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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 - Hampshire 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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Hampshire County Results
« Return to Aggregate Results

 
City/Town Ward Pct Blanks Total Votes Cast
Totals
49,539
80,122
11,521 141,182
Amherst More »
 
1,619
5,792
548
7,959
Belchertown More »
 
1,916
3,182
321
5,419
Chesterfield
 
163
341
31
535
Cummington
 
107
290
23
420
Easthampton More »
 
1,922
4,043
323
6,288
Goshen
 
133
308
27
468
Granby
 
1,038
1,760
256
3,054
Hadley
 
658
1,443
163
2,264
Hatfield
 
470
974
90
1,534
Huntington
 
320
488
29
837
Middlefield
 
77
153
6
236
Northampton More »
 
2,534
8,658
875
12,067
Pelham
 
163
500
56
719
Plainfield
 
79
210
14
303
S. Hadley More »
 
2,103
4,005
382
6,490
Southampton
 
1,017
1,453
148
2,618
Ware More »
 
1,464
1,423
280
3,167
Westhampton
 
268
543
40
851
Williamsburg
 
300
870
81
1,251
Worthington
 
199
365
19
583
County Totals
49,539
80,122
11,521 141,182