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Summary of Question 2
This proposed law would repeal an existing state law that allows a qualified organization wishing to build government-subsidized housing that includes low- or moderate-income units to apply for a single comprehensive permit from a city or town's zoning board of appeals (ZBA), instead of separate permits from each local agency or official having jurisdiction over any aspect of the proposed housing. The repeal would take effect on January 1, 2011, but would not stop or otherwise affect any proposed housing that had already received both a comprehensive permit and a building permit for at least one unit. Under the existing law, the ZBA holds a public hearing on the application and considers the recommendations of local agencies and officials. The ZBA may grant a comprehensive permit that may include conditions or requirements concerning the height, site plan, size, shape, or building materials of the housing. Persons aggrieved by the ZBA's decision to grant a permit may appeal it to a court. If the ZBA denies the permit or grants it with conditions or requirements that make the housing uneconomic to build or to operate, the applicant may appeal to the state Housing Appeals Committee (HAC). After a hearing, if the HAC rules that the ZBA's denial of a comprehensive permit was unreasonable and not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to issue the permit. If the HAC rules that the ZBA's decision issuing a comprehensive permit with conditions or requirements made the housing uneconomic to build or operate and was not consistent with local needs, the HAC orders the ZBA to modify or remove any such condition or requirement so as to make the proposal no longer uneconomic. The HAC cannot order the ZBA to issue any permit that would allow the housing to fall below minimum safety standards or site plan requirements. If the HAC rules that the ZBA's action was consistent with local needs, the HAC must uphold it even if it made the housing uneconomic. The HAC's decision is subject to review in the courts. A condition or requirement makes housing "uneconomic" if it would prevent a public agency or non-profit organization from building or operating the housing except at a financial loss, or it would prevent a limited dividend organization from building or operating the housing without a reasonable return on its investment. A ZBA's decision is "consistent with local needs" if it applies requirements that are reasonable in view of the regional need for low- and moderate-income housing and the number of low-income persons in the city or town, as well as the need to protect health and safety, promote better site and building design, and preserve open space, if those requirements are applied as equally as possible to both subsidized and unsubsidized housing. Requirements are considered "consistent with local needs" if more than 10% of the city or town's housing units are low- or moderate-income units or if such units are on sites making up at least 1.5% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town. Requirements are also considered "consistent with local needs" if the application would result, in any one calendar year, in beginning construction of low- or moderate-income housing on sites making up more than 0.3% of the total private land zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use in the city or town, or on ten acres, whichever is larger. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

2010 - Franklin County - Question 2Do you approve of a law summarized below, on which no vote was taken by the Senate or the House of Representatives before May 4, 2010?

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Franklin County Results
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City/Town Ward Pct Blanks Total Votes Cast
Totals
8,051
18,230
1,795 28,076
Ashfield
 
212
606
62
880
Bernardston
 
255
556
67
878
Buckland
 
175
544
84
803
Charlemont
 
144
308
24
476
Colrain
 
205
399
42
646
Conway
 
287
628
71
986
Deerfield
 
679
1,400
142
2,221
Erving
 
125
347
36
508
Gill
 
191
394
54
639
Greenfield More »
 
1,544
4,124
364
6,032
Hawley
 
46
82
7
135
Heath
 
114
196
11
321
Leverett
 
208
730
60
998
Leyden
 
89
233
31
353
Monroe
 
17
23
2
42
Montague More »
 
825
2,040
169
3,034
New Salem
 
155
285
30
470
Northfield
 
356
810
81
1,247
Orange More »
 
879
1,526
174
2,579
Rowe
 
61
101
17
179
Shelburne
 
205
599
52
856
Shutesbury
 
223
640
53
916
Sunderland
 
557
697
66
1,320
Warwick
 
120
202
27
349
Wendell
 
119
283
26
428
Whately
 
260
477
43
780
County Totals
8,051
18,230
1,795 28,076