smart growth, understand he had a tough job. With a new secretary to take the post in March, Environmental League of Massachusetts president Jim Gomes said, ''I think Doug ought to be commended in getting the conversation going in Massachusetts about issues of growth and sprawl, but I don't think either the governor or Legislature provided the tools or resources to make much progress on these issues.''

Speaking from a local perspective, Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone asserted, ''Foy has made an incredibly positive impact. He was accessible to us and gave us great guidance on smart, sustainable development.'' And longtime Conservation Law Foundation official Stephanie Pollack concluded, ''He didn't accomplish as much as some would have hoped, but he got more done than anyone could have in that position.'' -- Boston Globe, Massachusetts Office for Commonwealth Development   2/21/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/ ; www.mass.gov/ocd

New School Projects in Jeopardy After Massachusetts School Building Authority Announces Spending Freeze

Compounding many a municipality's fiscal strains, the state School Building Authority -- created by the legislature in 2004 to rein in state aid on school construction and clear the waiting list of 428 projects, about 80 of them much above initial cost estimates -- announced a spending freeze, which will keep the long-term aid program at its originally expected level of $4.3 billion instead of the recently projected $5.5 billion and force some localities to cover the difference out of their own tax revenue or else reduce the size of planned schools, many of them already under construction.

Affected local officials are furious, reports Boston Globe writer Scott S. Greenberger, quoting Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, who wants the state to honor its aid commitment.

''We'd like to be able to do additional parks and libraries,'' he said. ''I have to build a new police station and address other infrastructure and equipment needs.''

But the projected cost of Somerville's new middle school has increased from $22 million in 2003 to $33 million now, the writer reports, noting an even higher price jump for Newton's high school, from $104 million to $160 million since 2004.

Newton Mayor David Cohen said a number of his counterparts intend to petition state treasurer Timothy P. Cahill for financial help. ''It's not as though we have added any new program, or any new additional classrooms,'' he explained. ''It's simply that the cost of building materials, structural steel and petroleum-based products, have gone up so dramatically that it has to have an impact on every construction project.''

But the treasurer and School Building Authority executive director Katherine Craven told the writer that's not the only reason for the recent cost spiral. Before 2004, municipalities decided whether they wanted to renovate a school or build a new one, and the state put them on a waiting list for an average of 72 percent of the construction money -- affluent communities getting less; poorer ones getting more -- with little scrutiny. If the school expanded in the final plans, the state usually paid for extra space, which became an incentive to build bigger schools.

As an example, director Craven cited Newton's plan to build a 400,000 square-foot high school for 1,750 students, while Everett will host 1,800 students in a 325,000 square-foot high school. Noting that some new or planned schools are not only too large, but also include costly flourishes such as ornamental columns and glazed brick tile hallways, she stressed that municipalities have many ways to cut construction costs.

Promising to help them do it, she said municipalities not yet on the waiting list will have to document why they must build new schools instead of renovating old ones, and her agency will give priority to communities with structurally unsound or severely overcrowded schools. -- Boston Globe   1/22/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Development Secretary Foy Says New Massachusetts Policies Will Help Curb Sprawl, Promote Smart Growth and Preserve Open Space

Behind its anti-sprawl efforts from the onset of Republican Governor Mitt Romney's administration in 2003, former president of New England's Environmental Law Foundation and now Office of Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas I. Foy hits back at recent ''doom and gloom'' reports on Massachusetts home prices and home rule, telling critics to look deeper and see the state has ''turned the corner'' on crisis, with the market as ''a powerful driver of more housing in smart locations.''

Before Governor Romney took office, Secretary Foy writes in a Boston Globe op-ed piece, builders were adding 17,500 houses a year -- ''mostly big, expensive homes dispersed across the landscape;'' since then, that annual number has increased to 24,000 and the share of multi-family units has doubled.

Much more work must be done, but new state policies will let Massachusetts reach the production rate necessary to ensure sufficient supply and the moderate prices ''critical to economic competitiveness and job growth,'' the secretary observes, especially upbeat about mixed-use projects -- ''with homes, stores and restaurants, and office and laboratory space all in close proximity,'' some at MBTA stations -- already in the pipeline.

He also points to a surge of transit-oriented infills and downtown redevelopment projects, ''with eager buyers looking for shorter commutes,'' and his office offering various tools to help municipalities ''usher in this kind of growth.''

Chapter 40R rewards creation of compact smart growth districts with $10,000 to $600,000 in cash, plus $3,000 per each new unit, while new Chapter 40S reimburses the unfunded school costs for new children in such districts.

The Commonwealth Capital program earmarks almost $500 million for infrastructure and other urban needs, and more than 200 communities compete for its allocations, given according to their scores in housing production, open space preservation and two dozen other categories.

The secretary also mentions some $30 million in grants to facilitate transit-oriented development, noting that more than 100 towns got $2.1 million in smart growth grants and technical assistance to modify zoning, conserve open space and diversify housing; that many others used the online smart growth kit to learn about transferable development rights, accessory apartments and similar concepts; that the new Highway Design Manual ''encourages attractive Main Streets with trees and sidewalks and bike lanes;'' and that the state's 20-year transportation plan commits half of future funds to transit and requires zoning reform in new corridors.

''We do have a problem with home prices in the Commonwealth,'' the secretary agrees. ''But very quietly, almost stealthily, greater housing production and smart growth started to happen at the same time.'' -- Boston Globe   1/18/2006

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Boston Real Estate Attorney Says Smart Growth Benefits for Post-Industrial Centers Are ''Staggering''

Apprehensive about customary Massachusetts zoning that has been ''encouraging isolation,'' Boston land-use and commercial real estate attorney Robert Buckley, senior partner at Riemer & Braustein LLP, hopes for wide expansion of ''smart growth'' projects beyond the Boston metro area this year, stressing, ''The benefits are so staggering from a developer's standpoint, it's amazing that communities haven't grasped the idea.''

A participant in a media conference call before the Massachusetts Municipal Association's 27th Annual Meeting and Trade Show, January 13-14 in Boston, reports Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise writer Aaron Wasserman, the attorney pointed out that post-industrial centers such as Fitchburg can greatly benefit from their defunct old mills, once so important for the local economy.

''If you can get into these inner cores and take these buildings that are well-preserved, gut it and then market it as an 'ambiance' that you can't find in new construction, there is a market and it will go forward,'' he said, convinced that ever-steeper material costs will make older structures financially attractive to more and more builders.

As municipalities work to reinvent themselves, they also should offer developers and residents tax breaks to help them return downtown, he added, citing 20-year property-tax-reduction programs in Pawtucket, Rhode Island as a successful revitalization tool. -- Sentinel & Enterprise   1/13/2006

Resource(s): www.sentinelandenterprise.com/

Developer Reveals Conceptual Plans for 135-Acre Mixed-Use Complex Featuring Rail to Boston

After year-long talks with Westwood town officials and consultants about design details, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes (CCB) President Jay Doherty unveiled conceptual plans for a 135-acre mixed-use complex at the 250-acre University Avenue industrial park along a commuter rail line -- about 12 percent of its 1,000 condos set aside as affordable and five percent reserved for moderate-income buyers -- expecting it to become the ''nation's leading smart-growth project.''

Called Westwood Station for its location near the rail stop, some 10 miles southwest of central Boston, reports Needham Daily News Transcript writer Priscilla Yeon, the complex will feature about 2 million square feet of commercial space, mainly for high-tech companies, and 1.2 million square feet of retail, two hotels totaling 400 rooms, and probably a fitness center. The condos, mostly one and two bedroom units atop stores, should attract young professionals and other families with no children.

''Residential units above retail are not common in New England. It is particularly good for empty nesters,'' said the CCB president. ''We think the school-age population will be at a minimum.''

Expected to generate 10,000 jobs and take 10 years, the first phase construction mainly in the area nearest the train station, the project's progress will be watched closely, said Economic Development Advisory Board official Steve Rafsky, to minimize the impact.

With the developer likely to present a formal proposal next year, the project shows ''that smart growth is all about the town being pro-active,'' noted state Democratic Representative Bob Dedham. ''This is a good example of a smart-growth development where they (officials) are doing what's best for the town.'' -- Daily News Transcript   11/30/2005

Resource(s): www.dailynewstranscript.com/

Massachusetts Smart-Growth Zoning Reforms Have Uphill Battle Against Old Habits, Dated Regulations

Republican Governor Mitt Romney trusts he has solidified the state's 2004 zoning reform law (Chapter 40S), which offers municipalities about $4,000 for each housing unit in smart-growth overlay districts, by enacting its companion law (Chapter 40R), which reimburses them for the additional cost of schooling children whose families move into such new moderate-income higher-density projects near transit stations, town centers and older neighborhoods, but Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Director Kristina Egan cautioned against complacency.

''There have been no applications filed under 40S,'' she told the Milford Daily News editorial board, ''so we don't want you to think that because 40R was passed the affordable housing problem has been solved.''

MetroWest Growth Management Committee Director Donna Jacobs agreed, pointing out that old habits and dated state and local regulations make it difficult for municipalities to meet state smart-growth requirements for higher density, affordable housing, land preservation and related goals. She noted, reports the daily's writer Charlie Breitrose, that some towns fall short of the 20-unit-per-acre minimum in a smart-growth zone or the 10-percent share of affordable units in their housing stock. This latter goal could easily be reached without new development by allowing ''in-laws units,'' or attached apartments, she said, but some communities think such a solution would erode ''the single-family neighborhood.''

Similarly, she continued, municipalities depend on property taxes to fund services, which promotes sprawl and replacement of small homes with big ones; need special approval from the legislature to share property-tax revenue regionally; and have only 120 days to approve or deny a proposed project, which often scuttles their hope to buy the land and save it from development.

Until the state relieves communities from dependence on property taxes ''McMansions will continue to go up,'' she observed, adding, ''How realistic is it for a municipality to come up with money for open space in 120 days?''

Fair Housing Center of Great Boston Executive Director David Harris thought the 40S and 40R laws were a good start, but the state must do more to advance smart growth. ''To do the type of development towns need to have a clear picture of the tool kit,'' he stressed. ''Different people pick different tools. Towns need the appropriate tool for the appropriate job.'' -- Milford Daily News   11/29/2005

Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/

Bay State Set to Reimburse Communities for Cost of Schooling Children That Move Into Designated Smart Growth Districts

''We need to build more housing to keep our state economically competitive,'' said Republican Governor Mitt Romney, reiterating his commitment to smart growth with his signature on a bill that will reimburse communities for the additional cost of schooling children whose families move into new moderate-income higher-density housing within designated smart growth districts -- the payments for each new student based on local per-pupil spending rates.

Complementing last year's zoning reform bill, which offers communities about $4,000 for each new housing unit in smart-growth overlay districts near transit stations, town centers and other infrastructure-rich areas, the new law, said its sponsor, state Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler, will further cover the increased public school costs ''that communities are concerned about'' and ''will help ensure that future generation will be able to afford to stay right here in Massachusetts.''

Still, reports Boston Globe writer Emily Shartin, some local officials remain unconvinced. Framingham planning and economic development director Kathleen Bartolini, whose town needed no help to adopt smart-growth principles for its three mixed-use projects near the downtown train station, thought the new law gives the state too much control over smart-growth development, called the new incentives ''bribe money,'' and added, ''It doesn't need to be done that way and only that way.''

Others disagree. Metropolitan Area Planning Council executive director Marc Draisen said towns that worried about state control, housing density or insufficient incentives ''are now going to give this some more serious consideration.''

Natick community development director Patrick Reffett was glad that the state ''is desperately trying to create more housing,'' while Wellesley planner Meghan Conlon noted the importance of state attention to the school cost impact on towns that ''have a tough time.''

And Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy said smart growth policies ''will help us change the way we grow in Massachusetts by replacing sprawl with the kind of vibrant and successful downtowns Massachusetts has known and loved since its founding.'' -- Boston Globe   11/27/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe ; www.mass.gov/

Lack of Input, Traffic and Utility Concerns Cited in Rejection of Proposed Wayland ''Town Center'' Development

Its false Main Street was to make the 200,000 square feet of retail, about 1,300 parking spaces and 120 housing units irresistible to Wayland, some 15 miles west of Boston, but the proposed ''Town Center'' fell far short of the two-thirds Town Meeting super-majority needed for a bylaw to rezone a former Raytheon site on Route 20, with 745 residents taken by the project and 619 adamantly opposed.

Selectmen and finance commissioners, reports Wayland Town Crier writer John Hilliard, backed the rezoning proposal, noting that Twenty Wayland LLC promised the town at least $3 million after construction and that its subsequent tax revenue could exceed $450,000 a year.

But the Planning Board, which drafted the bylaw, revealed it felt ''unduly pressured'' during the drafting and advised the meeting against the project, with Vice Chairwoman Rebecca Regan, saying, ''The process did not allow proper due diligence by town boards and residents.''

The Board of Road Commissioners and the Wastewater Management District Commission took a similar stance, concerned about the project's impact on traffic congestion, utilities and water treatment capacity.

And that's what troubled the grassroots Citizens Against Reckless Development (CARD) group, also worried about small local merchants. ''It's a major regional shopping center,'' stressed resident Susan Reed, ''not a quaint town center.''

Although similar ''town center'' and ''lifestyle center'' projects are proposed and built across the country, ''most are little more than regional shopping centers styled to evoke traditional downtowns and neighborhood business districts,'' observe Hometown Advantage web page editors, noting their ''pedestrian'' look, but pointing out that they are ''only nominally mixed use'' and mostly located ''near major highways and designed to pull shoppers from an area much larger than the immediate neighborhood.'' -- Wayland Town Crier, The New Rules Project   11/7/2005

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/wayland ; www.newrules.org/index.htm

Bay State Lawmakers Work to Restore Brownfield Redevelopment Fund and Set Up Aid for Towns Adopting Smart Growth Zoning

After Chapter 40B and Chapter 40R laws -- the first passed in 1969 to help communities secure at least 10 percent of affordable units in each residential project, the other passed last year to offer them cash for higher-density housing near transit and town centers -- the legislature is advancing a Chapter 40S bill, under which municipalities that adopt smart-growth zoning but do not yet qualify for extra state money when their school enrollment goes up would receive such payments to offset additional costs.

The bill would cost the state $2 million in the first year and $36 million in 2014, ''hardly a budget-buster,'' observes a Boston Herald editorial, noting that Massachusetts was the only state ''to lose population in 2004, and the high cost of housing had a lot to do with it.''

Although the new investment alone ''won't solve the crisis,'' the editorial says, ''it should be part of the solution.''

In related news, Boston Globe writer Raphael Lewis quotes Senate Democratic President Robert E. Travaglini as saying lawmakers will stimulate revitalization in depressed neighborhoods by putting $30 million into the depleted 1998 Brownfield Redevelopment Fund and $10 million into a new program to improve planning and environmental permitting.

Part of the larger Commonwealth Investment Plan, the brownfield funding is being championed by Worcester Democratic Senator Edward M. Augustus, whose city is pock-marked with more than 200 post-industrial sites.

And some 15 miles north of Worcester, in Leominster, Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey joined Mayor Dean Mazzarella and other officials to announce a $700,000 Affordable Housing Trust Fund loan for the Leominster Development Corporation that will build 14 lower-income townhouses, and to break ground for redevelopment of a blighted warehouse near downtown into more that 70 townhouses, anchored by a renovated and expanded library.

Congratulating the mayor for his leadership on the project, the lieutenant governor said, ''This is what smart growth is all about.'' -- Boston Herald, Boston Globe   10/31/2005

Resource(s): http://news.bostonherald.com/ ; www.boston.com/news/globe/

Refurbishing Vacant and Neglected Buildings Key to Providing Affordable Housing on Cape Cod

Worried about Cape Cod's affordable housing crunch, its leaders told Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) officials at an annual community meeting at Barnstable Town Hall that the best way to meet the growing demand is to help the peninsula reuse, rehabilitate and reconstruct vacant, neglected and obsolete buildings, including vacation homes, reports local Register writer Joe Burns, quoting Housing Assistance Corporation Executive Director Rick Presbrey, who said, ''It's smart growth despite the cost. That's the future of housing on Cape Cod.''

As the state affordable housing agency, the writer notes, MPH provides long-term financing below market rates for rental projects and an ownership mortgage program for low-income families.

''If we had the ability to capture properties and bring them up to code, we could compete for seasonal property,'' pointed out Barnstable County Commission Chairman William Dougherty, while Dennis Town Planner Dan Fortier asked MPH officials for financial help to rebuild a flimsy storefront section along Main Street (Route 28) in Dennisport for mixed use.

Under the area's revitalization plan, the writer adds, the buildings would be moved farther back from the road, storefronts restored and businesses augmented with 17 second-floor housing units. -- Register   10/6/2005

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/barnstable

Relocating ''Teardowns'' Helps Keep Housing Affordable on Martha's Vineyard

''Our economic system has some perverse aspects to it,'' said West Tisbury-based South Mountain Co. co-founder John Abrams about the often-speculative practice of razing old and sometimes historic houses for prodigious residences, with his custom design and construction firm working for wealthy clients but saving prospective Martha's Vineyard teardowns and relocating them for lower-income residents because ''teardowns are an example of what author Edward Abbey has called the 'ideology of the cancer cell'; the idea that growth for its own sake is always good, regardless of the consequences.''

A unique breed of developer, writes Boston Globe correspondent James McCown, a former Island Affordable Housing Fund and Island Housing Trust vice chair, John Abrams champions corporate responsibility, sustainable design and other civic ideas and professional standards recently expounded in his book-manifesto, The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community and Place. His innovative solution, the correspondent observes, meets the seemingly contradictory demands for luxury housing and affordable housing, the lack of the latter ''a particularly acute problem on the Vineyard, where the median sales price for a single-family home in Edgartown was $722,500 for the first eight months of 2005.''

Solomonic in its simplicity, he continues, Abrams' solution motivates an owner whose parcel is worth much more than the house to evaluate the tax value of donating only the house and to give the write-off to the housing fund, which moves the house to a site within the island's ''land bank.'' Should the assessed house value be $250,000 for example, it would allow a gift of a $125,000 or larger write-off to the housing fund, with the owner spared teardown costs before building a multi-million-dollar house, and some qualified low-income family finally able to afford its own home.

His firm's success with affluent clients, John Abrams said, lets it do affordable projects, including home relocation and meticulous renovation, on a break-even basis, charging only employees' time and expenses. Its affordable homes, the correspondent adds, ''are skillfully crafted, and as much as 90 percent of the exterior woodwork is recycled material, ranging from boards mined from old barns in Vermont to wood salvaged from late publishing heiress Katherine Graham's Vineyard home.'' -- Boston Globe   9/25/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Housing Experts Host Town Hall Forum to Explain Benefits of Massachusetts' Sustainable and Affordable Housing Laws

Both aim to help municipalities fulfill their key societal obligation to low-income families and service workers by building sufficient affordable housing, but neither the state's 1969 Chapter 40B housing law nor -- what's more understandable -- the 2004 Chapter 40R ''smart-growth'' law seem known enough and appreciated enough by the public to become fully effective, a barrier housing experts tried to break at a three-town hall forum in Watertown, just west of Boston.

To qualify as affordable, housing must be in the range of those who make at most 80 percent of the area median household income, reports Waltham Daily News Tribune correspondent Neil Freese, noting that in Watertown and adjacent Waltham less than seven percent of housing meets the criterion, while in nearby Belmont the figure drops to 2.7 percent.

Under Chapter 40B, credited with spurring construction of 30,000 affordable units over the past 35 years, developers can skirt zoning regulations if local affordable housing numbers are under 10 percent and their proposed projects include at least 25 lower-income units.

Although some criticize Chapter 40B as letting developers push through large poorly planned projects over community objections, the law is crucial for communities ''with virtually no other affordable housing'' and for ''the people who live in those units,'' explained Metropolitan Area Planning Council Director Marc Draisen, also urging listeners to look closely at affordability and other benefits of the new Chapter 40R law and to embrace its guidelines.

Under Chapter 40R, the state offers municipalities financial incentives to create transit-oriented ''smart growth'' districts, with higher housing density and at least 20 percent of units affordable to lower-income groups.

But despite state incentives, an affordability advocate from nearby Newton said municipalities are likely to be slow in Chapter 40R implementation.

The law ''has density built into it,'' observed Newton Housing Partnership Bob Engler, while New Englanders ''have a fear of living close together.'' Consequently, he added, municipal officials see pursuing affordable housing under Chapter 40B as easier, since the zoning changes for higher density originate not with them but with developers. -- Daily News Tribune   9/21/2005

Resource(s): www.dailynewstribune.com/

Report: Supply of Affordable Housing Is Evaporating in Massachusetts

''Massachusetts needs more housing, of all kinds'' and state and local leaders must make it ''a priority,'' stresses a Newburyport Daily News editorial, noting that the recent ''Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2004'' by Northeastern University's Center for Urban and Regional Policy, which found single-family home prices up by almost 10 percent each year since 1998, simply confirms statistically what everybody knows from personal experience, namely, ''The housing affordability gap not only remains, it is getting worse.''

A family with the metro area's median income could afford to buy a home in 59 of its 161 localities in 2003, and only in 27 in 2004, with the situation even worse north of Boston, where the median income was enough for a home in just three of more than two dozen communities.

