Housing Headlines

STATE --- The Boston area's 12 rapid transit communities approved new zoning plans to comply with the state's housing law ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline. Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Milton, Newton, Quincy, Revere and Somerville said yes. The communities will allow for a combined capacity of over 83,000 units.

SALEM --- The Southern Essex Registry of Deeds has acknowledged more than 500 properties in Essex County contain racial covenants that once prohibited people of color and other groups from owning them. John O’Brien, who has retired, issued a register’s notice listing all the restrictive deeds as his “final act” in office. The covenants are unenforceable. Harborlight Homes and North Shore Chapter NAACP brought the restrictive language to O'Brien's attention last year.

AMHERST --- An affordable housing development by Way Finders Inc. will provide 78 apartments on Belchertown Road. However, the move-in date has been pushed to 2028, two years later than previously stated due to funding needs that depend on a mix of public and private sources, including housing tax credits from the state and federal governments, applications to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, and private capital and equity.

BRAINTREE --- Braintree has passed a series of zoning changes to promote multifamily housing in four areas of the town. The requirement means Braintree must allow zoning that could create at least 3,769 apartments or condominiums, which is one-quarter of the town’s existing housing units.

QUINCY --- City Council approved two zoning districts to make it easier to build multifamily housing near the Quincy Adams and North Quincy MBTA stations. The districts were designed by the city's planning department to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, which seeks to ease the state's housing crunch by requiring zoning more land to potential multifamily development, most within half a mile of an MBTA station.

MILTON --- Backers of a petition drive delivered thousands of signatures to compel a townwide vote on a controversial zoning plan. The new zoning is required by a state mandate, known as the MBTA communities law, intended to address the regional housing crisis by making it easier to develop apartments and condos, largely around transit stations.