With the report card showing that 1990s housing production lagged 50 percent behind household growth and that the number of single-family homes built in 2004 was still 20 percent lower than in 1998, the editorial attributes the shortage to several causes, especially large-lot zoning.

''When communities zone for larger lots, fewer homes get built. Those that do get built are more expensive. And while some affordable housing has been built in the region, most of it faces fierce local opposition and years of hearings and appeals,'' the editorial says, pointing out that housing prices play a major role in making the Boston metro cost of living the highest nationwide and in draining skilled labor.

''One of Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign planks three years ago was 'smart growth','' the editorial recalls, acknowledging that some communities put new housing near transportation and other infrastructure, but urging the governor to make it his real top priority.

''When it comes to economic health, housing is as basic as it gets,'' the editorial concludes, warning, ''The skilled workers of the next generation are already looking elsewhere because they cannot afford to live here.'' -- Daily News   9/14/2005

Resource(s): www.ecnnews.com/nt/

Transit Authority, Development Offices Locating Land for TOD Projects in Massachusetts' Smart-Growth Friendly Communities

While state efforts to limit sprawl and advance smart growth -- mainly through more housing near transit stations and mixed-use development in areas with roads, sidewalks, utilities and other infrastructure -- are showing some results in the Boston area, many officials and experts think the heavy congestion on its key thoroughfares and the steady gas price spikes ''will persuade more suburban residents to step out of their cars and board trains,'' reports Boston Globe writer Emily Shartin.

In this context, she quotes Concord Square Development Co. President Ted Carman, who urges the state to augment its smart-growth incentives and help municipalities pay school costs for children whose families move to the new transit-oriented projects.

Involved in several such projects from his newly created post for the Office of Commonwealth Development and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), transit-oriented development (TOD) planning manager Tad Read says besides encouraging more homes near train stations, the state also wants to build communities. The goal, he says, is ''creating a neighborhood that people are excited to live in.''

The MBTA's assistant general for planning, real estate and environmental affairs, Dennis DiZoglio, points out that ''dense development around stations makes a lot of sense,'' because it reduces car dependency, increases rail ridership and boosts the agency's revenue, crucial for further improvements.

As communities like Newton, Ashland and Westborough west of Boston pursue construction or envision a total of several hundred apartments and other units within walking distances of their train stations, both the Office of Commonwealth Development and the MBTA are working to identify land for TOD projects in the region's other municipalities that welcome smart growth. -- Globe   9/4/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe

New England Council Will Focus on Regional Rail Agenda to Boost Economic Competitiveness in Northeast

Alarmed by the six-state region's weakened economic competitiveness, its 80-year old bi-partisan alliance of business, academic, health and other public and private organizations, the Boston-based New England Council wants the New England Congressional Caucus to seek joint solutions, promising to prepare a five-year regional rail agenda and involve all six state governors to secure more federal transportation money, with the New Bedford Standard-Times saying, ''It's time for Gov. Mitt Romney to meet with the New England Council and help.''

The joint focus on rail, suggested by Massachusetts Democratic Representative Barney Frank, is crucial for the region to realize its full potential, threatened by recent trends. According to the ''Sustainable Prosperity: An agenda for New England'' report by the global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, the daily notes, the region ''is losing ground to other areas of the country in higher education, jobs, housing and transportation infrastructure.''

And rail helps the economy ''by connecting people to a larger network of jobs and educational opportunities'' and by allowing them, especially young workers, ''to find less expensive housing along the commuter lines.''

Stressing that rail projects depend not only on cooperation by New England's 22 congressmen and 12 senators, but also on ''political will and significant financial commitment from the states,'' the daily tells Governor Romney, ''A governor who is considering a national run for office will only help his standing if he can be a leader of a region of six states working together.'' -- Standard-Times   7/27/2005

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/

Weymouth Town Council Approves Mixed-Use Redevelopment Plan for Former Naval Air Station

Overwhelmingly approved last month by Abington and Rockland town meetings as the region's economic engine and a smart-growth model, the $1 billion ''Village Center Plan'' for mixed-use redevelopment of the 1,405-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station won the necessary eight votes from the 11-member Weymouth Town Council, which is now allowing the developer, Miami-based LNR Property Corp., to pursue the base transfer and various state environmental permits -- a process likely to delay construction for about two years.

LNR officials, reports Brockton Enterprise writer Elaine Allegrini, secured strong labor support and eventually local approvals for the project -- which will include 2,855 varied-income housing units, retail and office space, a golf course and ample open space -- by stressing it will create some 4,000 permanent jobs and by offering the three towns generous financial packages to mitigate its impact.

One of the eight Weymouth council members who voted for the project but still voiced concerns, mostly about additional traffic, Councilor Michael Smart, pointed out that LNR met both the Navy's demand for a reuse plan focused on economic development and the state's requirement for higher-density housing near transit.

Councilor Colin McPherson expressed the dominant view, saying, ''There is no reason to believe a better plan will come along.''

On the other hand, notes Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman, one of the three opponents, Councilor Ken DiFazio, sided with some residents concerned about the project's impact on local quality of life, calling the ''mitigation'' payments an indication ''that this particular developer acknowledges there are deficiencies in the plan.''

Prior to construction, the three towns will split $3 million, proportionally to how much of their land the base takes, with Abington later getting $1.9 million; Rockland, $6.3 million; and Weymouth, $13 million, while giving LNR a ''wish list'' of $32 million in expected capital improvements and mitigation fees. -- Enterprise, CBS4-Boston   7/26/2005

Resource(s): http://enterprise.southofboston.com/ ; www.cbs4boston.com/

Nonprofits, State Agencies Commit $209 Million to Help Build ''Green'' Housing in Massachusetts

In a joint push for environmentally sound and energy-efficient development, three nonprofit and quasi-public state agencies -- MassHousing, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Enterprise Foundation under its ''Green Communities'' program -- committed $209 million in developer incentives to build about 1,000 ''green'' housing units, with MassHousing executive director Thomas Gleason noting that the goal fits the Romney administration's ''smart growth'' strategy, and MTC's Renewable Energy Trust director Rob Pratt adding that green standards will also guide Massachusetts school construction within five to seven years.

MassHousing, reports Needham Times writer Jim O'Sullivan, earmarked $125 million in mortgage financing for the joint project; Enterprise Foundation, $75 million from sales of low-income housing tax credits to private investors and $500,000 in grants; and MTC, $8.5 million in grants for renewable energy amenities.

Launching the initiative at the 396-unit mixed-income Maverick Landing complex under construction by Trinity Financial in East Boston, to highlight the firm's work on urban redevelopment near public transit and with a focus on environmental factors, Enterprise Foundation chairman and CEO Bart Harvey said, ''Until recently, I believed that ''green'' and affordable were oxymorons,'' but once ''reformed,'' he wants the foundation to help builders understand ''how to go green in a cost-effective manner.''

Noting that poverty-level families spend an average of 40 percent of their income on transportation and 17 percent on energy, that four million American children suffer from asthma, and that doctors attribute 40 percent of all asthma cases to ''residential exposure,'' the chairman stressed that green building thermal, material and other guidelines promise significant environmental and public health benefits.

The guidelines, the writer notes, increase construction costs between 2 and 4 percent, but ensure up to 30 percent savings over the long term. -- Needham Times   7/21/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/needham

Land Use Reform Act Seeks to Plug Loopholes in Massachusetts' Zoning Bylaws

Worried that municipal smart growth and master plans are ''routinely skirted'' by builders and landowners who exploit Massachusetts' obsolete grandfathering and approval-not-required zoning bylaws, three Democratic lawmakers, Senator Pamela Resor and Representatives Doug Petersen and Stephen Kulik, are promoting their proposed Land Use Reform Act (S 168; H 3544) as an urgently needed remedy, but state Home Builders Association president Greg Spier answers, ''We kind of look at this as a Don't Use Land Act.''

Citing strong public anti-growth sentiments, doubled home prices in five years, and severe low-cost unit shortages, notes Swampscott Reporter writer Michael P. Norton, the builder told a recent joint hearing by the legislative committees on Community Development and Small Business and on Municipalities and Regional Government that the act would hinder construction and drive up housing costs.

Bill sponsors pointed out that their proposal has been scrutinized and repeatedly redrafted by a diverse stakeholder group for four years to make master plans and zoning bylaws work together.

Currently, observed Senator Resor, the grandfathering and restrictive zoning makes it hard for communities ''to move forward in smart growth.'' This, cautioned Representative Petersen, may result in a ''Wal-Mart landscape'' or the congestion he remembers from his native Nassau County on Long Island, NY, with a ''mass of traffic and parking lots and insaneness,'' which will eventually keep families and workers away.

Yet municipal planners, noted Representative Kulik, lack the enforcement tools necessary to connect plans and zoning and prevent chaos. Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy said the state needs to improve its ''archaic zoning laws'' that often obstruct Governor Mitt Romney's push for denser growth near urban centers and mass transit and for limits on suburban sprawl.

''We've been sprawling,'' he said, ''building the kind of places that aren't solving our housing affordability problem.'' And Framingham Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Katherine E. Murphy summed it all up, stating, ''It's time to get smart growth off the pages and into the streets, literally.'' -- Swampscott Reporter   7/21/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/swampscott ; www2.townonline.com/littleton

Smart Growth Alliance Gives Gov. Romney Poor Marks on Growth and Sprawl Scorecard

Prompted by Governor Mitt Romney's belief that students failing the newly expanded Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests shouldn't graduate, two members of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Board, Environmental League of Massachusetts President Jim Gomes and Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston Executive Director David Harris, evaluated the governor's performance on their own ''high stakes'' Managing Growth and Sprawl (MGAS) scorecard and expressed grave doubts whether he can pass.

In the Affordable Housing category, they wrote in a Boston Globe guest opinion, the Romney administration had a promising start, but ''suffered a deep sophomore slump,'' cutting low-income housing preservation money, delaying capital funds, and relying mainly on a ''trickle down'' market-rate housing policy.

All this ''hurts both families that can't afford a decent place to live and employers who find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain a skilled workforce.''

In the Planning and Zoning category, especially important since some Massachusetts laws are among the most outdated and loophole-ridden nationwide -- a situation made worse by many cash-strapped municipalities that ''feel compelled to permit malls or office parks to generate tax revenue even when they know it's a bad land use decision -- the administration made no serious effort to promote changes, ''while ignoring the issue of how municipal finance distorts land use policies.''

In the Traffic and Transit category, the administration got its highest score, thanks to the new 20-year transportation plan's emphasis on transit investments, a ''fix-it-first'' road and bridge policy, and a linkage between transportation and land use. Nevertheless, the plan counts too much on future federal funding, while a serious commitment to transportation investment means ''we must be willing to fund needed transportation projects from our own resources.''

In the Shared Prosperity category, the administration should realize that ''(t)rue smart growth must mean a better quality of life for everyone: city dwellers, suburbanites, and rural residents,'' with the governor taking the first step by announcing his ''active support for $30 million to clean up contaminated industrial sites to create jobs, homes, and local tax revenue.''

In the Land Protection category, the governor missed the track taken by ''earlier generations of state leaders'' and his investments in land protection ''have fallen by more than half from their earlier levels.''

The conclusion can hardly please the governor. ''The one smart growth subject that Romney has aced is rhetoric,'' his examiners write. ''His administration proclaims its desire for better development patterns. But when it comes to committing new dollars to encourage smarter growth or using the state's power to prevent 'dumb' growth, its performance falls short.'' -- Boston Globe   7/8/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe

South Weymouth Redevelopment Plan Faces Final Hurdle With July 25 Vote

After overwhelming approval by Abington and Rockland town meetings last month, the long-debated redevelopment plan for the 1,450-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station into a mixed-use complex of nearly 3,000 housing units near stores, offices, parks and a golf course faces a final hurdle, a vote in the Weymouth Town Council on July 25, with Weymouth Mayor David M. Madden calling the plan good for all sides -- the towns, the state, and the Navy.

''I'm optimistic we can get it done,'' the mayor said, a realistic assessment recognized by the plan's local legislative critic, State Republican Senator Robert L. Hedlund, obviously resigned to the fact that ''the labor unions are pushing for it,'' too.

Indeed, reports Boston Globe correspondent Robert Preer, with the development company, Miami-based LNR Properties, promising 6,500 construction jobs, unionists ''turned out in force'' for the Rockland town meeting, lining the streets with signs urging a ''yes'' for the project.

''It creates jobs and provides money back to the communities,'' said South Shore Tri-Town Development Corporation executive director Terry Fancher. Hours before Rockland Town Meeting, the Globe correspondent notes, LNR officials and Rockland selectmen ''reached a tentative deal on a $6.3 million payment to the town as compensation for its share of hosting the project.'' -- Boston Globe   6/30/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Open Space Institute Announces Low-Interest Loan Fund to Help Land Conservation Efforts in Western Massachusetts

Following its ''Western Massachusetts: Assessing the Conservation Opportunity'' study, funded by the Kohlberg Foundation, the New York-based Open Space Institute (OSI) announced the creation of a revolving $2 million short-term, low-interest loan fund to help plug the approximately $30 million funding gap for conservation deals in western Massachusetts, with interim funding for acquisition of working farms and forests and other ecologically sensitive land in Worcester, Hampden, Franklin and Berkshire counties.

''Our shared goal,'' said Kohlberg Foundation executive director Nancy McCabe, is ''quick and concerted action'' in Massachusetts, where time-sensitive projects are frustrated or even stillborn due to reduced or delayed public funding.

With the western Massachusetts region losing some 15,000 acres a year to development, noted Massachusetts Land Trust director Bernie McHugh, the new fund ''couldn't have come at a better time.''

According to OSI, its 17 prior loans, totaling $16 million, have helped protect over 900,000 acres in New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Maine and southern Quebec, Canada.   6/28/2005

Resource(s): www.osiny.org

Editorial: School Funding System Is Biggest Barrier to Affordable Housing in Massachusetts

The most ''formidable'' Massachusetts barrier to affordable housing projects, and consequently to smart growth, is ''the state's system for funding public education,'' points out a Boxford Tri-Town Transcript editorial, stressing, ''No matter how welcoming a community might be, as long as school budgets depend heavily on property taxes, there is a financial incentive to keep families with school-age children from moving into town.''

To help communities like Boxford, whose Zoning Board of Appeals just granted a conditional approval for the 72-unit Endicott Village subdivision near the Masconomet Regional School District, antagonizing some neighbors worried about more traffic, the editorial notes, state Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler is sponsoring a bill offering municipalities 50-percent reimbursement for the cost of educating additional students brought into a school system by smart growth projects.

Always sought by Republican Governor Mitt Romney and his top smart growth expert, Commonwealth Development Director Douglas Foy, the bill became part of the Senate version of the budget and lawmakers ''should make sure it makes out of the conference committee.''

Northeastern University's Center for Urban Regional Policy director Barry Bluestone, who helped write the bill, estimates it may cost the state ''$2 million a year at first, $35 million at most,'' the editorial says, adding, ''That's a small price to pay to make sure communities that welcome much-needed housing and locate it in line with the state's smart growth priorities aren't penalized by higher taxes.'' -- Tri-Town Transcript   6/24/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/boxford/

Lakeville Selectmen Reject Smart Growth Project Over Request to Include Three-Bedroom Units

Although they counted on hundreds of thousand of dollars in state money for two smart-growth housing projects near a commuter rail station -- part of a mixed-use complex proposed by MBC Development and Oxford Development -- Lakeville selectmen didn't like a requirement for three-bedroom units in the unit mix and rejected the whole deal, with Selectman Chawner Hurd blaming state Department of Housing and Community Development senior planner Dan Schmidt for the setback.

The developers, reports New Bedford Standard-Times writer Rob Margetta, proposed 136 two-bedroom and 56 one-bedroom units. But planner Schmidt told Lakeville officials that they should include three-bedroom units to qualify for state smart-growth funds. Selectman Hurd called three-bedroom units ''unacceptable,'' because they would bring in families with children instead of the young singles the project was to attract. -- Standard-Times   6/21/2005

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/

Light Turnout at First Town Meeting for South Weymouth's Mixed-Use Redevelopment Master Plan

In the first of the three decisive local votes on mixed-use redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station -- 46 percent of the land in Weymouth, 42 percent in Rockland, and 12 percent in Abington -- only 474 of Abington's 10,000 registered voters showed up at its special town meeting, but they approved the LNR Property Corp.'s master plan overwhelmingly, with Rockland's town meeting scheduled for June 27, and the Weymouth Town Council's vote expected on July 25.

Under state law, reports Brockton Enterprise correspondent Allan Stein, the base's redevelopment will go forward only if all three towns approve the reuse plan by a majority and related zoning changes by two thirds.

LNR representatives and South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. officials have repeatedly pointed out that if the project fails, the Navy will either sell the land at auction or pursue development with little or no local input. ''The bottom line is,'' said Tri-Town director Terry Fancher, ''this plan is about local control and keeping it within the three towns.'' Base Reuse Committee Chairman Joseph Shea echoed the statement, stressing, ''Whether we like it or not, the base is going to be developed.''

The LNR plan, the writer notes, envisions more than 70 percent of the base left as open space, with 2 million square feet of retail, services and light industry, and 2,855 varied-type housing units -- 20 percent affordable for low-to-moderate wage earners and about 400 units reserved for seniors -- located within a ''village center.''

LNR is also planning an elementary school in the Weymouth area and promising Abington almost $2 million for police cruisers and firefighter equipment, plus funds for a new senior center and other amenities. -- The Enterprise   6/21/2005

Resource(s): http://enterprise.southofboston.com/

Program Awards $14.5 Million for Affordable Housing in Massachusetts

Having put 10 percent of its annual net profits into its Affordable Housing Program (AHP), offering grants and below market-rate loans for low-cost unit construction, acquisition and rehabilitation in all six New England states, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston awarded almost $2.9 million for such initiatives in five Massachusetts municipalities, which will help them increase their affordable rental and ownership stock by 110 units.

These newest grants and low-interest loans for projects in Amesbury, Lawrence, Northampton, Somerville and Worcester bring AHP spending to a regional total of $14.5 million for creation and preservation of 361 housing units affordable to low-to-moderate income households.

Bank members, including some 460 financial institutions across the region, and their community partners ''turn to the AHP as an important source for funding affordable housing,'' said Bank President and CEO Michael A. Jessee. ''Together we're helping to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout New England.''

The Bank awards the AHP funds twice a year through a competitive scoring process, with the second 2005 round's application deadline on September 30. Description of the new grant-winning projects and other AHP details at www.fhlbboston.com/ahp   6/21/2005

Resource(s): http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/

South Weymouth Naval Station Neighbors Urged to Speak Up and Support Mixed-Use Plan

With Abington, Rockland and Weymouth votes on the LNR Property's redevelopment proposal for the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station scheduled for June 20, June 27 and July 27, respectively, residents should ''take the time to speak up and support the mixed-use plan,'' states the Quincy Patriot Ledger, reminding readers that the sole previous ''megamall'' plan ''would have brought thousands of cars daily to outlet stores paying low wages'' but promising no long-term benefits for the area.

Having published a letter a day earlier from Weymouth resident Henry T. Dunker, who maintained that the LNR plan would ''impose extraordinary burdens'' on the three towns, due to density and related traffic, and wondered how it could be called ''smart growth,'' the daily summarizes the reasons in one concise paragraph. ''It will bring good jobs, housing and a protected environment to a plot of land that's been stagnant since 1997. Almost three-quarters of the property will remain undeveloped. Residents of surrounding towns will be able to enjoy golf, walking trails and playing fields. And the three towns in which the base property is located will share annual tax revenue estimated to range from $1 million to $8 million.''

There are additional advantages, the daily continues. ''Young people -- including those who grew up near the base and cannot afford housing in the Boston area -- could live in the community and walk to work. A commuter train could bring other workers from Boston and points South and take residents to the city for theater, sports and other recreation.''

Thus, the conclusion is simple. ''This planned community meets the definition of 'smart growth,' that is, maximizing land use without destroying scarce greenspace and taking advantage of existing transportation,'' the daily says, regretting that ''Governor Mitt Romney, a proponent of smart growth, has not lent his energies and presence to this important endeavor.'' -- Patriot Ledger   6/11/2005

Resource(s): www.patriotledger.com/

Bay State Implements Law Promoting Cluster Housing Near Transit, Downtown Centers

Not shy in criticism of Republican Governor Mitt Romney whenever doubtful of his commitment to smart growth, this time The Boston Globe credits his administration for ''working hard to implement a law that will encourage the construction of housing in so-called smart growth zoning districts'' with higher densities, which make communities eligible for state payments from $10,000 to $600,000, plus $3,000 for each new building permit.

Passed in June 2004, with implementation rules unveiled by the Department of Housing and Community development last month, the law provides for clustering housing on small lots near transit and downtown centers, to reduce car dependency. With many municipalities still mandating large-lot zoning, mainly because they ''want to limit the number of new students who might put continuing pressure on local school budgets,'' the editorial likes a new budget provision ''to hold communities harmless for any additional school costs generated by new housing in smart growth districts.''

But this ''solid idea,'' the editorial observes, should have been debated and approved separately instead of attached to the Senate budget bill among more than 100 outside sections. Noting that this attachment procedure ''has produced important policy initiatives in the past, but it is also a vehicle for special interest proposals that would not survive separate scrutiny,'' the editorial points out that the state needs to boost its annual construction of 20,000 housing units by another 3,300 a year.

If the current incentives fail to produce enough housing starts, the editorial stresses, ''the state needs to consider a tougher approach -- perhaps reducing school building assistance and other aid to recalcitrant cities and towns.'' -- The Boston Globe   5/30/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Editorial: Massachusetts Overlooking Need for More Affordable Housing

Having focused his smart-growth strategy on incentives for higher density near town centers and transit hubs ''to keep professional and technical workers from fleeing Massachusetts due to high housing costs,'' Republican Governor Mitt Romney must also think about affordable housing for ''the people who clean their homes and landscape their properties,'' says a Boston Globe editorial, stressing that the state housing policy should be set by Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy, not by Administration and Finance Secretary Eric Kriss.

The Citizen's Housing and Planning Association and the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, the editorial notes, blame Secretary Kriss and other budget advisers for undermining state-subsidized housing programs, while the state's price for a single-family home escalated to $350,000 last month.

In this situation, housing activists should intensify their fight for the poor, ''many of whom live in substandard housing or pay more than half of their income for rent,'' the editorial points out, considering it ''a good time to remind the governor that his 2003 Commonwealth Housing Task Force called for restoration of the state housing subsidies that were gutted in the early 1990s.'' -- Boston Globe   5/8/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Surplus Land Sales Raise $30 Million for Bay State, But Some Lawmakers Urge Reform to Guide Process Toward Smart Growth

Enacted in 2003 and effective till the end of June, Massachusetts law on surplus land sales (Section 548), which eliminated both legislative approval for every parcel and virtually all municipal involvement, quickly let the state raise some $30 million and helped more than 30 towns get new tax income from long-idle sites, but also left communities feeling helpless about the process, with more than 100 lawmakers requesting its immediate suspension, writes Metropolitan Area Planning Council Executive Director Marc Draisen in the Boston Globe, urging the legislature to reform the law before it expires, with an eye toward smart growth.

Expecting officials to declare at least 2,000 acres as surplus in the near future, director Draisen points out that former state hospitals, armories and other closed facilities present a unique opportunity to fulfill three key public goals -- build housing, create jobs, and protect open space and natural habitat.

Before enactment of Section 548, surplus land sales could take years or decades, with the 175-acre Boston State Hospital, closed in 1979, only recently under redevelopment. On the other hand, many local residents complain that the state ignores their wishes to keep some parcels as open space, because selling land for preservation doesn't bring it ''big bucks.''

But instead of stepping ''backward'' to the old system, he writes, lawmakers should ensure the process is consistent with the state's Sustainable Development Practices. Regional planning agencies should conduct a ''smart growth review'' for all parcels greater than two acres, and advisory reuse committees of local and regional stakeholders should convene for parcels of more than 25 acres.

''Any new law,'' the director writes, ''must guarantee that municipalities are partners, not adversaries, in the sale of state surplus land within their jurisdictions.'' He advises, ''Municipalities should have an opportunity to purchase the land at a discount. If localities choose not to buy, but rezone the land consistent with smart growth principles, they should receive part of the sale proceeds.'' And he adds, ''The best use of each parcel of land must count more than the highest selling price.'' -- Boston Globe   5/2/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Redevelopment Plan for Weymouth Air Base Faces Stalls as Local Officials Question Zoning, Density

Time is running short for a Weymouth-Rockland-Abington agreement on the newest plan to redevelop the 1,405-acre former Weymouth air base, with South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. officials again postponing their vote after ''a lengthy meeting marked by yelling and shouts of vulgarity,'' reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Mark Fontecchio, revealing that his daily recently received an e-mail from Navy spokesman Lt. Tommy Crosby, who wrote, ''If a redevelopment plan cannot be ratified by this Summer, (the) Navy will have to consider disposal by other means.''

The base's master developer, LNR Property Corp., is now proposing up to 3,000 condos and single-family houses, along with two million square feet of commercial space, which would bring in at least 6,000 residents and 3,000-4,500 permanent jobs by 2017.

But at the latest public meeting some town officials still questioned the proposed zoning and density, fearing a traffic nightmare, which irked dozens of union members eager to secure new jobs, with one member apologetic later for calling the three-town meeting a ''three-ring circus.''

Tri-Town Corp. board member Robert Lunquist cautioned hesitant town officials that if they fail to approve the plan in time and make the Navy sell the land to developers or the state, they will cede control over the base's future.

''If you think for a minute that this base is not going to get redeveloped,'' he stressed, ''you are dead wrong.''

But some town, board and industry officials remain optimistic about approval of the plan by mid-June, the writer observes, noting that Tri-Town board chairman John Ward promised another meeting as soon as possible. -- Patriot Ledger   4/26/2005

Resource(s): www.patriotledger.com

Boston Launches Trust Fund to Help AFSCME Workers With High Cost of City Housing

With many Boston public workers required to live in the city, whose housing prices are usually higher than in the suburbs, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Executive Director Anthony Caso launched the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, to help eligible union members in first home purchases, rentals and emergency housing needs.

The city will initially put $525,000 into the fund and add a nickel for every AFSCME local member's work hour, reports Boston Globe correspondent Madison Park, quoting Mayor Menino, who said, ''Boston is the first city in the country to have a housing trust with the union.''

Under pressure from the union during contract disputes last spring, the correspondent notes, the mayor relaxed residency requirements for more than 500 union members and pledged to set up the affordable housing trust fund.

''I live in the city and I cherish the city, but the high cost of rentals and owning a home is well-known,'' said the AFSCME executive director. ''This housing trust is going to help a lot of people that we represent.'' -- Globe   4/20/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Nine Massachusetts Communities Recognized at Second Annual Smart Growth Innovation Awards

''I am delighted to recognize cities and towns that are leading the way in spurring important smart growth projects throughout the state,'' said Republican Governor Mitt Romney, presenting the second annual Smart Growth Innovation Awards to Salem, Easthampton, Lawrence, Marlboro, Newburyport, Newbury and Brockton, and Honorable Mention Awards to Cambridge and Montague.

''These cities and towns,'' said Office for Commonwealth Development (OCD) Secretary Douglas I. Foy, ''are investing in their own strengths -- revitalizing downtowns, preserving open space and bringing back village-style zoning.''

The governor also urged greater participation in the state's new 40R zoning reform program, which offers municipalities financial incentives to build more housing near transit, retail and other urban infrastructure.

The Smart Growth award winners will receive OCD assistance in seeking Commonwealth Capital funds dedicated to smart growth, technical help in preparing applications, priority in infrastructure, conservation and housing grant programs, expedited state permitting whenever possible, and project marketing exposure on the OCD web site.   4/19/2005

Resource(s): www.mass.gov/

New Massachusetts Housing Law Helps Urban Areas, But Rural Communities Struggle to Share Benefits

Massachusetts' new Chapter 40-R housing law, in effect from March 25, offers communities money to adopt comprehensive housing plans and create ''smart growth zoning districts,'' with an additional $3,000 for every affordable unit within such zones, but critics point out that this still shortchanges small rural towns like Lenox, Berkshire County, which have neither vacant buildings to reuse nor transit stations to anchor residential development.

''The administration is more interested in reconstruction. They're not interested in new construction,'' said Lenox state Democratic Representative William ''Smitty'' Pignatelli. ''The governor's office needs to be more sympathetic to the needs of small communities.''

With Boston-based Winn Development just withdrawing its plans for a 96-unit affordable housing complex in Lenox Woods off Routes 7 & 20, reports Berkshire Eagle writer Erik Arvidson, Representative Pignatelli said he and his North Adams party colleague, Representative Daniel E. Bosley, accompanied the developer at a February meeting with state Administration and Finance Secretary Eric Kriss, backing the project and asking for tax credits, but failed because officials wanted the housing to be built downtown.

Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy told lawmakers in the Housing Committee he is ''not sure that 40R will work in more rural settings,'' but called the law ''the gold standard for zoning reform.'' Noting that some 20 municipalities are interested in setting up smart-growth zoning districts, he said the administration is considering possible incentives to help smaller towns build affordable housing. -- Berkshire Eagle   3/26/2005

Resource(s): www.berkshireeagle.com/

Developer Gets Full Support for Condo Village Near Westborough Rail Station After Offering Alternate Open Space Site

Two weeks after the Westborough Planning Board rejected developer Francis Zarette's offer of 13.7 acres for open space as insufficient to allow higher density for his planned 300-unit condo village at a post-industrial tract across from the MTBA commuter rail station, he offered the town a 24-acre site much better suited to its needs, this time gaining full support from the advisory Open Space Preservation Committee, OSPC.

The site, reports Westborough News correspondent Charles Harper, meets all 11 OSPC criteria, including ecological and habitat value, recreational and development possibilities, and relation to other natural and wildlife areas.

In its letter of recommendation to the Planning Board, OSPC stressed the site's exceptional potential for both active and passive recreation, and its links with parcels already protected or eyed for preservation. OSPC Chairman Scott Shumway said the committee wanted to acquire the site earlier, but negotiations failed over the price.

Under the town's Transit Oriented Village (TOV) smart-growth bylaw, which lets the Planning Board grant density bonuses up to 10 units per acre, the developer could be allowed to build 240 more units on his tract near the train station. -- Westborough News   3/18/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/westborough/

Westborough Rejects Developer Request for Density Bonus in Land-Swap Offer

In line with Westborough's master plan, which envisions mixed uses near its MBTA commuter rail station, last year town voters approved the smart-growth Transit Oriented Village bylaw for a former industrial site across from the station, offering developers a ''density bonus'' in exchange for land saved in nearby residential zones, but the town's Open Space Preservation Committee and subsequently the Planning Board unanimously rejected the first developer proposal for such a swap as grossly inadequate.

Planning a 300-condo village at the post-industrial site, with about 20 percent of units affordable to lower-income residents, reports Milford Daily News writer Sarah Menesale, developer Francis Zarette sought permission to build 137 units more in exchange for a 13.7-acre property on Arch street, a narrow country road without sidewalks, which would mean the maximum allowed 10-unit-per-acre bonus-density deal.

Area residents have long called for preservation of this and other properties along the street and backed the developer, arguing they have been ''overburdened'' by development over the past decade and deserve some open space.

''I grew up playing in those woods,'' said resident Chris LaPlante. ''It would be great for our kids to be able to play in those woods as well.''

Although sympathetic, Planning Board member Maureen Bliss expressed her colleagues' view that they would be missing an opportunity if they didn't ''look beyond this piece of land.'' Denying the swap at a 10-unit bonus density, the board showed willingness to take the 13.7 acres at Arch street if the developer accepts a smaller bonus per acre.

The developer's representative, Jeff Richard of Waterman Design, also left the door open, saying, ''You have to make it worth it for him. Maybe one parcel won't be a home run. It may be parcels, plural.'' -- Milford Daily News   3/13/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/

Northampton Becomes Smart Growth Leader According to Massachusetts' New Sustainability Index for Grant Applicants

Having put ten grant packages under the Commonwealth Capital program to encourage municipal adoption of smart-growth policies, the state launched a new grant application process last year, evaluating requests in eight categories that combine 31 sustainability criteria, with Northampton scoring 129 of 140 possible points and becoming a smart-growth leader in the first batch of 135 applicants -- their median score being about 60.

In general, small rural towns earned lower scores, reports Boston Globe correspondent Robert Knox, with Rochester Town Planner Randall Kurtz explaining its lowest score of 22 by the inapplicability of many state questions. ''Country is country. You don't have public transportation, you don't have primary roads,'' he says. ''The smart growth criteria begin to break down.''

Duxbury Town Planner Christine Stickney gives similar reasons for a score of 72 instead of the target 91, noting that Duxbury has neither brownfields nor abandoned buildings. ''It's the same pool of money each year,'' she observes. ''They're just making it harder and more bureaucratic to apply for it.''

Indeed, ''not every question is applicable to every town,'' responds Office for Commonwealth Development special assistant Bob Mitchell. While Duxbury has no vacant buildings to redevelop, Boston has no farms to protect, he says, pointing out that the smart-growth score counts for 20 percent in the grant application process, the rest dependent on the quality of each proposal and municipal needs for financial aid. He adds that no matter what their scores, communities that complete the lengthy smart-growth application will have an advantage during the state grant-allocation process. -- Boston Globe   2/27/2005

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Editorial Critical of Plan to Shift Funds from Community Preservation Act

Republican Governor Mitt Romney ''considers himself a champion of smart growth, but he has a hard time putting real money behind his policies,'' says a Dover-Sherborn Press editorial, one of several in local newspapers, sharply critical of the governor's budget proposal to shift $10 million from the Community Preservation Act (CPA) to the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund, both equally vital for municipal moves toward smart growth.

The CPA goal, the editorial points out, is to encourage local up-to-three-percent property tax surcharges for affordable housing, open space, historic preservation and recreation by matching the money from state fees on real estate transactions, with the recent refinancing wave having pushed that fund surplus to $100 million.

The Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund goal is to encourage municipalities to build higher density housing near transit by offering them financial incentives from the sale of surplus state land, with slower than expected sales making the money scarce. But the governor's ''raid'' of CPA money would shortchange the 75 municipalities that have already raised their property taxes, trusting the state's promise of matching funds, and could deter some of the 16 communities that may have the CPA on the ballot this spring.

The editorial says: ''We support Romney's smart growth initiative. If anything, we'd like to see it expanded, with greater incentives to help communities cope with stress on infrastructure and schools that comes from added high density housing. But we shouldn't have to rob a good program to support another good program.''

The Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund should get at least the proposed $10 million, but the money,'' it concludes, ''should come out of the general fund, not by breaking the promise made by the Community Preservation Act.'' -- Dover-Sherborn Press   2/2/2005

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/dover/

Plan to Use Community Preservation Funds for Smart Growth Housing Upsets Massachusetts Officials

Republican Governor Mitt Romney's 2006 FY budget proposal to transfer $10 million from the $100-million Community Preservation Trust (CPT) to the Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund exasperates many state lawmakers and town officials, especially those who were able to push through an up to three percent property tax surcharge for affordable housing, historic preservation and open space in their communities to qualify them for CPT matching funds.

''It's not fair to pit two successful programs against each other,'' said state Democratic Representative James Eldridge. ''Let's find a way to fund them both.''

State CPT matching money comes from a flat $20 fee on all property sales, reports MetroWest Daily News writer Michael Kunzelman, quoting Department of Housing and Community Development spokesman Phil Hailer, who said that since the fee has brought in twice the projected amount, while CPT adoption has been ''slower than expected,'' the surplus can help housing more through the Smart Growth fund.

But Citizens' Housing and Planning Association executive director Aaron Gornstein said municipalities that adopted the CPA ''are expecting this matching money from the state,'' and Sudbury Town Manager Maureen Valente pointed out that the governor's proposal sets a dangerous precedent.

Noting that last year a group of mayors wanted to divert $30 million from the CPT fund to cities outside the program but failed in the legislature, the writer quotes Senate Natural Resources Committee Democratic Chairwoman Pamela Resor, who hinted another tough fight against raiding the fund. -- MetroWest Daily News   1/28/2005

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/

Developers, Activists Square Off Over Massachusetts' Chapter 40R Law

As some activists and observers urge Republican Governor Mitt Romney to make a stronger push for transit-oriented housing and other smart-growth goals, industry officials tell him ''too narrow'' an interpretation of the Chapter 40R law that offers municipalities cash for housing in towns and near transit, with at least 20 percent of units affordable to low-income residents, will scuttle geographic flexibility and housing expansion prospects.

''It's going to be a tragedy,'' argues National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIP) state chapter CEO David Begelfer, backed by Home Builders Association of Massachusetts attorney Benjamin Fierro, reports Boston Herald writer Jay Fitzgerald, noting that both are attributing the drive for a strict narrow definition of Chapter 40R projects to Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy.

In response, his spokesman Phil Hailer points out that state officials are simply following the intent of the law, while consulting environmental, affordable-housing and industry groups on the chapter's regulations, expected to be implemented by March.

Smart Growth Alliance director Kristina Egan says developers would want as much land open to development as possible, adding ''it's tragic if we allow them'' to build everywhere. -- Boston Herald   1/5/2005

Resource(s): www.bostonherald.com/

Editorial: Gov. Romney Needs to Deliver on Smart Growth

Halfway through his term, Republican Governor Mitt Romney often talks about ''smart growth'' and the need for housing in developed areas near transportation, but his ''promising initiatives'' brought ''disappointingly few results,'' says a sharp Newburyport Daily News editorial, telling him to be less ''aloof'' and to ''get in touch'' with people, especially north of Boston in Essex County, where he won by 41,000 votes on the way to his 103,000-vote victory in 2002, and where many vacant mills, factories and other sites wait for redevelopment.

The governor ''has been glad-handing and back-slapping those in the private sector willing to give smart growth a try,'' but except for ''a few minor regulatory changes here and there,'' he's done little to make this public-private effort work.

Nor has he moved to improve transportation infrastructure, the editorial says, asking him why he isn't ''in Washington asking fellow Republicans in Congress'' to help with transit and road upgrade costs.

''Massachusetts' biggest problem now is the lack of affordable housing. Romney knows that's a deterrent to any business considering relocating here,'' the editorial observes, asking, ''What has Romney done to address this need?''

Reminding the governor of its endorsement for 2002, the daily stresses he should ''get out among those who elected him,'' listen ''to their concerns and act on them -- not just tell people what they want to hear.'' His model should be Rudy Giuliani, not Richard M. Nixon, the editorial says, adding that he ''needs to do some growing on his own'' and ''begin to deliver'' results.

''For a governor who says he wants a second term,'' the editorial ends, ''that would be smart growth.'' -- Daily News   1/3/2005

Resource(s): www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/04/n/nmainplus-archive.pl?mon

Cash Incentives for Affordable Housing Measure Off to Slow Start in Massachusetts

Strongly backed by Republican Governor Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts code's newly adopted Chapter 40R, which takes effect in February, offers communities cash for dense housing development in ''smart growth districts'' with at least 20 percent of units affordable to lower-income residents, but only 13 of the state's 351 municipalities have shown interest so far, while several remain undecided and the rest are wary of higher densities, increased enrolment in already crowded schools, and the streamlined approval process.

Under Chapter 40R, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, the state will pay municipalities about $1,000 for each unit in smart-growth district plans, and another $4,000 once each is built, with acre density set at eight single-family homes or 12 two-to-three-family residences or 20 apartments or condominiums. The districts can be created downtown, near town centers and transit lines or on vacant industrial sites. Once their plans and design standards are set, developers are free from any unrelated ''regulatory hoops.''

But according to a report by Metropolitan Area Planning Council executive director Marc Draisen, the state can't expect broad participation in the program without addressing municipal concerns over density, especially in suburban areas; the lack of money for new schools to absorb additional students; and the future of cash incentives, which are to come from the expedited sale of state surplus land, legislative authorization for which expires in June, with renewal uncertain.

Nevertheless, Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy thinks getting 20 to 50 municipalities to join the Chapter 40R program during 2005 would be a good start to change development patterns and move toward the state's goal of 30,000 new housing units within 10 years.

He also stresses two points. First, municipalities that establish smart growth districts can get additional state aid and priority assistance with their water, sewer and transportation infrastructure needs. Second, the governor would like to help municipalities cover increased school costs brought on by dense development, a step lawmakers could take this year by adjusting the state school funding formula. -- Boston Globe   12/28/2004

Resource(s): www.globe.com

Tufts University Architects Add Smart Growth Principles to Expansion Master Plan

True to its 150-year tradition and sense of place on Walnut Hill, jurisdictionally split between Medford and Somerville just five miles northwest of central Boston, Tufts University is embracing smart growth in its expansion master plan, applauds a Boston Globe editorial, complementing Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow and the Boston architectural firm William Rawn Associates for involving faculty, students and local officials in the planning process.

The architects, the editorial says, see their task ''as enhancing the distinctive Tufts landscape of 19th-century buildings at the top of the hill and bringing that level of quality to all sections of the campus.'' Slated for construction next spring, two adjacent dormitory buildings for 150 students will share a central footpath, with ''paths up, down, and around the hill'' forming a unifying campus grid.

Across the street, a new music building will complement the Victorian homes on Professors Row, offering students yet another of the social spots so abundant on the campus.

Noting the great response by Medford Mayor Michael J. McGlynn and Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, and the predictions of further Tufts growth, with likely use of ''air rights over a nearby MBTA commuter line,'' the editorial concludes, ''Good relations with the two communities augur well for future building projects.'' -- Boston Globe   12/11/2004

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Ten Communities Receive State Recognition for Smart Growth Efforts

Under his Leadership Awards for Smart Growth program, Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney presented officials from 10 communities with the Office for Commonwealth Development's smart growth certificates, saying, ''Instead of just letting development of housing, commercial and retail happen on a haphazard basis, they have taken a hand to assure that they will have a beautiful community for generations to come.''

The governor restated his commitment to urban planning and promised to reward best projects with state discretionary funds. ''We will favor those communities,'' he stressed, ''that are smart growth communities like Amesbury.''

One of the 10 smart growth certificate recipients selected from 36 entrants, Amesbury -- at the state border with Maine and some five miles from the Atlantic coast -- was honored for its downtown redevelopment. Amesbury Community and Economic Development Director Joseph Fahey, reports Amesbury News writer David Rogers, pointed out that his department staff recognized ''good planning philosophies'' and began to implement them before they entered the mainstream. He said they will continue to guide the town as it revitalizes its other sections. -- Amesbury News   11/26/2004

Resource(s): www2.townonline.com/amesbury

Wakefield Voters Approve Five Smart Growth Zoning Bylaws

Positioning their town on the foreground of smart growth in the Boston metro area, Wakefield residents passed five zoning bylaws to preserve open space, boost mixed uses, expand affordable housing and maintain local character, with Planning Board chairman Paul DiNocco pleased to ''have more tools to offer developers.''

Discussed and overwhelmingly approved at the closing session of the Town Meeting, reports Wakefield Observer correspondent Anne Scadding, four of the bylaws set standards for various types of residential projects, while the fifth creates ''overlay districts'' for downtown and two other areas, to streamline permitting for their mixed-use and other smart-growth projects.

The new zoning standard for single-family projects of more than five homes brings lots closer together, to increase sites' open space by 40 percent and shorten their roads. The other bylaws require developers of attached multi-family homes, mixed-use projects, varied-type dwellings, and so-called ''creative development'' to set aside 18 percent of units as affordable housing and follow specific parking, open space and other guidelines.

Consultant Phillip Herr, who helped Town Planner Paul Reavis and a citizens committee draw the bylaws, said ''changes of this kind take a long time to play out,'' but may eventually become a model for other communities throughout the state. -- Wakefield Observer   11/10/2004

Resource(s): http://www2.townonline.com/wakefield/

Naval Station Redevelopment Plan Includes 2800 Housing Units, Saves Most Land as Open Space

After a year-long series of public workshops on its smart-growth vision for the 1,450-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which also touches Rockland and Abington, the California-based Lennar Partners company presented a redevelopment plan that leaves about 72 percent of the base as open space, proposes 2,855 varied-type housing units in six ''villages'' clustered within five-minute walking distance of the project's center, and situates three quarters of the commercial space to its north, hoping to attract mainly bio-tech industry with high-paying jobs.

The open space would include wetlands, parks, recreation areas and an 18-hole public golf course; the housing would offer apartments, condos, townhouses and single-family homes, ranging from about $250,000 to almost $1 million, reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Mark Fontecchio, quoting Lennar design consultant Evan Rose, who says, ''The idea is that we need a diversity of housing, not just one type of housing.''

The new community would be served by a shuttle bus, running every 15 minutes from the so-called Transit Village, to Shea Village, Village Center, Northern Village Center, East Village, Golf Village and the South Weymouth commuter rail station.

Expected to start in 2008, the three-phase construction would be completed in 2017, creating more than 2,500 jobs, and increasingly benefitting the three towns with millions of dollars annually. According to Lennar estimates for 2017, Weymouth would gain $5.1 million that year; Rockland, $4.7 million; and Abington, $1.3 million -- a total of $11.1 million after subtraction of their service and other costs for the project.

In the next several months, the writer notes, the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corporation, federal, state and local officials, and area residents will be scrutinizing and fine-tuning the Lennar plan. Its approval is likely next spring. -- Patriot Ledger   9/24/2004

Resource(s): www.ledger.southofboston.com/ ; www.boston.com/

Natick Seeks Public Input on Proposed Downtown Development Guidelines

Following a Town Meeting approval of the Housing Overlay Option Plan (HOOP) for narrow third-of-a-mile-long strips of industrial land on both sides of central Natick's rail tracks, and hoping to expand this HOOP area in October, town planners and Natick Center Associates will seek public input on proposed 25-year downtown development guidelines at two ''Is Smart Growth in Natick Smart?'' brain-storming sessions, September 9 and 23.

They will be asking residents, reports Framingham MetroWest Daily News writer Sarah MacDonald, to help them determine how, specifically, downtown Natick should grow under the state's 10 sustainable development principles, which include ''expanding housing opportunities, providing transportation choices and conserving natural resources.''

The sessions will begin with presentations by such experts as Metropolitan Area Planning Council official Amy Cotter, architect and Zoning Board of Appeals member Bob Troccolo, affordable housing advocate Aaron Gornstein and biking proponent A. Richard Miller, after which participants will discuss the issues in theme groups.

Downtown manager Steven Greenberg observes, ''It's great to say everyone wants a nice downtown. But you need to be able to put some flesh on the bones, to figure out what we all really mean.'' -- MetroWest Daily News   8/31/2004

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/

Gov. Romney Announces $1.2 Billion for Massachusetts Construction Plan

Announcing his generally expected $1.28 billion statewide construction plan, Republican Governor Mitt Romney said in a statement that this capital spending ''reflects my administration's focus on fixing the state's aging infrastructure and investing in new projects that have been developed to work with our smart growth agenda.''

According to the governor's office, reports Media News writer Jennifer Fenn in several local newspapers, the spending plan focuses on ''Fix-It-First'' projects. It also stresses the need to complete all work on schedule and within budget, restrict expansion to core needs, limit non-capital costs, and reimburse grant recipients on time.

Officials and business leaders in Lowell, Devens and Bedford welcome continued funding for key local redevelopment projects -- $9.6 million for Lawrence Mills site reclamation, $5 million for the former Fort Devens Army base, and $484,000 for a marketing campaign to prevent closure of the Hanscom Air Force Base. All three redevelopment projects mean better land use and several thousand construction and long-term jobs. Harvard Hillside   8/18/2004

Resource(s): www.harvardhillside.com/

Plymouth Planners Look at Open Space Preservation, Smart Growth Options

Open space concerns are rampant around the suburban sprawl in Plymouth. Plymouth has 25,000 acres of privately held undeveloped land, but the town is moving toward smart growth principles. The majority of the movement has been through zoning and open space ordinances to preserve land.

The Community Preservation Act (CRA) was adopted to provide funds for open space preservation through property tax surcharges. Other towns in the area are attempting to replicate the success that Plymouth has had, but are still behind, according to MPG Newspapers writer Emily Wilcox.

Plymouth's director of planning and economic development, Lee Hartmann, spoke about some of the zoning and bylaws the city has enacted during the past decade. ''The transfer development rights (TDR) bylaw passed in 2000,'' he said. ''It's been used and we have a lot of interest in it. We have an open-space mixed-use development (OSMUD) bylaw.''

Planners are working to help the public make the connection between open space preservation and smart growth. -- Old Colony Memorial   7/17/2004

Resource(s): http://oldcolony.southofboston.com/

Editorial Urges ''Smart and Generous Investment'' in Massachusetts Land Protection

For 10 years before Republican Governor Mitt Romney took office in 2003, his party predecessors spent an average of $53 million a year to protect land for recreation, watershed well-being, and wildlife habitat, but he slashed the $70 million already authorized by Governor Jane Swift to $36 million and allowed just $18 million for this year, says a Boston Globe editorial, stressing that although officials ''have managed to multiply that through the leveraging of other funds,'' his next year's spending should challenge the current intense development pressure, especially in southeastern Massachusetts.

The 2002 environmental bond bill, which includes $220 million for land and water protection over three to five years, is important, the editorial points out, because it ''should help insure that funds are available even in tight times.''

The state must have money ''when a pivotal piece of land suddenly comes on the market,'' since the market ''won't wait until the state finds funds.''

Citing Trust for Public Land regional director Whitney Hatch, who said Massachusetts' $18 million to protect land this year is dwarfed by $175 million in New Jersey, the editorial concludes, ''Smart growth in Massachusetts calls for a smart and generous investment in conservation.'' -- Boston Globe   7/6/2004

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Vision 2020 Report Describes Sprawl Crisis in Southeast Massachusetts

''Sprawl is reaching epidemic proportions in Southeastern Massachusetts,'' warned state Democratic Senator Marc R. Pacheco at a Statehouse press conference, unveiling the regional Vision 2020 planning alliance's report that shows only three of the 46 self-audited towns ''growing smart,'' another 19 just initiating ''smart growth'' policies, and the rest doing little to really change the old development patterns, with six others simply ignoring the survey.

The three communities growing smart are Abington, Brockton and Marion, and the good news is, reports New Bedford Standard-Times writer David Kibbe, that master plans in 36 of the region's municipalities are less than five years old, 70 percent up since the inception of Vision 2020 in 1998.

The group was formed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in Boston, the Old Colony Planning Council in Brockton, and the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) in Taunton.

''While we are doing more planning, three-quarters of the communities don't connect their planning with their bylaws and regulations,'' pointed out Vision 2020 co-chairman and Nstar executive Donald Walsh. ''We've been planning for years. It's time for action.''

Vision 2020 is particularly worried about small rural communities of fewer than 10,000 residents, said its member SRPEDD official Marijoan Bull, noting, ''We found 77 percent of them scored in the lowest category. We would attribute this to the fact that they don't have resources.''

Consequently, the group's report says the state should change law to make local zoning regulation match master plans; increase funding and other incentives for smart growth; fund and train planning staff and volunteers; and formalize cooperation between municipal boards and all levels of government.

With state Environmental Affairs Secretary Ellen Roy Herzfelder calling Republican Governor Mitt Romney ''a real champion of smart growth,'' Senator Pacheco urged the administration to release the $25 million in environmental bond money over five years for smart growth planning. The senator also urged the legislature to pass his ''livable cities'' bill, which would enact many of the report's recommendations for smart growth. -- Standard-Times, The Enterprise   6/30/2004

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/ ; www.southofboston.com/

Framingham Needs Smart Growth, Improved Streetscapes to Build Pedestrian Traffic

Although Framingham, some 18 miles southwest of central Boston, doesn't give its residents much opportunity ''to walk more and drive less,'' it can do so in the future by planning now for pedestrian needs, writes former journalist and town planning and zoning official Sharon Machlis Gartenberg in a MetroWest Daily News guest column, stressing, ''There's no quick solution to the choked roads that suburban sprawl has created; but there is a solution for the long term: 'smart growth'.''

This requires more than just sidewalks, she observes, noting that the town's present sidewalks deter even those who live near work from walking because of ''an unappealing streetscape,'' including dangerously close high-speed traffic, and vast parking lots, dumpsters or rusting guard rails alongside. This requires continued improvement of zoning codes and development procedures to encourage mixed uses within reasonable proximity, and to ensure ''inviting streetscapes'' that make walking easy, safe and pleasant.

Stores and offices as such hardly hurt property values or quality of life, ''as downtowns from Waltham to Watertown to Wellesley and Concord attest,'' she continues, pointing out that most homeowners dislike adjacent strip malls and convenience stores, but they welcome aesthetically sound stores that really serve a neighborhood, a fact confirmed by Gerard Farms in North Framingham, where adjacent new houses start at $619,000.

Downtown Framingham ''desperately needs an attractive streetscape,'' she writes, which requires ''the will to balance the desires of pedestrians and cars, instead of designing solely for the automobile.'' Placing hope in the recent ''Framingham Tomorrow'' plan that promises downtown street upgrades, she concludes, ''It's important to understand that this isn't a frill; it's vital for downtown business success.'' -- MetroWest Daily News   6/20/2004

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/

Bay State Lawmakers Consider Affordable Housing Incentive Plan

Massachusetts' housing shortage ''threatens growth in every major economic sector, from software development and biotechnology to education and health care,'' warned a Boston Globe editorial as lawmakers convened in a budget conference committee, urging their approval of an incentive plan that ''would encourage communities to establish 'smart growth' zoning districts near town centers and transit lines,'' where 20 percent of new housing would be affordable for workers with modest means.

Proposed by the private Commonwealth Housing Task Force last fall, the plan would encourage municipalities to build more housing by offering them a bonus of $2,000 for each apartment and $4,000 for each single-family house, and by funding additional public schools.

Noting that the task force estimated the extra cost for schools at maximum $60 million a year statewide, the editorial called the amount ''a small price to encourage the construction of thousands of homes.'' -- Boston Globe   6/12/2004

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Natick Hailed as Example of How to Do Smart Growth Well

''As we roll out our smart growth strategies, we point to Natick as a significant example of how to do it and how to do it well,'' said Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Doug Foy at a press event in Natick, announcing $3 million in grants for municipalities that plan smart growth, and applauding town officials for spurring a downtown ''renaissance.''

The money comes from the $100 million Priority Development Fund, set up for MassHousing and unveiled by Republican Governor Mitt Romney in January, reports MetroWest Daily News writer Sarah MacDonald, noting that Secretary Foy also announced MassHousing's partnership with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority to build housing at or near 30 of its train stations in the Greater Boston area.

With three-quarters of the Priority Development Fund earmarked for mixed-income housing unlikely to be build otherwise, the grants for municipal smart-growth planning are limited to $50,000 per project, but Natick will ask for $150,000, the writer finds, quoting Selectmen Chairman John Ciccariello, who says, ''We've been working very hard to do what we've done.''

The town's recently approved ''housing overlay option plan,'' the writer observes, allows redevelopment of industrial sites into housing construction, first targeting a South Street strip and the vacant East Central Street armory, and later the area of the downtown commuter rail station. -- MetroWest Daily News   6/8/2004

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/

Training Program Offers Practical Advice on Planning and Growth Issues

The nonpartisan Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, which works with universities, public agencies and other organizations for better governance, has been offering local officials ''executive training programs'' on regional issues for the past three years, with its latest group of 15 attendees recently completing a year-long seminar on municipal governance and policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

The programs, according to the area's ''townonline'' web site, give practitioners the opportunity to examine and discuss policy and management approaches with experts in these fields. The topics include planning and zoning, transportation, housing, municipal finance, environmental issues, and contract and labor negotiations.

One special seminar with a focus on smart-growth initiatives was led by Smart Growth Leadership Institute executive director Harriet Tregoning, chief of the Maryland Smart Growth Office in the administration of former Governor Parris N. Glendening. -- Town Online   6/2/2004

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/brookline/news.html

Editorial: Time for Lawmakers to Allow Clustered Development

''It's time for Bay State lawmakers to reverse a pattern of dumb growth in Massachusetts and instead allow for clustered housing development as a 'matter of right' and so-called conventional development by special permit only,'' writes Gloucester City Planning Board chairman, state Audubon advocacy director Jack Clarke, in a Framingham Metro West Daily News guest column, stressing that while they ''sit on their hands,'' the 1950s-era ''cookie-cutter'' subdivision rules strain communities ''with oversized houses at oversized prices on oversized lots.''

About half of the state's municipalities, he notes, have already adopted the 1980s cluster guidelines, with ten choosing their newest version, or Open Space Residential Design (OSRD), ''based on the New England village-style of neighbors living side-by side around a common area of open space.''

OSRD zoning maximizes preservation of ''quality open space'' without reducing the number of homes, and lets officials offer developers a market-rate housing density bonus to make them build affordable units and preserve even more open space, the writer continues, calling OSRD ''a flexible tool that eliminates permit gridlock and fosters attractive neighborhoods that suit the landscape and turn a profit,'' all of which ''defines smart growth.''

The problem is, he points out, that cluster projects require a special permit, ''a lengthy, cumbersome and complicated process that intimidates property owners, employs too many lawyers and steers developers to the conventional method.''

Urging a change to ''a system of cluster by-right and conventional sprawl by special permit,'' he calls for saving land that ''protects the commonwealth's green infrastructure -- our drinking water, wetlands, forests and farms,'' and for denser developing of land close to transit, libraries, schools and shopping. Then he concludes; ''There are five million acres of land in Massachusetts. One million is protected open space; one million is developed; and the rest is up for grabs. How we treat the remaining land will say much to future generations about what we as a commonwealth value.'' -- Metro West Daily News   5/26/2004

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/

Town Meetings Explore Reuse Potential of South Weymouth's Former Naval Air Station

Although the 1,400-acre South Weymouth Naval Air Station closed in 1997, its future is not clear yet, with Weymouth, Abington and Rockland residents, who should vote on a final redevelopment plan by the end of 2005, expressing concerns over the prospect of more than 5,400 housing units, but Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) chairman Terry Fancher giving the Lennar Partners developers high marks for Smart Growth.

''The whole Smart Growth concept is a mini-community: housing, transportation and business, getting back to the village concept,'' he told Brockton Enterprise writer Elaine Allegrini before the first in a series of informational smart-growth town meetings on the base's reuse potential.

Residents and local leaders, the writer reports, fear that too many housing units would further drain scarce municipal resources, overburden crowded schools and create water shortages.

But the CAC chairman notes that a key part of redevelopment will be a bio-tech park and that many of the housing units will accommodate its work force. ''The area drastically needs that king of housing,'' he emphasized. ''From a labor standpoint, the South Shore imports an awful lot of labor. People drive from Fall River and New Bedford to work on the South Shore.'' -- Enterprise   5/17/2004

Resource(s): www.enterprise.southofboston.com/

Smart-Growth Zoning Districts Proposed to Help Create Affordable Housing in Massachusetts

''The housing crisis has made the American dream of home ownership more of a nightmare,'' said Massachusetts Senate Democratic President Robert E. Travaglini, announcing his chamber's budget proposal to help communities create ''smart-growth zoning'' districts near transit, town centers, commercial sectors and underused industrial properties, where a 20-percent minimum of affordable higher-density housing would provide 33,000 units within 10 years.

Communities with smart-growth zoning, reports Boston Globe writer Peter Schworm, would receive a $2,000 ''density bonus'' for each multi-family unit and $4,000 for each single-family home, full reimbursement of educational costs for children in the these districts, and priority for state public works projects.

It would cost the state $2 million in FY 2005, the outlays rising gradually to $78 million a year by 2015. Complementing the state's 1969 Chapter 40B affordable-housing law, under which low-cost unit developers can bypass zoning in communities with less than 10 percent of housing deemed affordable, the proposed financial incentives of the so-called 40R measure, its proponents hope, could win over these local officials who blame Chapter 40B for infringing on local control.

The new measure, said state Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler, ''will give towns and cities tremendous flexibility in how they plan their future development.'' -- Boston Globe   5/12/2004

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Legislators Outline Benefits of Smart-Growth Zoning Proposal

The median price of a typical single family home in the Boston metro area has doubled since 1997, and rents also are higher than in many other states, write Massachusetts Senate Democratic President Rober E. Travaglini and Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler on The Boston Globe editorial page, making the case for the Senate's ''smart-growth zoning'' proposal as necessary to boost affordable housing and ensure ''the long-term viability and success of our economy.''

Presently, they write, ''(m)any teachers, nurses, lab technicians, even doctors and high-tech employees simply cannot afford to live here,'' and although the state has some of the world's best colleges and universities, ''it has been increasingly challenging to retain the highly educated young people who graduate here but opt to live elsewhere.''

Calling the Senate's proposal a step toward implementation of a blueprint presented last year by the Commonwealth Housing Task Force, a broad group of officials, labor and business leaders, academics, developers and conservationists, the senators stress it ''will dramatically alter future development patterns'' in the state.

Then, they conclude: ''Smart growth zoning will foster distinctive and attractive communities, preserve open space and critical environmental areas, reduce urban sprawl, provide residents with a variety of transportation choices, spur economic development, and create a range of new housing options. It is a win for the Commonwealth, a win for our cities and towns, and a win for our citizens.'' -- The Boston Globe   5/11/2004

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe/

Recent Multifamily Projects Hard to Find Along Boston's Outer Beltway

His super-agency overseeing annual spending of $5.5 billion for energy, environment, transportation and housing, Commonwealth Development Chief Douglas Foy told an International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Boston that Governor Mitt Romney's administration will not aid suburban communities that don't want apartments and condominiums, stressing, ''We have an enormous amount of leverage in the investments we make.''

Dismayed that 25 of 38 towns along Boston's outer I-495 beltway have allowed no multifamily project over the past five years, he said ''they complain bitterly how bad the traffic condition are, but they're doing nothing to change that.''

On the other hand, he praised Quincy and Plymouth for their anti-sprawl policies, reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Steve Adams, observing that Quincy Mayor William Phelan has sought more apartments in the downtown area to increase its attractiveness, while Plymouth officials are working on a master plan to curb sprawl and boost commercial development.

With research finding about 75 percent of Massachusetts communities benefitting financially from new housing, due to sharp increases in real estate prices and property tax assessments, Foy said the state will ''have to figure out'' how to help the other 25 percent, pointing out that three months ago the governor announced a $1.1 billion loan program to spur construction of 5,000 units within three years.

The writer notes that Foy is readying a proposal to offer towns financial incentives for approving high-density housing, but its details will still have to be released. -- Patriot Ledger   4/4/2004

Resource(s): http://ledger.southofboston.com/

State Offers Littleton, Mass., Grant Money to Explore Smart Growth Possibilities

Smart growth is ''near and dear'' to Republican Governor Mitt Romney's heart, state health official and Charles River Watershed Association director Bob Zimmerman assured Littleton selectmen, telling them that right upon his return from the Super Bowl game in Houston, the governor stopped by the office of his Chief of Commonwealth Development Douglas Foy and told him, ''Please don't let us become Houston. They have the worst sprawl I've ever seen.''

Director Zimmerman, reports Littleton Independent correspondent Nan Shnitzler, has been working with Foy to promote semi-rural Littleton, some 25 miles northwest of Boston, as a future smart growth model. Consequently, the governor visited Littleton to announce a unique partnership, under which the Office of Commonwealth Development is offering the town state grant money for the exploration of local smart growth possibilities.

Officials want to identify the best areas for mixed-use development and design the necessary sewer system and treatment plant, with an eye on local soil characteristics to prevent any environmental problems. -- Littleton Independent   3/31/2004

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/littleton/news.html

Groundbreaking Begins at Boston Area's Mixed-Use Northpoint Neighborhood; Project Called ''Model of Urban Smart Growth''

The master-planned transformation of a long-vacant 45-acre rail-yard site shared by Cambridge, Boston and Sommerville near two MBTA subway stations into the $2-billion-plus mixed-use NorthPoint neighborhood by 2020 has begun, with Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy stressing at a crowded groundbreaking ceremony that the transit-oriented project ''is also a model of urban smart growth that will spur economic development and investment.''

Area U.S. Democratic Representative Michael E. Capuano echoed the statement, adding that NorthPoint's ''creative development plan includes much-needed units of affordable housing and will increase the area's available recreational space.''

Addressing state and local officials also on behalf of his partners from Guilford Transportation Industries, Inc., Spaulding & Slye Colliers principal Daniel O'Connell reciprocated the praise. ''It is extraordinary to realize that NorthPoint won the necessary approvals from the communities, with a great deal of public input, in only two years,'' he said, ''This has been a textbook example of public and private partnership. A contemporary tale of 3 cities, with varied constituencies and objectives, that have come together to create something truly special on this underutilized landscape.''

In the project's first phase, reports Cambridge Chronicle writer Chris Helms, the developers will construct two condo buildings with a total of 329 units, most in the $350,000-$600,000 price range, and a 5.5-acre central park by late 2006 and early 2007; later they will add 2,370 housing units, 2.2 million square feet of lab and office space, and 150,00 square feet of retail, along with more parks and a bike path, possibly linked to nearby areas.

''The real challenge,'' said NorthPoint master planner, Toronto-based Greenberg Consultants principal Ken Greenberg, ''is to take this hidden site and tie it to existing neighborhoods.'' -- Cambridge Chronicle   3/23/2004

Resource(s): www.bostonsf.com/main.cfm? ; www2.townonline.com/cambridge

Open Space Dwindles As Large Lots Gobble Up Land in Massachusetts

Despite its gradual land protection progress, Massachusetts still lost more than 202,000 acres of forest, farmland and open space between 1985 and 1999, nearly 90 percent of those 40 acres a day taken for residential construction, while a relatively slow growth rate for single-family houses has been outweighed by a trend toward bigger home sizes and lots, according to the milestone ''Losing Ground'' study by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, whose advocacy director Jack Clarke said, ''This is the time for the governor, legislature, and environmental community to work together on smart growth and land protection for this and future generations.''

Released at the 12th Massachusetts Birders Meeting by Mass Audubon researcher Kevin Breunig, the study notes that should it also count roads and other subdivision-related land consumption, the 40-acre daily loss would almost double; that the loss is heaviest in the ecologically fragile southeast and Cape Cod areas, and along the I-495 corridor; and that 71 percent of the state's wildlife habitat lacks permanent protection against development.

The study also shows that the average single-family house square footage and lot footage increased by 44 and 47 percent, respectively, from 1970 to 2002. This type of development ''is bad for wildlife habitat and bad for people who want affordable housing,'' said Mass Audubon president Laura Johnson, adding, ''It is proof that we can't simply put land protection on the back burner while we wait for an economic recovery.'' -- The Daily Item   3/8/2004

Resource(s): www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/news.bg

Gov. Romney Outlines $1.5 Billion Plan for Regional Transit, Transit-Oriented Development

Gov. Romney Outlines $1.5 Billion Plan for Regional Transit, Transit-Oriented Development With Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel (Big Dig) Project entitled to another $1.5 billion from future Massachusetts federal highway grants between 2005 and 2012, which makes this money unavailable for other key projects, Governor Mitt Romney moved to plug the gap by issuing an executive order to keep the $400 million annual spending for the Statewide Road and Bridge Program during that period, and by filing a comprehensive bill to spend $1.15 billion more in three years on transportation improvements, including $52 million for Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) and $54 million for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), the last item described in his press release as augmenting ''the Commonwealth Capital Fund, which was recently established to promote smart growth through discretionary grants.''

The bill specifies that the RTAs will put $27 million of their $52-million annual grants into planning, engineering, design and construction of regional intermodal transportation centers (ITCs) to maximize passenger connectivity in population hubs; and that the $54 million a year in TOD money means grants and loans for infrastructure, mixed uses and brownfield reclamation, which, says the governor in a letter to the legislature, ''will help promote housing and commercial development around transit centers, thereby reducing automobile traffic on our congested roadways.''

In the executive order, the governor stresses that the continued $400 million outlays on the Statewide Road and Bridge Program until 2012 reflect both his ''Fix-it-First policy'' and ''a Communities First policy that promotes projects with community-friendly design,'' and recognize that the Massachusetts Highway Department responsibilities ''range from roads and bridges to bicycle and pedestrian facilities,'' and that ''the Commonwealth's economy, environment and quality of life are inextricably linked with the quality of its transportation.'' Details at www.state.ma.us/eotc.   2/10/2004

Resource(s): http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/ ; www.bigdig.com/

State Grant for Historic Building Rehab Puts Town of Ayer on Track for Downtown Revitalization

The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded the small town of Ayer in Middlesex County an $825,000 Community Development Block Grant for rehabilitation of the historic Spaulding Block building downtown, with Ayer Economic and Community Development Director Shaun Suhoski, instrumental in securing the grant, stressing, ''The project exemplifies smart growth. It adds vibrancy, people and customers for the downtown businesses, and it adds affordable housing.''

Building owner Calvin Moore, who is matching the grant with investment of $1.12 million, will restore the first floor for business use, and the two upper floors for eight affordable housing units, reports Groton Landmark writer C. David Gordon. Praising the award as ''a great step in the right direction,'' for ''having private people put money in Main Street,'' the building owner said, ''just one building at a time -- that's what we need to do'' to revitalize the downtown area.

In a congratulatory letter to director Suhoski, the selectmen board credited him not only for the newest grant, but also for his innovative and consistent redevelopment work over the past six years, thanks to which ''the town of Ayer has grown beyond all recognition.'' -- Groton Landmark   2/6/2004

Resource(s): www.grotonlandmark.com/

Gov. Romney Hopes $100M Development Fund Will Help Double Housing Starts in Massachusetts

Having pledged to spur housing starts, Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney launched his $100 million Priority Development Fund, which will help build some 5,000 units within three years, with $75 million set aside for mixed-income projects offering at least 20 percent of units as affordable; $22 million for mixed-income development around transit nodes; and $3 million for community affordable-housing plans that adhere to smart growth.

''We are on a mission to double housing starts in Massachusetts and this is one approach to help us there without spending new taxpayers dollars,'' the governor said, expecting the fund to leverage about $1 billion in additional public and private investment.

Geared chiefly toward apartment projects and administered by the state's affordable housing bank, MassHousing, with money coming from its reserves and anticipated mortgage repayments, reports GlobeSt web-page writer Naomi Grossman, the new fund will provide low-to-no-interest loans to non-profit and for-profit developers, who can use them to cover financing shortfalls, write down interest rates and enhance their credit or secure other loans.

The governor promised preference for projects that meet smart growth criteria by locating in city cores and near transit or by using present infrastructure; expand affordable housing; attract other resources; and include units with three or more bedrooms.   1/29/2004

Resource(s): www.globest.com/index.html

Gov. Romney Receives Mixed Reviews for Growth Management Efforts During First Year in Office

After 12 months in office, Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney ''has a long time to go to deliver on most of his campaign promises,'' which included ''a better quality of life, from more plentiful jobs and more affordable housing to easy-to-read road signs,'' reports Quincy Patriot Ledger writer Tom Benner, noting that environmentalists like his emphasis on ''smart growth'' and focus on development in urban areas, but point out that ''smart growth'' requires land conservation and wish he had tried to save more open space.

''We are extremely disappointed that he is not spending money on land conservation, especially when we're losing 40 acres a day,'' says Massachusetts Audubon Society official Jack Clarke, while praising his folding of the Metropolitan District Commission and the Department of Environmental Management into the Department of Conservation and Recreation as an economically sound job ''that governors going back to Dukakis have tried to do.''

The governor gets similar high and low grades from housing advocates. They applaud the governor's stress on affordability and efforts to coordinate housing, transportation and open space protection, but fault him and lawmakers for reducing the state's public housing and rental assistance programs by $10 million and $4 million, respectively. To really increase the supply of subsidized and market rate housing,'' says Citizens' Housing and Planning Association executive director Aaron Gornstein, ''there needs to be more state funding for housing, as opposed to cutting back funds.'' -- Patriot Ledger   12/27/2003

Resource(s): http://ledger.southofboston.com/

Agency Coordination Key to Success of Mixed-Use Development Projects Near MBTA Stations

Arriving with staff on a Blue Line train at the Wonderland station in Revere, some five miles northeast of Boston, to promote pedestrian-friendly transit-oriented development and transit use as a key part of his ''smart growth'' policy, Republican Governor Mitt Romney launched his ''Take it to the T'' initiative, in a pilot phase of which the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and other state agencies will work closely with Revere, Malden, Woburn and Belmont to spur mixed-use development around their MBTA stations. Executive Office of Transportation and Construction Spokesman Jonathan Carlisle told Boston Globe correspondent John Laidler, ''We've identified properties around transportation hubs like T stations as having great potential to add value to development in those areas,'' calling it ''a great opportunity and something of an untapped resource.'' Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino said the city has been preparing development around the Wonderland station for the past three years, stressing, ''Development on this site does require coordination and cooperation among various state agencies. It certainly helps if the governor's office is pushing to see that that coordination occurs.'' -- Boston Globe   12/21/2003

Resource(s): www.boston.com/news/globe

Pedestrian-Friendly Urban Areas Drawing Families Back to the City

Frustrated with suburban isolation, resentful of constant driving everywhere in bad traffic and troubled by sedentary lifestyle health effects, more and more families are moving to town centers and older neighborhoods, where they ''make sidewalks, bike trails, and commuter lines their preferred thoroughfares,'' writes Boston Globe correspondent Matt Viser, citing 2000 Census data showing that fewer than eight percent of residents in many Boston suburbs walk or use transit, while 45 percent of Bostonians do so at least five days a week. Researchers and officials note that many suburbanites, once attracted to big yards and idealized subdivisions, have begun to reevaluate old notions of suburban life as worthy of the flight from dense and ''dirty'' cities, the correspondent reports, citing Harvard law professor David Barron, who says, ''The idea of suburbia as the antithesis of an urban center is just not valid anymore,'' and Southborough Board of Selectmen chairman David Perry, who points out that in his community, ''(m)ost of the desirable homes are located near the town center,'' which shows ''that people want to be able to walk to places.'' Prompted by this demand and by the need to reduce pressure on roads and other resources, the writer observes, cities and towns are promoting pedestrian-friendly projects and restructuring ''their downtowns to cluster homes, offices, and shops.'' And as Yale University professor Dolores Hayden, author of ''Building Suburbia,'' says American appetite for big homes, yards and garages remains strong and ''the McMansions are growing popular even as other people are reevaluating their surroundings,'' the correspondent notes that although walking accounted for only nine percent of all trips in 2001, a recent national poll found 55 percent of Americans willing to walk rather than drive, if only they had the chance. -- Boston Globe   10/26/2003

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Greenbush Commuter Rail Project Gets Gov. Romney's Approval

As he and state lawmakers prepare to craft a 25-year transportation plan, Governor Mitt Romney approved the controversial $479 million South Shore commuter rail project the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) put on hold in February due to fiscal and legal worries. The governor agreed with his development chief Douglas Foy and MBTA general manager Michael H. Mulhern that the 18-mile line from Greenbush to Braintree's current 9-mile link to South Boston will be the areas's best transit alternative. Most of the cost and legal issues seemingly resolved and only an Army Corps of Engineers wetlands construction permit needed, reports Boston Globe writer Raphael Lewis, manager Mulhern is confident that the Greenbush commuter train will run in spring 2006. In response to local opposition, MTBA officials and other transit advocates point out that the impact of diesel trains will be greatly outweighed by the benefits of reduced traffic on Route 3, already one of the state's most congested. Still, in a rare Republican criticism of the Republican governor, state Senator Robert L. Hedlund said he appreciates that the governor ''made time to personally review this project, and didn't just rubber-stamp the irresponsible actions of previous administrations,'' but he ''made an easy decision instead of a courageous decision,'' which ''would be to right a wrong, and not pour good money after bad.'' -- Boston Globe   9/23/2003

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Report Outlines Steps for Improving Land Use Strategies in New England

''Sprawl is neither the ordained nor the inevitable outcome upon the New England landscape,'' but the necessary public-private steps to ''improve land use patterns and reduce the cost of local government'' must begin with legislation to eliminate gaps between land use laws of the region's six states and with incentives for municipal cooperation, asserts the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service in its just-posted online ''Model State Land Use Legislation for New England.'' The 97-page study proposes the creation of municipal service districts, an outcome-based comprehensive planning law and omnibus model state-level land use control legislation. It points out that in the face of growing sprawl costs, ''it is incumbent upon all levels of government to respond in a comprehensive, forceful, and effective manner.'' Specifically, the states and municipalities should acknowledge that they share land use authority; that the state can and will assert its authority to fulfill its financial, social, environmental and other responsibilities when they are jeopardized; that primary land use decision-making authority can and should reside at the local level, with state review warranted if state interests and responsibilities are at stake; and that ''when the state asserts authority over municipalities, it must be done equally and fairly across the state.'' To help the six states ''enact all or a portion'' of the proposed legal framework, the study organizes the material in three increasingly specific parts, entitled ''A mechanism to create a form of regional governance tailored to New England,'' ''A far-reaching set of amendments to the state-level, comprehensive land-use planning statutes of Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont'' (since Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire lack such statutes), and ''A set of 10 individual provisions which, taken together, represent omnibus land use legislation.'' The study also defines or clarifies definitions of impact fee; implementation program; moratorium; rate of growth, or ''cap'' ordinance; capital budgeting; cluster development; floating or unmapped zoning; high density development; infill development; locally unwanted land use (LULU); Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY); overlay zoning; planned unit (mixed use) development; and transfer of development rights.   7/18/2003

Resource(s): http://efc.muskie.usm.maine.edu/pubs.htm

New Development Council to Bring Sustainable Development, Smart Growth to Massachusetts

Although Massachusetts lawmakers disappointed Governor Mitt Romney by refusing to fund the Executive Office of Commonwealth Development proposed for former Conservation Law Foundation president Douglas Foy -- giving him instead the chair of a specially created seven-member Commonwealth Development Coordinating Council -- the change doesn't affect the scope of his responsibilities, with the governor's communication director Eric Fehrnstrom stressing, ''Doug Foy is not a Cabinet secretary de jure, but will continue to operate as a de facto member of the Cabinet,'' and with Foy asserting, ''We're going to do sustainable development and smart growth.'' The reason for the change, finds Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, lies in ''a mix of politics, policy and personality,'' with some lawmakers reluctant to ''give the governor everything he wanted'' and others wary about formalizing a super-secretary post, to oversee secretaries of environmental affairs, transportation and construction, and other departments. Therefore, lawmakers reached a compromise to seat all those departments on the coordinating council chaired by Foy, explains Senate Ways and Means Committee Democratic Chairwoman Therese Murray, adding, ''we (also) didn't feel the governor went far enough'' to coordinate housing, transportation, energy and the environment. The result is fine with Environmental League of Massachusetts president James R. Gomes, who observes, ''If we weren't so focused on who's up and who's down, we would be saying that Massachusetts for the first time passed legislation calling for smart growth.'' -- Boston Globe   7/3/2003

Resource(s): www.globe.com

Legislators, Governor Scrutinize Massachusetts Affordable Housing Reform Bills

As Massachusetts lawmakers sift through some 70 bills to amend or repeal the state's Chapter 40B -- enacted in 1969 as an ''anti-snob zoning'' law to ensure that each town has 10 percent of housing affordable for lower-income residents -- Governor Mitt Romney's task force is recommending numerous improvements, including transfer of the zoning appeals boards' role to local planning boards and creation of a ''growth fund'' to help towns bear additional service costs, all endorsed by the governor, who is eager to make the law ''a tool, not a club.'' The controversy over Chapter 40B, writes New Bedford Standard-Times senior correspondent Steve Urbon, involves mostly local officials, who resent the state's power to force an affordable housing share and its fiscal burden on their towns; regional planning proponents, who back low-income housing but fault the implementation process, project designs and the state's count that excludes mobile homes and low-priced market-rate units; and affordable housing advocates, who acknowledge cases of ill feelings, but insist these quickly evaporate once the units are built. While the Citizens Housing and Planning Association applauds the Chapter 40B success rate, the correspondent writes, Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District director Steve Smith and Tufts University professor, planner and lawyer John Witten, think only its total overhaul can relieve accumulated tensions and advance affordable housing. Both also wish the task force, the governor and the legislature were ready for more decisive steps. Commenting on the idea of helping Chapter 40B through ''smart growth'' planning, director Smith says, '''Guideline' and 'encourage' are not very strong words.'' And professor Witten says bluntly, ''I think it was anticipated that the Legislature and the task force didn't have the collective courage to deal with this as other progressive states deal with it.'' -- Standard-Times   6/15/2003

Resource(s): www.southcoasttoday.com/

Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance Outlines Plan to Build S.G. Constituency

Determined to make Republican Governor Mitt Romney keep his electoral anti-sprawl promises, six of the state's advocacy groups -- including the Conservation Law Foundation, whose former president Douglas Foy now heads the new state Office of Commonwealth Development -- formed the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, which will build a smart-growth constituency by teaching people to think regionally, while encouraging municipalities to plan jointly and share tax revenue, pressing the state to revise its Chapter 40A zoning law and advocating compact affordable housing projects near transit. The other five groups in the new political alliance, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, are the Environmental League of Massachusetts, the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, the Boston Society of Architects and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, whose executive president Marc Draisen said the alliance will ''hold the governor's feet to the fire'' and weigh in on specific projects, telling him that those ''inconsistent with smart growth ... should not be built.'' With his development office overseeing the environment, transportation, energy and housing, Foy commented, ''I think it's great. We need a lot of voices to push this agenda along.'' For that reason, the writer notes, many alliance members and other activists, helped by a national PolicyLink group, formed the Greater Boston Action Committee, which will specifically promote affordable housing and transit access for workers with low and moderate incomes. -- Boston Globe   6/11/2003

Resource(s): www.globe.com/

Mixed-Use Smart Growth Project Slated for South Weymouth's Former Navy Station

After a half-century of service, the 1,450-acre former South Weymouth Naval Air Station will be redeveloped as a mixed-use neighborhood with a town center and a multi-modal transit station -- the first 550 acres just transferred and the rest due by year-end to Weymouth, Rockland and Abington, and their South Shore Tri-Town Development Corporation board chairman and interim executive director John W. Rogers saying, ''This project provides a tremendous opportunity to involve developers, regulators, and the community in the earliest stages of 'Smart Growth' development. It can truly be a national model.'' He credited Massachusetts Democratic Congressman William Delahunt with dissuading the Navy from auctioning the base and instead giving it to the three towns under economic development and public benefit conveyances, reports local news writer Jeanne M. Rideout, noting also the early participation of the U.S. EPA and the state's Department of Environmental Protection in the project planning. Assigned to Lennar Partners, a LNR Property Corporation subsidiary specialized in military base redevelopment, the project is expected to spur over $800 million investment in area infrastructure improvements and create 5,000 construction jobs. Upon completion, it will offer housing, about 7,500 office, retail and light industrial jobs, recreation areas, a golf course and more than 900 acres of open space. Following two smart growth community sessions sponsored by Lennar and its corporation, the EPA held a public ''Smart Growth Forum'' on May 29. -- Weymouth News   5/21/2003

Resource(s): www.townonline.com/weymouth/index.html

Boston Area Towns Should Link Land Use With Transportation to Avoid Sprawl

If municipalities within the 30-mile radius of I-495 from Boston want to resist sprawl, they should link land use with transportation and save open space, said Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy, seeing smart growth best exemplified in the old-type New England villages, where people can walk, shop and enjoy open space without driving out, noting that they would be ''illegal under current zoning,'' and summarizing the smart growth challenge as ''forcing ourselves to stop doing the stupid things.'' In a keynote speech at the SuAsCo (Sudbury, Assabet, Concord rivers) Watershed Community Council's sixth annual River Visions conference in Hudson, reports MetroWest Daily News writer Brian Eastwood, the secretary told area officials, business leaders and activists that the key to more livable communities is environmentally conscious development, which protects the state's natural assets, especially rivers. Metropolitan Area Planning Council watershed panelist Martin Pillsbury showed how much suburban zoning can obstruct smart growth, citing the council's study of 21 towns north and west of Boston, whose total population grew by five percent and jobs by 10 percent in the 1990s, while the number of vehicle miles traveled, vehicle registration and road-congestion hours jumped by 14, 25 and 52 percent, respectively. The forum's six workshops, the writer adds, dealt with revitalization of downtown riverbanks, planning for their regional revival, stormwater runoff prevention, community forest protection, dam removal and proper lawn care practices. Stressing that environmental problems require cooperation among all involved, SuAsCo Executive Director Nancy Bryant said, ''This council was born here in the watershed and we can keep up the grassroots movement.'' -- MetroWest Daily News   5/3/2003

Resource(s): www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/

Infill, Mixed-Use Projects Part of Massachusetts' New Development Policies

Recruited by Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy to help him craft Governor Mitt Romney's anticipated smart growth plan, Rhode Island School of Design professor Anne Tate says a centerpiece of new development policies in the ''blueprint for sustainability'' will be reclamation of infill land near Boston for high-density urban villages, since ''Sites where we have to create new roads or water or sewers don't make sense when we don't have as much money to throw around.'' One of her examples of urban land targeted for mixed use and a new transit stop, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, is the 145-acre Assembly Square along the Mystic River in Somerville, a former Ford plant site turned into a shopping mall, with only a few stores left and its big parking lots taken over by junk and weeds. This doesn't really please Somerville officials who visualized new big-box stores at Assembly Square, arguing they urgently need more tax revenue for schools and basic services. ''It's fine to talk about smart growth and New Urbanism,'' says Somerville Chamber of Commerce president Steve Mackey, ''but these broad, intellectual ideas have to be put through the local process.'' Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay's spokesman Bill Doncaster admitted that the ''long-term vision, the ideal, is mixed use: office, retail and residential,'' but noted that ''some big box'' doesn't make them impossible. Secretary Foy's new smart- growth team member Anne Tate agrees that big stores and neo- traditional neighborhoods can coexist, stressing, ''what is not compatible are giant parking lots and an unmitigated traffic jam,'' which such stores invite. -- Boston Globe   4/8/2003

Resource(s): www.globe.com/

State Considers Incentives, Alliances to Help Fulfill Massachusetts' Affordable Housing Mandate

Governor Mitt Romney wants Massachusetts towns to adopt smart growth ideas of locating new housing near transit, public offices and schools, said Office of Commonwealth Development deputy chief Stephen Burrington at a MetroWest Affordable Housing Coalition workshop in Framingham, assuring its Plymouth Church audience that the 10-percent affordable-housing mandate under state Chapter 40B remains in full force, with officials seeking ways to help towns fulfill it, which may include letting them form alliances to reach the 10-percent goal regionally rather than individually while rewarding extra shares with extra cash. ''A simple proposal would be to increase local aid for each unit of affordable housing built,'' he explained in response to Framingham state Democratic Senator David Magnani, who said city officials fear that should they exceed their share of affordable units, they would also have to shoulder the additional public costs, including school, utility and emergency services. Milford Daily News writer Charlie Breitrose notes that the state is already aiding municipalities that passed the Community Preservation Act (CPA), which lets them use a property tax surcharge for affordable housing, open space protection and historic building renovation. Several MetroWest towns adopted the act, but Framingham voters rejected it in 2001. -- Milford Daily News   4/5/2003

Resource(s): www.milforddailynews.com/

Massachusetts' ''Supersecretary'' Faces Criticism from Both Sides of Growth Issue

When Conservation Law Foundation president Douglas Foy accepted Republican Governor Mitt Romney's offer to become his supersecretary for housing, transportation, energy and the environment -- with an adjacent office, constant access and a mandate to overhaul development rules -- most environmentalists applauded the move, but after the first several weeks some wonder why he hasn't pushed harder against sprawl and question his notion of smart growth, in contrast to developers and business leaders who already consider him too radical. Intensely scrutinized by developers, road builders, affordable housing activists, rail and transit advocates, and wary conservationists, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, the self-confident supersecretary asks his audiences for input and defines smart growth as compact development where ''every child can walk to a library.'' Still, former Department of Environmental Protection attorney Kyla Bennett notes his recent praise for a proposed 250-unit housing project on 337 wooded acres near Borderland State Park in Sharon and asks, ''That's his idea of smart growth? In the middle of a flipping park? It's not even on a paved road.'' Others, the writer observes, credit him for the ''Fix it First'' push to focus state transportation money on road and bridge repairs in urban areas and to make state employees use a car-sharing service, but regret his silence on the so-called ''greenfields fee,'' which would raise costs of projects in rural areas; his consent to spend $50 million to reward municipalities for any new housing instead of reserving the cash for multifamily or transit-oriented projects; and his weak stance on the Greenbush commuter line reactivation, for which he fought as the Conservation Law Foundation head. The foundation's acting president, Stephanie Pollack, defends her former boss, saying, ''His operating latitude is different now, but he believes in the power of smart ideas, and he knows a fair amount about how you make those ideas carry the day.'' And he himself stresses, ''You can have great economic growth and smart growth -- they are one and the same.'' -- Boston Globe   3/7/2003

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

EPA Funding Clean Fuel School Bus Program in Boston

Prompted by a study of children's exposure to school bus diesel fumes, which contain more than 40 pollutants that aggravate cardiac and pulmonary illnesses, the U.S. EPA has been spending $1.4 million since last September for a push to run buses and trucks on ultra low-sulfur fuel or retrofit them with filters blocking as much as 90 percent of emissions -- its pilot program highly advanced in the 680-bus Boston school district, where 200 buses already burn ultra clean diesel and 100 should get the special filters by the school year's end, with EPA environmental engineer Peter Hagerty saying, ''Schools basically don't have any money, so we are trying to help them out.'' The landmark study, by Yale University and Environment and Human Health, Inc. of Connecticut, reports Boston Globe correspondent Franco Ordonez, found that 24 million children spend 3 billion hours annually on 600,000 school buses, most of them diesel-powered. Noting that children are especially susceptible to diesel exhaust, because they breathe 50 percent more air per body-weight pound than adults, EPA estimates the use of ultra low-sulfur fuel and exhaust filters will cut the Boston school fleet's annual emissions by 540 pounds of particulate matter, plus 2,480 pounds of smog-causing hydrocarbons and 17,380 tons of carbon monoxide. Excited about the prospects, Boston School Department fleet director Richard Jacobs notes that although the city has earlier made strides in lowering school bus emissions on its own, it won't be able to continue such spending in today's economy. -- Boston Globe   2/16/2003

Resource(s): www.boston.com/globe/

64,000 Acres Placed Under Closer Development Scrutiny in Massachusetts

His prospects for staying in the administration of Governor-elect Mitt Romney still unsettled, Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert Durand put 64,000 acres in 11 towns northwest of Boston under the state's Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) program, which mandates tougher impact reviews for large-scale projects that need state permits or funds, including office parks, shopping malls and residential complexes. Unable to affect zoning rules, the ACEC ''merely puts some larger projects under more scrutiny,'' said the secretary, pointing out that the state rewards participant communities with environmental grant dollars that could be ''in the millions'' over the next years. But some landowners affected by the ACEC designation fear it may depress their property values, reports Boston Globe writer Erica Noonan, quoting Dunstable greenhouse owner Joan Simmons, who said, ''If the state wants to preserve land, you buy it, not pass a bunch of regulations on it.'' Similarly, the added layer of land protection troubles National Association of Homebuilders spokesman Neil Gaffney, who called it risky for future affordability and asked ''What will the state do to make up for those acres in terms of providing housing?'' Many consider such worries unwarranted. In Groton, where 88 percent of land will be under strong ACEC protection, environmental consultant Robert Pine said towns, landowners and developers can work out local solutions. ''Without a plan like this, we would wind up with development with pockets of conservation,'' he stressed. ''What we're aiming for is development surrounded by conservation lands.'' -- Boston Globe   12/12/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Housing Crisis Affecting Massachusetts' Land Preservation Efforts

Spontaneously supported by a letter from 78 Massachusetts environmental and sports groups to Governor-elect Mitt Romney, the ''environmentalists' environmental secretary,'' Democrat Robert Durand -- instrumental in saving 140,000 acres since 1998 and winning one of the U.S. EPA's first four National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement last month -- may see his prospects for staying in the third successive Republican administration superseded by its reported transition team's preparations for even stronger land use policies of ''not just saying where development can't go, but planning for where it should go.'' The focus of the state policies in the last six years, land preservation, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint, is seen by many planners ''as a worthy goal but only part of the equation.'' Without a statewide growth-management policy and multi-agency coordination, they say, blocking development in selected areas can worsen the state's affordable housing crisis. In this context, the other candidate for the environmental secretary is Goodwin Procter attorney R.J. Lyman, the top environmental consultant for major developers and landowners in eastern Massachusetts, including cranberry grower A.C. Makepeace Co. Noting that secretary Durand hopes for a deal to buy from the company a total of 6,000 acres for preservation before the administration comes, the writer thinks Lyman could easily block the deal, adding, ''In a state where politics is still a contact sport, there are some things about the new era that may not change.'' -- Boston Globe   12/4/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/globe

Number of Massachusetts Towns Eligible for Preservation Funds Rising

As the number of Massachusetts municipalities entitled to property-tax raises for land purchases, historic protection and affordable housing and to matching state funds from the Community Preservation Act (CPA) reached 58 after the November election, state Environmental Affairs office spokesman Doug Pizzi sought to reassure local officials that despite a huge budget shortfall next fiscal year, the state will strive to provide them with full CPA funding shares. Last month, reports Boston Globe correspondent Scott W. Helman, 34 communities shared the initial $17.9 million in CPA grants, with several current and prospective recipients east of Boston, where land prices are sky high, thinking to start modestly with small projects, while putting most of their CPA money into interest-paying accounts and hoping to acquire larger tracts or build more low-income housing units later. Lincoln, whose voters just passed the act, will soon create a Community Preservation Committee, which will decide how to spend the expected CPA total of $360,000 each year. Sudbury, its combined CPA amount already at $1 million, will consider 12 spending proposals next spring. Wayland, with the first $340,000 state check raising its CPA fund to $700,000, will likely save the money for a conservation or affordable housing effort in a few years.   11/13/2002

Resource(s): www.bostonglobe.com/

First Draft of Revised Zoning Law Offered in Massachusetts

Listed as one of the nation's most outdated by the American Planning Association and so much tinkered at since the 1920s that even Land Court Judges find some passages incomprehensible, the sprawl-inducing Massachusetts' Chapter 40-A zoning law is long overdue for a complete overhaul, asserts a Zoning Reform Working Group of planners and attorneys offering a draft of changes, with its leader, Northampton land-use consultant Joel S. Russell, saying there are communities that ''want to do smart growth and we should give them the tools to do it.'' The zoning law, weakened further by the equally problematic Chapter 41 Subdivision control law, troubles the group for several reasons, reports Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint. It neither links zoning with planning in a municipal set of mandatory principles for builders nor authorizes any modern planning strategies; and it prevents municipalities both from setting home-floor limits to curb the practice of razing homes on small lots for outsized ''trophy'' residences and from trying rural zoning of one home per 25 acres to save open land and create higher density village centers. The law's broad ''grandfathering'' clause lets builders skirt any change in local rules by locking in current zoning for up to eight years; and its peculiar ''approval not required'' provision enables builders to avoid review of construction on lots with road and street frontages. Builders Association of Greater Boston president Finley Perry defends some parts of the zoning law as vital for property rights and points out that the frontage provision lets many families build homes for children on adjacent lots without exempting them from health, safety, setback or wetlands regulations. But he agrees that Massachusetts has ''nutty'' zoning and needs ''more regional planning.'' He adds, ''What developers need is predictability.'' -- Boston Globe   9/3/2002

Resource(s): www.bostonglobe.com

Editorial: Nothing Beats an Old-Style Downtown Shopping Experience

Disillusioned early with the aesthetic of shopping strips along three miles of the so-called Golden Triangle between Natick and Framingham, both municipalities imposed architectural and landscaping standards for the area in 1992, which didn't contain sprawl but at least give it ''a prettier face,'' observes the Providence Journal editorial board from nearby Rhode Island, applauding the improvement and similarly oriented measures in the works in 52 other eastern Massachusetts communities, but stressing that nothing beats an old-style downtown shopping experience. This also goes for vacant ''throwaway strip malls,'' which had ''drained the life out of the old downtown'' only to fail in the competition with burgeoning Home Depot and Wal-Mart big boxes on the fringes. Some Rhode Island communities, like Middletown on Aquidneck Island, have used the abandoned strip sites for village-type mixed-use projects, but generally, the editorial says, no matter how improved or redesigned, a ''shopping strip is still a strip, with all the vehicular congestion it creates.'' Therefore, the editorial concludes, ''the ideal way to return to a more gracious shopping experience is to return to downtown.'' -- The Providence Journal   7/18/2002

Resource(s): www.projo.com/

Temporary Building Cap Proposed in Barnstead, N.H. to Slow Recent Growth

Alarmed by the rising popularity of their small rural town with developers and newcomers, who put a strain on its elementary school and services, Barnstead officials will ask residents at a special town meeting next month to approve a year-long cap of 32 building permits, which would give planners time to finish the town's master plan and capital improvement program and devise a long-term growth- control ordinance. Concord Monitor writer Sarah C. Vos reports that Barnstead recorded 136 new homes in 2001 -- almost four times the number built in 1999 -- while larger towns nearby, Alton and Pittsfield, built only 57 and 40 homes, respectively. Area Realtors say the reason for this rush on Barnstead is cheaper land. Closer to Concord, two-acre lots are going for $50,000; in Barnstead, a little off-route, small lots created before the town had zoning sell for $14,000-$15,000. For Concord area residents who commute 60 miles to Boston, it's a good deal, explains Barnstead Realtor Len Hanley. For about a 15-mile or half-hour longer commute, ''they can buy so much more house. So people are buying,'' he says. According to Barnstead building inspector Bob Simpson, its total number of available lots, most predating the zoning ordinance, goes into the thousands. But the proposed temporary building cap, the writer reports, draws mixed emotions. The town board voted 3-2 to put it before the residents, and they are also divided. At a public hearing, some argued that the building cap would amount to an unlawful property taking, with developer Jim Locke telling officials, ''You can't take people's rights away.'' Others resented the construction assault on the town's character, with long-time resident Russell Krause answering the property- rights concerns that land is investment, which doesn't always bring the expected returns.   5/21/2002

Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/

Conference Panelists Say Affordable Housing Is Massachusetts' Biggest Smart Growth Issue

Any successful efforts to contain sprawl and advance smart growth in Massachusetts must focus on the state's biggest issue, which is affordable housing, said panelists at a smart growth conference held in Boston by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate, to assess the progress of the movement nationwide and draw lessons for the region. Boston Globe writer Antony Flint reports that Stuart Meck of the American Planning Association (APA), who crafted its new ''Policy Guide on Smart Growth,'' called Massachusetts' zoning law ''the most incoherent'' in the country and the state ripe for a new approach to managing growth. The writer observes that with smart growth limited so far to ''a state-by-state phenomenon'' -- spearheaded by Oregon, New Jersey and Maryland, which steer development to urbanized rather than rural areas -- some politicians also consider the time right for national smart growth guidelines. Mentioning Independent Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, who helped advance the Community Character Act, which would provide funds for local planning, the writer notes that conference participants cautioned against perceiving such efforts as a ''one size fits all'' strategy. He quotes the director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech., Robert E. Lang, who stressed that there are ''different responses for different metropolitan areas,'' and the director of the Urban Futures program at the Reason Public Policy Institute, Sam Staley, who pointed out that instead of pushing consumers toward townhouses in dense urban areas, ''the most important thing is to preserve (their) choices.'' In response to criticism of smart growth for higher housing prices due to limited availability of land in designated development areas, with the ''urban growth boundary'' in Portland, Oregon cited most often, Minnesota researcher and state lawmaker Myron Orfield emphasized that localities must completely change their attitudes and start coordinating growth policies on a regional basis. The writer also quotes two other prominent smart growth advocates. The director of the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy at the Brookings Institution, Bruce Katz, said the movement is stronger, with Oregon and Maryland joined by states like Utah and Tennessee. Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening said besides overhauling codes and rules to improve the landscape, states can change it by requiring public buildings downtown instead of on the fringes. Stressing that Maryland's ultimate smart growth goal is a better quality of life, which attracts businesses eager to spare employees hour-long traffic jams, the governor added that the program also saves the state infrastructure-expansion money, which is ''really a very conservative idea.''   5/11/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Boston's Growth Creeping Towards Rural New Hampshire Towns

In several towns at the southeastern corner of New Hampshire, residents are mobilizing to protect their semirural lifestyle against strong development pressures creeping across the Massachusetts state line from Boston, reports Boston Globe correspondent Clare Kittredge, quoting New Hampshire planning director Jeffrey Taylor, who calls the population growth inevitable and sees a key growth-management issue in the twice-as-fast land consumption rate. He also is troubled by a ''disconnect'' between municipal master plan goals and such means for their realization as zoning ordinances and by discouragement of housing for moderate- income families. The lack of affordable housing, he says, will make people ''move farther away and commute,'' exacerbating traffic, hiking prices and destroying ''any advantage of living in small New Hampshire towns.'' Exeter demographer Peter Francese, founder of American Demographic Magazine, says the whole 15-mile-long seacoast area of his Rockingham County, between Massachusetts and Maine, ''is rapidly developing as an edge city to Boston.'' Using census figures and his own extrapolations, he predicts that area municipalities, which recorded relatively slower growth in the past decade, will be growing much faster now, while towns already fast-growing will keep or accelerate their growth. ''If a huge Wal-Mart goes into Epping near the Brentwood line,'' he says, ''the towns around will grow dramatically;'' Freemont's population will jump 40 percent and development ''will just leapfrog west.'' As to the prospects for success of the grass-roots group Greenland Concerned Citizens, who are fighting a Massachusetts developer's proposal to build a big shopping complex in their small town of 3,200 people, the demographer doesn't expect they will win.   4/21/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Smart Growth Bill Requires Massachusetts State Agencies to Coordinate Development Activities

With enthusiastic support from its Democratic president Thomas Birmingham, the Massachusetts Senate passed the state's version of a ''smart growth'' bill, the Livable Communities Act, which requires state agencies to coordinate their construction, transportation and environmental activities and sets aside $50 million to help municipalities devise master plans and to reward their participation in regional planning with special road, housing, open space and other grants. The act's chief sponsor, Democratic Senator Marc Pacheco, said the money will let communities ''make their own choices and grow smart, instead of always reacting.'' Senate Ways and Means Committee Democratic Chairman Mark Montigny called the act ''the best tool we've seen in decades to control sprawl.'' The Livable Communities Act is part of a $919 million environmental bond bill, which represents ''not only a prudent use, but an urgent use of bonding authority at this crucial time'' of an economic slowdown, the committee's chairman said, adding, ''You can't just shut down these urgent preservations of our natural resources.''   4/9/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/ ; www.state.ma.us/legis/bills/st02312.htm

More Buses, Light Rail Sought by Low Income Boston Neighborhoods

As the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) presented its 25-year regional transportation plan to Acting Governor Jane Swift for submission to federal funding agencies, a new coalition of 40 community groups from poor neighborhoods launched a campaign to make the plan better reflect their areas' transit needs and provide them with more buses and a light rail link. The coalition, called On The Move, also asked officials to diversify MPO by including more neighborhood representatives. After a morning press conference at the State House, reports Boston Globe writer Mac Daniel, coalition activists attended an MPO meeting, where planners increased the number of clean-fuel buses for their neighborhoods from 62 to 100 and noted the possibility of funding the requested Washington Street corridor light-rail line, should other priority projects fall through. The coalition includes Alternatives for Community & Environment, The Roxbury Neighborhood Council, the Massachusetts Public Health Association, City Life/Vida Urbana, the Boston Tenant Coalition and Bikes Not Bombs.   3/13/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

''Archaic'' Planning and Zoning Laws Up for Review in Massachusetts

With Massachusetts land consumption rising seven times faster than its moderate population growth, land-use experts and conservationists place their hopes for a new drive to reform the state's antiquated planning and zoning laws in a ''Planning for Smart Growth: 2002 State of the States'' report just released by the American Planning Association, which finds such reforms are a precondition for the most successful state growth management efforts nationwide. Boston Globe writer Anthony Flint quotes APA executive director W. Paul Farmer, who says the report makes it ''very clear that states can't do smart growth until they have modernized their planning laws'' and Northampton land-use attorney Joel Russell, who calls the basic Massachusetts zoning law, Chapter 40-A, one of ''the most backward and archaic'' nationwide and a guarantee for sprawl. It allows new single-family houses along roads without review by local boards, he says, lacks requirement for enforcing local plan guidelines through zoning and includes a lenient ''grandfather'' clause that lets landowners rush in projects and skirt any new growth-management rules. The writer notes that the state's 1999 Zoning Reform Working Group would like legislators to attach its regulatory proposals to one of the comprehensive planning bills, perhaps the Livable Communities Act, which seeks funding for municipalities to create master plans and enforce them through zoning. He adds that several Democratic gubernatorial candidates, including Robert Reich and Warren Tolman, ''are calling for stronger statewide measures to combat sprawl.''   2/13/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Editorial: Smart Growth Lacks Political Clout for Meaningful Land Use Changes

As ''Americans are consuming land at a rate that far exceeds population growth,'' sprawl is reinforcing their dependence on cars, eating up open space and ''producing places with a high standard of living but a low quality of life,'' but ''sprawl-busting 'smart growth' measures'' that direct development to urbanized areas still lack the political clout needed for meaningful land use changes, because their proponents work at cross-purposes and frame the issue ineffectively, writes Boston land use attorney Matthew J. Kiefer in The Boston Globe. The author, who also teaches at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, asserts that ''only government can solve sprawl,'' pointing out that meaningful smart-growth measures ''require the use of basic governmental powers of taxation, appropriation, and regulation at the federal and state level to promote important public policy goals.'' These measures, he continues, ''involve shifting government subsidies, both overt and hidden, from exurban areas to cities'' and include a gas tax increase earmarked for urban transit, commuter rail, bike lanes and pedestrian-oriented improvements; urban growth boundaries that prevent public outlays for extending road, sewer and school systems ''further into exurbia;'' and more funds to restore ''aging urban infrastructure.'' Since the ensuing lifestyle changes would be difficult for some, even environmentally-minded officials are cautious, he writes, noting that ''sprawl-busters'' often alienate their potential suburban allies, ''whose quality of life is eroding as their suburbs grow denser,'' by calling their single-family, car- dependent lifestyle ''environmentally irresponsible,'' while many urbanites think wealthier suburbs fuel sprawl-busting to shift growth burden elsewhere. In conclusion, the author stresses that the future of smart-growth hinges ''on making all Americans understand that they must pay the true costs of their transportation and land use decisions'' and ''on offering tangible benefits to urbanized areas for accepting additional growth, putting cities on an equal economic footing with suburbs and giving urbanites a reason to support additional density.''   1/30/2002

Resource(s): www.boston.com/

Governor Seeks to Extend Mass. Open Space Preservation Program

With Massachusetts continuing to develop 5,540 acres of farmland a year, but its 1977 Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program running out of money and coming to "a screeching halt," the American Farmland Trust commends Governor Jane Swift for recognizing the importance of having saved 50,000 acres from development, and urges state legislators to pass her open space bond bill, which would revive the program with $45.5 million over the next five years. In a trust press release, New England Policy Manager Cris Coffin says the state Department of Food and Agriculture has found that many farmers are willing to permanently protect their land by selling development rights worth about $50 million. "We need to speed up these purchases and get the wheels of the APR program turning faster," he stresses, "while there's still farmland left to protect."   11/14/2001

Resource(s): www.usnewswire.com

Boston Bears Burden of Subsidized Affordable Housing in Metro Area

"In the constant noise about affordable housing, here is one number that gets lost: Boston provides 41 percent of all the subsidized affordable housing in the metropolitan area," with almost 20 percent of its own housing rated affordable, stresses Boston Globe writer Steve Bailey in his story "Boston can't do it alone." He points out that only a dozen of the area's 162 suburban cities and towns "have met the state's requirement to make 10 percent of housing affordable," while a quarter haven't even reached three percent. He writes that outer communities that have fought for years and now managed to put the Community Preservation Act (CPA) on their November ballot, have always seen it as a means to raise property taxes and get large state grants for open space, not housing. As noble as the act is, he continues, it "misses the mark" if housing is the priority, because "communities must spend at least 10 percent of their new taxes on open space, historic preservation, and housing, but can spend as much as 80 percent on any one category." They are not required to spend "a quarter or a third" on affordable housing. The writer cites a warning from the new "Boston Metropatterns" report, "If suburbs fail to create substantive local housing plans and choose to devote minimal CPA funding to affordable housing, the CPA will prove to be no more than another local growth management tool encouraging sprawl and social separation."   11/2/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Transportation Habits Unsustainable, Warn MIT Researchers

"People's insatiable appetite for mobility is heading the world's transportation systems toward unsustainable gridlock and environmental degradation," concluded researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Charles River Associates in their joint "Mobility 2001" study, warning that transport greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world will exceed those in the industrialized world by 2015 and urging nations to improve vehicle fuel economy, curb traffic growth, reinvent public transport and create "a portfolio of mobility options for people and freight." The first phase of a three-year Sustainable Mobility Project commissioned by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the study reviewed broad ongoing research on "mobility and global warming, transportation networks, transportation technology for 2020 and mobility demand forecasts for 2050." It found that in the auto-dependent industrialized world, "urban sprawl is increasing as the affluent move to suburbs, where low population densities make public transport difficult," while highway construction faces concerns about "environmental and social disruption" and "a growing pool of older people" worry about their car-dependency. In the developing world, "rapid population growth, urbanization and startup of suburbanization are making conditions even worse," with a surge in private vehicles, while new megacities have "little time or money" to build transit or expand roads, despite congestion, safety problems, skyrocketing emissions and environmental damage.   10/31/2001

Resource(s): http://lfee.mit.edu www.sciencedaily.com

Common highways, economies, water systems, and housing demands bring the four suburbs southwest of Boston together

"Town lines may separate Canton, Dedham, Norwood and Westwood, but common highways, economies, water systems, and housing demands bring the four suburbs southwest of Boston together," writes Boston Globe correspondent Judith Forman, reporting from a Dedham Town Hall public workshop focused on transportation, redevelopment, senior housing and regional aquifer protection. Part of the second phase of a municipal growth study funded by a grant from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs -- with the previous land use and growth scenario comparisons completed in 1999 -- the workshop elicited local suggestions for regional cooperation in planning growth. Participants would like to see new stores and restaurants near industrial and residential areas, to reduce traffic congestion and create pedestrian-friendly town centers. They also hope for joint aquifer protection, better water quality and more greenery at parking lots. Experts from the Daylor Consulting Group helping the four towns, Jeff Milder and Lee Hartmann, added that the area's housing-jobs ratio is only half the state average, which raises its housing costs and commuter traffic, and that the towns should jointly seek state funds for regional housing projects and redevelopment of the area's 75 brownfields.   10/24/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Stark social and economic disparities between first-ring and farther-out suburbs

The result of the decade-long "leapfrog" development in the Greater Boston area, where land is consumed seven times faster than the population increases, are stark social and economic disparities between first-ring and farther-out suburbs, a severe lack of affordable housing near jobs and ensuing congestion of roads by commuters, says the first comprehensive study of the region's wealth and growth, "Boston Metropatterns." Commissioned by the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, sponsored by Harvard University and led by Minnesota lawmaker-planner, the director of the Metropolitan Area Research Corp., Myron Orfield, the study covers 162 cities and towns of Eastern Massachusetts between the Ocean and I-495. The study finds the post-World War II suburbs grappling with the notorious urban ills of "crime, more poverty in the schools, an aging infrastructure, population loss, and a declining tax base," writes Anthony Flint of The Boston Globe, while newer outer suburbs flourish and Boston itself regains its pull thanks to downtown and older neighborhood revitalization. The writer quoes Orfield as saying that with the persistent sprawl, all "interior communities -- Revere, Woburn, Melrose, Malden, Everet, Medford, Watertown, Milton, Randolph, Quincy -- really begin to struggle." New places always attract people, he continues, "but the system rewards exclusive behavior." The wealthy suburbs, he explains, "can tell new residents they will be taxed at a low rate, that there is no poverty in the schools, and they will get great services," while communities in decline "are forced to say just the opposite: that residents will be taxed at a higher rate, and that they will get less services." Among necessary remedies, his study recommends the expansion of affordable housing throughout the region and the creation of a regional agency to rein in local revenue competition. "Building up the tax base is the bottom line," Orfield says, but "the fragmented competition for resources hurts everybody. Cooperating on a regional level would make everyone's life better." The writer adds that Harvard University plans a forum on the study in December.   10/24/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Although the word sprawl "conjures images of ...

Although the word sprawl "conjures images of interminable traffic jams, bulldozers wrecking farmland, cookie-cutter shopping centers, and endless suburban tract housing," Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy associate professor Matthew E. Kahn found that residents in some areas can benefit from its "bigger, more affordable homes," says a Boston Globe editorial, urging Massachusetts anti-sprawl activists "to pursue their efforts in a way that does not worsen the housing crisis." The editorial notes that the Boston area, ranked in the middle of Kahn's sprawl index, between Cleveland and Seattle, shows housing prices higher than these cities, due to "a combination of strong demand and low supply." Citing Kahn's finding that black households "in sprawled metropolitan areas live in larger housing units and are more likely to own a home than ... identical black households in less sprawled areas," the editorial stresses that Boston's population is slowly increasing, with the suburban housing market "red hot" and with city neighborhoods "that once featured bargain housing prices" becoming more and more popular. The state, the editorial says, "ought to provide incentives for housing construction at the same time as it preserves open space," especially incentives for high-density development. "Control of sprawl and expansion of affordable housing," it concludes, "ought to go hand-in-hand." 09.10.2001   9/17/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Massachusetts shortages of affordable housing are so ...

Massachusetts shortages of affordable housing are so severe that the intent of the state's Comprehensive Permit Law, or Chapter 40B, is to facilitate its construction "whether affected communities are receptive or not," writes Brookline Town Meeting member and University of Massachusetts-Lowell associate professor of mathematics Stanley L. Spiegel in a Boston Globe guest column. This "antisnob zoning law," the professor explains, accelerates the residential permitting process in communities with less than ten percent of housing deemed affordable, provided that developers assign 25 percent of planned units to low- and moderate-income residents for at least 15 years. With the permitting process compressed to a few months and with few local zoning or design restrictions applicable to Chapter 40B projects, the law allows them much higher density regardless of local character or traffic results and gives residents only one hearing opportunity to express their concerns. Noting that a public hearing on Brookline's first comprehensive permit application is scheduled for September 6 -- with the project's density increased from 11 to 36 units -- the professor writes, "Probably the most effective strategy for town officials and abutting neighbors is to attempt negotiations with the developer regarding design, sale, duration of affordability, etc., so that the resultant project is one that everyone involved can live with." 08.05.2001   8/8/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

With the Boston area's commuter rail expansion ...

With the Boston area's commuter rail expansion, smart- growth advocates and environmentalists are pressing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to look beyond "just moving passengers" to its influence on their where-to-live choices, writes Anthony Flint of The Boston Globe, reporting that proponents stress the need to locate rail stations in urban areas and to boost "transit-oriented development" (TOD) as crucial for curbing sprawl. He notes that officials in Salem, Fall River, Canton and other municipalities have made rail stations centerpieces of downtown revitalization and that the head of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office, Jay Wickersham, asked the MBTA to form a task force to study "a closer link between transportation and land development," which have been "disconnected for too long." He said rail stations with big parking lots on the outskirts will encourage future Boston commuters to seek homes in distant subdivisions, adding, "We don't want the extension of commuter rail to be an incentive to sprawl." MTBA planning director Dennis DiZoglio said transit-oriented development works well in "selected areas"and the agency is"more than happy" to cooperate with municipalities that proposed such projects. But he also pointed out that since most outlying municipalities associate stations with traffic and parking problems and prefer to locate them away from town centers, the MBTA, which is "not a land-use agency," must accommodate their wishes. The advocacy director for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Jack Clark, said, "what we need is a regional, intermodal transportation plan, endorsed by the governor, so we can make decisions in a constant and logical manner -- decisions that serve off each other instead of being isolated answers to problems." 08.05.2001   8/7/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Worried that sprawl will overrun a wide ...

Worried that sprawl will overrun a wide swath of the state, planners, environmentalists, and housing and mass-transit advocates are aggressively pushing so-called smart growth" initiatives in Massachusetts -- and finding a warm reception at the State House," writes Anthony Flint of The Boston Globe, noting that despite expected local opposition, the idea of regional growth management "has captured the attention of Governor Jane Swift and Senate President Thomas Birmingham, a likely gubernatorial candidate." The writer quotes state Democratic Senator Marc Pacheco, whose bill offers the state's 351 municipalities $35 million for technical assistance to create master plans, as saying, "The politics of sprawl is beginning to change. It's becoming a top-tier issue." Among last year's signs of change, the writer lists the Boston Society of Architects' "Civic Initiative" that encourages a regional approach to schools, transportation, housing and the environment; the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's effort to identify sprawl-related problems and devise development guidelines for its 101 municipalities in Eastern Massachusetts; the Mayflower Compact between 40 towns in Southeastern Massachusetts on dealing with the area's building boom, along with regional planning compacts between residents and companies elsewhere in the state; and Governor Swift's Executive Order 418 that gives each municipality $30,000 to reexamine its zoning and seek new planning approaches. The writer notes that although these moves, together with the earlier-passed Community Preservation Act, the Cape Cod Commission and stricter watershed protection, represent "a major shift for Massachusetts," they still lag behind comprehensive smart-growth plans enacted in New Jersey, Oregon and, especially, in Maryland, where Smart-Growth Secretary Harriet Treegoning is a member of Governor Glendening's cabinet. Experts think the biggest obstacle to similar growth planning in Massachusetts may be its tradition of "home rule," with land-use decisions firmly in local officials' hands. The director of the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, Bruce Katz, says the alarming rate of land consumption in the nation's northeast is "directly related to governmental fragmentation." A Boston land-use attorney, Donald Connors, says state regional land-use planning depends on "leadership at the highest level." 07.08.2001   7/31/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

With sky-high Boston rents and 17,500 families ...

With sky-high Boston rents and 17,500 families on waiting lists for public housing, a Boston Globe editorial strongly supports an activist initiative giving city residents a chance to vote in November on a statewide Community Preservation Act, which lets municipalities levy up to three-percent property tax surcharges for affordable housing, historic renovation and urban parks -- surcharges already enacted in 31 small towns. At an average cost per homeowner of $26 a year, says the editorial, Boston could gain $31 million annually (including $10 million in state grants) to help build an additional 2,000 affordable units over the next five years. This is in line with Mayor Thomas Menino's goals of adding 7,500 such units in three years and renovating main street business districts, vacant buildings and historic structures, points out the editorial, urging the mayor and the initiative's backers to "stop testing political waters" for a tax increase in an election year and to seek "the 12,000 signatures needed to put the question to voters." The backers include the Massachusetts Affordable Housng Alliance, the Boston Preservation Alliance, the Boston Natural Areas Fund and the Conservation Law Foundation. The editorial admits that Boston's business community would carry 81 percent of the tax surcharge, with increases ranging from $336 for medium-size local firms to $54,000 for large national companies such as Gillette. But citing a 1999 MassInc study that indicates that Boston's "tight housing market" is affecting workforce recruitment, the editorial concludes that a housing stimulation fund would benefit Boston business, since "the cost of training just a handful of workers could easily outweigh a 3 percent property tax surcharge for many businesses." 07.27.2001   7/31/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Calling multifamily housing "the kind of smart ...

Calling multifamily housing "the kind of smart growth that reduces sprawl and is often less expensive than single-family homes," Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund executive director Clark Ziegler writes in the Boston Globe that since the state's multifamily housing construction "plummeted by 70 percent during the 1990s," the House's recent vote to weaken Chapter 40B low-cost housing provisions "could not have come at a worse time." He cites an economic model showing the rate of construction 42 percent slower than needed to support the population and urges the Senate to amend things by addressing "legitimate local frustrations about growth, including concerns about Chapter 40B, while ensuring that we have enough affordable housing to sustain our economy." He suggests four remedies. The Senate should endorse administrative reforms to Chapter 40B to help communities "trying in good faith to meet their housing needs;" ensure that the allocation of local aid stops discriminating against "the development of moderately priced housing for families with children;" authorize municipalities "to adopt inclusionary zoning," which usually sets aside 10 percent of the units in market-rate projects for moderate-income families; and "bridge the gap between housing advocates and environmentalists by allowing cluster development," which creates "more sense of community," while preserving open space and reducing infrastructure costs. "Sprawling subdivisions are not built because they make good planning or economic sense but because it is the easiest path for developers," the author notes, stressing that lawmakers "could make local development policies more predictable while achieving smarter growth." 07.23.2001   7/25/2001

Resource(s): www.boston.com

Governors offer new model of a green ...

"Governors offer new model of a green GOP," observes Christian Science Monitor writer Mark Sappenfield, paraphrasing Governor Jane Swift's press announcement that Massachusetts will become "the first in America to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide pouring from its oldest and dirtiest power plants." Hailed within hours "as a pioneering step in the fight against air pollution, the announcement prompted a reporter's question about President Bush's retreat from backing such emission cuts nationwide, to which the governor responded, "He and I, in this case, came to a different conclusion." The writer cites an official of the Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues, Sam Suchchat, who notes "substantial regional differences" in governors' environmental stance, with "a fair number of pro-conservation Republicans" in New England and the Midwest, and more conservative ones further west and south. While environmentalists "allege that Republican governors are too soft on business, and therefore hesitant to pass stringent pollution regulations," they see Governor Swift's emission rules as "an indication that many Republican governors are seeking greener hues." Among them, the environmentalists count Governor George Pataki of New York, Jeb Bush of Florida, George Ryan of Illinois, Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Bob Taft of Ohio.   5/7/2001

Resource(s): www.csmonitor.com

The National Trust for Historic Preservation released ...

The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its second annual list of the Dozen Distinctive Destinations that, said Trust President Richard Moe, "typify our country's small towns, close communities, and celebrated heritage." These town and cities, he continued, "are committed to preserving their historic landmarks, maintaining their unique character, and supporting locally owned business entrepreneurs. They are not historically distinctive vacation spots -- they are also fun places for families and visitors of all ages. We can learn from their past and contribute to their future. Yeah." The list includes Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Calistoga. California; Silverton, Colorado; Madison, Indiana; Bonaparte, Iowa; Northampton, Massachusetts; Red Lodge, Montana; Las Vegas, New Mexico; Jacksonville, Oregon; Doylestown, Pennsylvania; Beaufort, South Carolina; and Staunton. Details at www.nationaltrust.org   4/16/2001

Resource(s): www.usnewswire.com

In an editorial entitled "Protecting Property Rights ...

In an editorial entitled "Protecting Property Rights," The Christian Science Monitor says an U.S. Supreme Court case of a Rhode Island man who blames state wetland regulations for depriving him of the true value of his coastal real estate "might give the court an opportunity to craft a broad definition of 'taking' and thus discourage such practices." Noting that the present court "has been inclined to readjust the balance between public-interest claims and the rights of property owners, the daily illustrates the "thorny" legal character of "public good" and "just compensation" issues with two more cases. In Piscataway, New Jersey, a farmer faces a forced sale because the town wants to preserve his farm as open space. In Port Chester, New York, small merchants face condemnation of their thriving businesses downtown because the town prefers more upscale new retail stores. "Regulation and eminent domain are critical to government," the daily concludes, but "too many unreasonable 'takings' will only erode the sanctity of property rights."   3/19/2001

Resource(s): www.csmonitor.com

With fiscal discipline as the cornerstone of ...

With fiscal discipline as the cornerstone of our strategy in the past decade, said Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci (R) in his State of the State speech, we have spent $20 billion, not counting Boston's Big Dig redevelopment project, to rebuild the state and we will spend $17 billion more by 2005 "to complete the most massive rebuilding of the state's infrastructure in our history." Delivering the speech in Worcester, the governor said the city's airport revival is the result of his work with other New England governors "to make regional transportation a priority." Regionalization, he continued, is "critical to the economic vitality of Massachusetts and all of New England." He noted that the Community Preservation Act enacted last year "to protect open space, preserve historic areas and create low-cost housing" will help protect 200,000 acres by 2010 and that Massachusetts has become the first state to make power plant owners and community leaders embrace a plan to clean and redesign old power plants and "bring them in line with the latest air quality standards." The governor promised that he and Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift will continue their "stewardship" of state air, water and natural resources. He also renewed his commitment to housing expansion, stressing that Massachusetts residents "need affordable places to live." To expand these opportunities, the governor decided to create a Special Commission on Barriers to Housing Development, which will identify and help ease restrictions that "limit housing production and increase costs;" ask lawmakers to pass two bills rejected last year that would provide affordable housing developers with financial incentives and offer builders and communities nearly 1,000 acres of "underused state property" for new housing; and file two other bills that would let the state help communities pay for the increased costs of residential growth and establish protect rental housing with rent escrow. 01.17. 2001   2/1/2001

Resource(s): www.nga.org

Regional trends of 'smart growth' must continue ...

Regional trends of 'smart growth' must continue, states a Christian Science Monitor editorial, noting that despite some differences in the term's use by civic leaders and developers, it is a short-hand reminder of the need for more intelligence and consideration when adding roads, houses, or businesses that threaten livability. The editorial sees the growth-related November ballot initiatives in 35 states and hundreds of communities as a clear sign that Americans need help and encouragement as they experiment with new rules on development and land use. Thus, the editorial praises the federal government for doing a smart thing by letting states shift highway money to mass transit. Though regional growth boundaries make more sense because people live in less-definable areas, the editorial says, regional cooperation could be difficult due to hometown identities and institutional competition. Still, it asks, why not work toward taking the general goals for smart growth and tailor them in ways that accommodate local and regional infrastructure, cultural and political differences? The editorial stresses that strong regional cooperation - and the resulting economic boost from slower, smarter growth - will do much to help the US stay competetive.   11/30/2000

Resource(s): www.csmonitor.com

Scenic America, a national organization created in ...

Scenic America, a national organization created in 1978 with a mission to preserve natural beauty and distinctive community character, released its 2000 Last Chance Landscapes report, listing the ten that are most threatened by billboards, new roads and other symptoms of sprawl. This year's list of the last chance landscapes includes Oakmont (Verdugo Mountains), Glendale, California; Ravalli County, Montana; the entire state of Colorado; Upper Mississippi Blufflands Region of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois; State Highway 131 between Ontario and Rockton, Wisconsin; Erin Township, Wisconsin; Springfield, Illnois; Poplar Point, Anacostia, Washington, D. C.; Cook Creek and Tributaries, Springfield Township, Pennsylvania; and the Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke Ranges, Massachusetts. Scenic America President Meg Maguire said these ten landscapes typify problems present in many other areas. Yet, for every problem, she stressed, there is a solution which other communities have adopted, showing once again that change is inevitable, but ugliness is not.   11/28/2000

Resource(s): www.scenic.org

Governor Paul Cellucci and David Clem of ...

Governor Paul Cellucci and David Clem of Lyme Properties announced that the $400 million, mixed-use project for the Kendall Square brownfield site in East Cambridge will include life-science R&D labs, corporate headquarters, stores, restaurants, a performance center, a hotel and a large residential section, with 15 percent of units marked as affordable housing. Described as the most ambitious reclamation of a contaminated industrial site since adoption of the Massachusetts Brownfield Act in 1998, the project will also have 2.5 acres of public open space, with parks, an outdoor skating area and a small boat facility on the Broad Canal, allowing canoe and kayak access to the Charles River. As one of the region's prime biotech developers, Lyme Properties was recently selected by Yale University and the city of New Haven, Connecticut to redevelop a jointly owned brownfield site into Yale Science Park.   11/22/2000

Resource(s): news.excite.com

In a Christian Science Monitor article entitled ...

In a Christian Science Monitor article entitled Backlash to dotcom hypergrowth, Paul Van Slambrouck writes that for most of the decade communities have rolled out the welcome mat to members of the high-tech industry, but now many are beginning to wrestle with the downside of their successes. The writer says that high housing costs, traffic and sprawl beset Atlanta, Austin and Virginia's Fairfax County, while waves of wealthy, young dotcom workers price out longtime residents of old neighborhoods, fueling tensions in Seattle, Boston, Oakland and especially San Francisco, with frequent ethnic overtones. Citing experts, the writer notes that cities have found high-tech industry to be a remarkably effective engine of growth, but have also been stunned by the speed of its expansion, outmatching their ability to plan and keep pace. Experts see as critical the feebleness of regional governmental agencies to deal with the breadth of issues raised by rapid high-tech expansion that falls within a number of jurisdictions.   8/16/2000

As environmental, farm and civic groups fighting ...

As environmental, farm and civic groups fighting sprawl focus more and more on redeveloping city centers, they find powerful allies among black leaders and scholars who realize that urban quality of life is inextricably tied to development on the urban fringe, writes Craig Savoye in a special report for The Christian Science Monitor. Last fall in St. Louis, a coalition opposing a bridge and highway extension across wetlands and the Missouri River was suddenly helped by black groups because, explains Pastor B.T. Rice of the New Horizons Seventh Day Christian Church, the extension would consume funds needed for the inner core, taking the boundary farther and farther out and furthering racial polarization. The director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Atlanta Clark University, Robert Bullard, stresses that black groups, focused for too long just on issues of housing, education and transportation, must take a holistic approach to creating healthy and livable communities. Sprawl, he says, has the potential of bringing together very different groups on an equal footing. The director of the Institute on Race and Justice at the University of Minnesota, law professor John Powell adds that many of the civil rights movement gains have been undermined by the racialization of space in metropolitan areas and calls sprawl the civil rights issue of this century. Still, the writer finds anti-sprawl support in the black community ... far from monolithic, since many black leaders think regionalism could weaken their grip on large urban voting blocs, while others note that even though smart growth in Portland, Oregon sparked a renaissance in inner-city neighborhoods, their gentrification also drove some black renters out to the fringe, refueling the ills of sprawl.   6/16/2000

Boston Redevelopment Authority Director Mark Maloney is ...

Boston Redevelopment Authority Director Mark Maloney is taking steps to streamline the city's linkage program, which requires downtown commercial developers to pay for low-cost housing and job-training in other neighborhoods. Responsible for downtown project approvals, the authority expects developers to start advising it about their planned permit applications a month ahead. For its part, the authority will notify the city treasurer's office, which collects linkage payments, within 48 hours of each project approval. Tracking the linkage payments, about $3.7 million this year, the authority will work with developers and the Neighborhood Housing Trust to ensure their proper distribution. The authority also seeks $725,000 in city funds to expand urban planning and create a city planner post.   6/9/2000

With Boston's low-income housing crisis seen by ...

With Boston's low-income housing crisis seen by many officials and activists as epidemic, Mayor Thomas M. Menino sent the City Council and the Legislature a home rule petition seeking a 43-percent increase in the so-called linkage fees paid by developers to support affordable housing. The fees have helped affordable housing with $42 million since their enactment in the early 1980's, but remained flat over the last decade despite a 40-percent rise in the Consumer Price Index and big rent hikes. The mayor is raising the linkage fees to keep pace with inflation, the changing economy, and the city's tight housing market. The higher fees are expected to boost the city's affordable housing funds from $8.5 million to $13 million within three years.   4/17/2000

At a National Town Meeting on Main ...

At a National Town Meeting on Main Street, held in Boston by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, its president, Richard Moe, and U. S. Small Business Administrator Aida Alvarez signed a partnership agreement to spur nationwide revitalization of local commercial districts. To work out a model for linking their resources in both urban and rural commercial districts, the partners will launch a pilot program in Boston and Indiana. The model, said Administrator Alvarez, will help the rest of the SBA's 70 district offices and the rest of the National Trust's 1,500 Main Street Projects build up small businesses that create jobs, generate economic growth and give stability to our communities. Her agency awards contracts and provides technical, developmental and financial assistance for small businesses. Its loan portfolio reaches almost $50 billion.   4/7/2000

In his seventh State of the City ...

In his seventh State of the City address, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced a new push for affordable housing and redevelopment, and promised the city a new chief planner to map out its future. The mayor will ask the City Council to set aside about $13 million from budget reserves for the construction of less expensive homes. He will issue an executive order on "inclusionary" zoning for luxury projects, to ensure that ten percent of their units are priced within reach of modest-income residents. He also will offer tax relief to developers of buildings with more than 25 units for complying with the ten-percent affordablity goal. A Boston Globe editorial notes that Mayor Menino "gets hammered regularly, and sometimes unfairly, for failing to stimulate enough housing starts," but gives him credit for his resolve to do better. "As Governor Cellucci moves backward with the state budget for affordable housing," the editorial says, "Menino's steps are small but important" for the city's future.   1/14/2000

The public, fatigued with traffic-besieged shopping malls ...

The public, fatigued with traffic-besieged shopping malls and the yearning for connectedness, is fueling a "nationwide movement to transform America's vanilla suburbs into communities with distinct identities," writes Craig Savoye in The Christian Science Monitor. Planners, officials and developers hope to bring about such transformation by creating "neo" or "retro" downtowns -- different in type, but all rooted in "New Urbanism." According to estimates by Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning in Birmingham, Mich., between 30 and 40 suburban or "edge" cities have recently created or designed their downtowns, and about 6000 other cities have either completed or are conducting downtown renovations. In 1998, developers proposed 8,500 shopping centers, with only "a handful" for downtown areas; this year, the downtown proposals exceeded 30 percent. International Downtown Association President Betsy Jackson works for renewal of downtown areas, but feels that the newly created ones need time to acquire authenticity, which "can't be manufactured." A University of West Florida sociologist, Ray Oldenberg, says people hunger for public gathering places common in other cultures, but absent in most American suburbs. Still, he voices a generally neglected question for the new downtown movement: "Just how much community do people want?" Noting that "years ago community meant responsibility, really pitching in and working together," he doubts if such community can ever be recreated. New Haven, Connecticut architect Robert Orr points out that people feel inherently secure amid dense development and narrow streets, and that "the street hasn't been a civic space for a long time." The writer adds that planners trying to reconcile cars and downtowns project narrow streets to slow down drivers and make them "coexist with pedestrians."   1/5/2000

As "the resolve to rein in development ...

As "the resolve to rein in development spreads to new states and locales ... smart growth has become the accepted middle ground between the past's firmly entrenched" forces of "pro growth and no growth," writes Daniel B. Wood of the Christian Science Monitor. Basing his article, "Backlash against urban sprawl broadens," on nationwide poll and ballot results, and studies and surveys by the Brookings Institution, the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association, the author writes, "Long equated almost reflexively with progress, development has increasingly become a synonym for congestion, pollution, empty downtowns, and lost open space." The 1982-92 annual development rate of 1.4 million acres escalated to 3.4 million acres in the following five years, while the average development density of 3.2 people per acre dropped to 0.8 per acre after 1982. The public, more aware that some federal, state and local tax, funding and zoning policies have "unintended consequences," is telling politicians "enough is enough." In 1998, voters authorized $7.5 billion for open space protection, by passing more than 70 percent of 240 local ballot initiatives. In the last two November elections, they approved another $10 billion through state referendums and bond measures. This year, state legislatures debated about 1,000 land-use reform bills, enacting 200 into law. The Maryland "smart growth" strategy -- the best known of 11 such state strategies -- is prompting other states to adopt or consider comprehensive growth-management plans, with seven ready for major land purchases to curb sprawl. As the first in "the conservative South," Tennessee has passed a growth-control act, requiring municipalities to draw urban growth boundaries, while Arizona and Colorado are debating such measures. Many local communities, the author writes, "are setting up planning commissions and laws to stop problems before they happen." He also cites experts. Stuart Meck of the American Planning Association sees "a dramatic sea change in American attitudes about development and sprawl," with states becoming "the great laboratories of activist democracy on this issue." Ralf Grossi of the American Farmland Trust says we must stop "demanding a lot more land per person and using it less efficiently." Deron Lovaas of the Sierra Club's Challenge to Sprawl campaign stresses that "even the most entrenched attitudes are changing" and that "candidates and elected officials at all levels ignore the problems of sprawl and its smart growth solution at their peril."   12/22/1999

In the tenth year of debates about ...

In the tenth year of debates about the Big Dig, or putting the cross-Boston stretch of I-95 underground and creating a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood over it with plenty of open space, planning for the 27-acre project is "bogged down in a classic Boston turf war." Reminding the readers that the Big Dig was conceived both to improve traffic and to "mend the fabric of a downtown ripped apart by a 1950-era highway," The Boston Globe's Anthony Flint and Thomas C. Palmer report that several city and state agencies "remain locked in a competition over who gets credit, and who takes responsibility" for this "once-in-a-lifetime" project. The writers note that state officials and some business leaders privately agree with the head of the Big Dig, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman James J. Kerasiotes, "who wondered aloud why the city was not doing more to plan for the corridor." Puzzled by the question, mayoral chief of staff James E. Rooney says that the city needs to work out some details and that Mayor Thomas M. Menino hopes to reach consensus in an informal legislative session in December, and to tackle finance and governance issues early next year.   12/8/1999

With a state housing-price jump of 233 ...

With a state housing-price jump of 233 percent -- or more than twice the national average -- between 1980 and 1997, Harvard University is investing $20 million in lower- to-middle income housing in both of its campus cities, Boston and Cambridge. Harvard's vice president for government, community and public affairs, Paul Gorgan says that something must be done, because the housing crisis, "reaching well into the middle class," could ultimately cancel out "the benefits of the strong economy." Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino says Harvard's money will help the city keep "housing affordable for people who make between $40,000 and $70,000" and retain its "working class." Harvard will divide $19 million equally between the two cities, for 20-year, two-percent loans to non-profit housing groups, with the remaining $1 million going directly to most promising projects. The groups hope that Harvard loans will help them secure enough federal funds and private investments to build and renovate many thousand of housing units.   11/22/1999

Empty storefronts in Massachusetts' malls and others ...

Empty storefronts in Massachusetts' malls and others across the country show that the three-decade-old "mall mania slowly turns to malaise," says an article in The Boston Globe. National anti-sprawl experts like Shelley Poticha of the Congress for the New Urbanism and Constance Beaumont of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, along with urbanists instrumental in reviving downtown areas, are now seeking answers to the question "What do you do with a dying mall?" Some of the 3,800 stagnant malls nationwide are being turned into office buildings, schools and churches. More often, developers remove roofs, add sidewalks and recreate traditional shopping areas. A model for such conversion is Mashpee Commons on Cape Cod.   9/22/1999

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit said spending federal ...

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit said spending federal tax money for open space and wildlife habitat protection, to fight urban sprawl, has public support and "shouldn't be a political issue." But if such programs are blocked, the secretary told The Christian Science Monitor, "then it will become a political issue in the next presidential election." The Monitor says opinion polls and pollsters confirm this evaluation. Noting that in the last several weeks, the secretary has announced purchases of a $13-million winter site for bisons in Montana, and a 101-million elk ranch in New Mexico, the daily adds that the Republican-led Congress and many conservative groups "remain opposed to increasing the portfolio of federal land holdings."   9/22/1999

Chiding state and Boston officials for overspending ...

Chiding state and Boston officials for overspending on roads that "are the subsidized engine of urban flight" to sprawling suburbs, Jane Holtz Kay reminds them in The Boston Globe that sprawl is eating up 44 acres a day in Massachusetts. The author of "Asphalt Nation" and "Lost Boston" writes: Sprawl is social. It is a shift in community structure as our old, walkable neighborhood interactions succumb to car-bound lifestyles. Sprawl is political. It is a shift in the national voting pattern as voters disperse from city to suburb. Sprawl is environmental, rendering habitat into hardtop and landscape into hardscape across the state." Urging more spending for transit, she ends: "It is time to turn today's land-grabbing fast lane to sprawl into a fast track for rail."   9/13/1999

In a renewed discourse on the Boston ...

In a renewed discourse on the Boston Central Artery project, approved ten years ago with a mandate for preserving 75 percent of the area as open space, consistent project supporters from the Boston GreenSpace Alliance are being Òtypecast as a group of obdurate Ôenvironmentalists' who cannot see the forest for the trees.Ó The alliance's executive director, Patrice Todisco, rejects this vilification, stressing that his nonprofit group seeks only what the public was promised: ÒA system of parks, plazas, park buildings, and sidewalks knit together by a tree-lined boulevard and anchored by gateways that are uniquely landscaped and punctuated by public art.Ó Calling for equal access to the table, he warns against losing sight of the project's public benefits, and urges the city and state Òto reexamine the value that a high-quality open space will add to the downtown.Ó   7/27/1999

The nation's oldest land trust, the Trustees ...

The nation's oldest land trust, the Trustees of Reservations, has identified about 450 ecologically fragile, historical and scenic sites threatened by development in the state. With limited time "to save the best of what is left," the group's director, Frederic Winthrop, promised a five-year action to save the most endangered of these sites. The action plan will be ready by October.   7/12/1999

A slow-growth activist and creator of the ...

A slow-growth activist and creator of the Sprawl Busters Alert newsletter, Albert Norman of Greenfield, has a new book on saving communities from the assault of unseemly superstores. The book, Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart: How You Can Stop Superstore Sprawl in Your Hometown, is coming out this month.   7/12/1999

Boston: With Boston's projected population growth reaching ...

Boston: With Boston's projected population growth reaching 688,000 by 2010, city leaders are getting high marks for their ongoing revitalization efforts. Metropolitan Area Planning Commission Director David Soule says Boston has done much to reclaim its neighborhoods and structure them well. The Wildlands Trust of Southern Masschusetts Director Mark Primack says Mayor Thomas Menino and others know that "if you want the middle class in the city, you've got to give them a good environment," including well-kept parks. The EPA's New England Administrator John DeVillars says Boston is making good use of state and federal brownfield programs, which bring in new business and often new housing. Other cities with top revitalization records include Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Somerville and Worcester.   7/2/1999

The good news from a novel Massachusetts ...

The good news from a novel Massachusetts Audubon Society study of the state's land use is that its annual rate of development has dropped from 21,000 acres in the mid-1980s to about 16,000 acres, with 48 percent more land being protected for wildlife habitat than developed. The bad news is that the 40 percent of the state land counted by government agencies as protected open space "includes sections of military bases, covered landfills, school campuses, prison yards, amusement parks, ski areas and golf courses;" real wildlife habitat is only 17.3 percent. The study author, Jennifer Steele, also notes that many protected wildlife areas are too fragmented to sustain their natural eco-systems.   5/28/1999

Governor Argeo Paul Celluci will host a ...

Governor Argeo Paul Celluci will host a national executive-level meeting on state strategies for brownfield redevelopment, June 30- July 1 in Boston. His keynote address will cover Massachusetts' brownfield and urban revitalization programs. One of the seven panels will discuss strategies to integrate brownfield and Smart Growth initiatives. The meeting will bring together governors' policy advisors, top economic, environmental and public health officials, municipal leaders, developers, lenders and other professionals.   5/19/1999

The Legislature's Joint Committee is working on ...

The Legislature's Joint Committee is working on a bill that would authorize a state income tax credit for donations of land conservation easements.   5/14/1999

In a lecture at the Boston Center ...

In a lecture at the Boston Center for Adult Education, U.S. EPA Administrator Carole Browner said sprawl and traffic jams cost the economy $74 billion a year in lost work and wasted fuel, while taking an incalculable human toll. She stressed that communities nationwide need President Clinton's $10 billion Better America Bonds and $1.6 billion Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program to became more livable and prosperous in the next century.   4/30/1999

With development in the six New England ...

With development in the six New England states taking up 1,200 acres a week, including almost 340 acres in Massachusetts alone, the EPA anti-sprawl regional conference brought to Boston about 1000 government, business, environmental and civic leaders seeking better land use and sustainable growth. Calling sprawl a threat to New England's future, the EPA's regional administrator, John P. DeVillars, pledged $3 million for two years to help state and local governments develop smart growth programs. They will steer the development to urban areas, protect open space and reduce car dependency. The Boston Globe and the Boston Business Journal are giving the EPA's initiative their full support.   2/1/1999

Boston: The City, the EPA, Boston Edison ...

Boston: The City, the EPA, Boston Edison, the Lenox Hotel and The Boston Globe, held a two-day national conference on eco-industrial development. In preparation for the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America, on May 2-5 in Detroit, the conference dealt with reducing waste and pollution, and with creating jobs in urban areas.   2/1/1999

Boston: Responding to South Boston community concerns ...

Boston: Responding to South Boston community concerns over the massive residential growth planned last year for the 1,000-acre Seaport District, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority have reworked the area master plan, reducing the 8,000 residential units to 6,000, with about 2,000 as affordable housing. The harbor will remain the prime open space, with new walkways along the piers to maximize public access.   1/1/1999

Boston is planing an extensive overhaul for ...

Boston is planing an extensive overhaul for its congested Chinatown, to make it more pedestrian- friendly and to improve traffic flow. The city may widen Chinatown's sidewalks, shift street directions, install better signs and test Òpenalty boxesÓ at intersections to deter drivers from creating gridlock.   12/1/1998

Acting Governor Paul Cellucci presented 21 residents ...

Acting Governor Paul Cellucci presented 21 residents with open space preservation awards and hailed the state for meeting its 1991 goal of saving 100,000 acres from development. He also proposed public-private action to preserve another 200,000 acres by 2010. The governor wants to protect three acres as park or open space for each acre taken by development.   10/1/1998

Massachusetts and the rest of New England ...

Massachusetts and the rest of New England see their next economic and ecological opportunity in "grey water" reuse, or wastewater recycling. Some firms are installing water-reuse systems to cut down on operation costs. Other companies manufacture such equipment for domestic and foreign sales. The region is following the lead of California, Nevada and Florida, which have severe water shortages and have benefitted from wastewater reuse for years.   10/1/1998

Boston: The number of abandoned buildings in ...

Boston: The number of abandoned buildings in the city was cut by 40 percent since August 1997. Capitalizing on strong housing demand, developers renovated 320 buildings and the city financed restoration of 46 more. About 20 percent of the reclaimed 1000 units are classified as affordable housing.   10/1/1998

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is spurring the ...

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is spurring the revival of old Boston neighborhoods with a call to build homes on 150 abandoned city-owned lots, offered to developers for a dollar each.   5/1/1998

The ten-year-old Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act has ...

The ten-year-old Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act has been revised to speed up the construction approval process, mainly for areas targeted for development and for projects not affecting the environment. The revisions also ease redevelopment of the state's more than 7.000 brownfields.   4/1/1998

The state's fastest growing communities are trying ...

The state's fastest growing communities are trying to protect themselves from sprawl, higher taxes and overcrowded schools with strict limits on home construction. Housing-caps were imposed by 43 of 351 cities and towns, with another seven about to do the same. Similar caps are in effect or under consideration in many communities of adjacent New Hampshire.   3/1/1998

The state gave Boston $1.5 million to ...

The state gave Boston $1.5 million to help its conversion of a 98-acre dump into a park along the Charles River. Costing up to $10 million and planned for several years, the conversion is hailed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino as "the biggest recycling project in the U.S."   2/1/1998

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