Month: November 2016

We attended the service at the Meetinghouse and the sumptuous meal afterwards at the Government Center.

What is 40b housing?
Chapter 40B Planning. Chapter 40B is a state statute, which enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions.

The Case Against Chapter 40B
As the legislative goal of facilitating the creation of affordable housing was realized, the number of comprehensive permit applications began to increase.23

A number of factors, including escalating land costs, more restrictive zoning throughout the state and a new source of funding led to a substantial increase in comprehensive permit applications over the past five years.24

The increased Chapter 40B activity has resulted in numerous complaints from municipalities and residents groups.25

The primary objection of these groups is that developers are taking advantage of the statute to seek projects that are too dense compared to what they would be permitted to do under the applicable zoning bylaws.

Another frequent complaint is that the number and size of the projects being filed are overwhelming municipalities’ ability to provide services for the increased population.26 These groups argue the manner in which the subsidized housing inventory is counted is unfair and inaccurate, as it does not count trailer parks, Section 8 housing or other inclusive housing measures.

The communities also argue that the policy of counting all of the apartment units in a Chapter 40B development toward the subsidized housing inventory, while only counting the affordable units of a homeownership project, is unfair because the municipality has little say in the type of housing developers propose.27

Many of these complaints from the opponents of Chapter 40B have been addressed by either recent case law or by regulatory changes promulgated by the Department of Housing and Community Development. Most of the remaining issues are addressed by the recommendations of the Chapter 40B Task Force.

Although some groups opposed to Chapter 40B would likely prefer to see the task force recommendations address all of their suggestions, the recommendations of the Chapter 40B Task Force effectively address most of the perceived flaws remaining in the system.

Affordable Housing Law Called a Big Boon
The law allows builders to bypass certain zoning restrictions in municipalities where less than 10 percent of the housing stock is classified as affordable. To win the waivers, they must set aside 20 to 25 percent of the units in a development for residents who make less than the community’s median income and offer those homes at below-market rates.

Opponents say the law allows developers to bully local officials into approving housing that violates building codes and inflates housing costs, because market-rate units are priced higher to subsidize so-called affordable homes.

Jon Witten, a Duxbury lawyer and law professor, said the UMass study points out the obvious: that Chapter 40B is an economic engine that creates housing.

But he added that many critics of the law are not opposed to development; they want an affordable-housing program that does not circumvent the best interests of communities.

“When you erase all rules and regulations at the local level, the result will be housing’’ — but nothing more, said Witten, who teaches law and land-use planning at Boston College and Tufts University. “The majority of other states have found a far more efficient way of building affordable housing that doesn’t benefit only the developer.’’

HMO Blue Value

Cal OneExchange

Tufts

Had my annual physical this morning with Dr. vonHaam. She thinks I’m in good health. I really don’t want to change docs.

Had a good dental cleaning appointment this afternoon.

Salmon and mashed from the Pantry and salad for supper tonight. Picked up CSA on Tuesday, pantry on Wednesday. Reminds me of when I got paid once a month: feast on payday, in fact, overeating, famine the rest of the time.

I hit the wall yesterday after meeting an Indian IT worker who was installing a new medical records system at Cape Cod Ortho.

I felt the kind of rage that drives people to acts of violence, chemical addiction, suicide.

The source of my fury is the undisputed fact that success comes from looks and personality, not BS factors like hard work or risk-taking. I’m as trapped as a steel worker in Ohio or a coal miner in West Virginia, and by an elite, for sure, but not upper crust “liberals” per se.

I want “When I Go Away“, the last song from “Ain’t in it for my Health” played at my funeral.

This Masquerade

“Partly through learning about physics theories like Fermat’s Principle of Least Time, Banks deduces that the heptapods cannot begin communicating, or acting, until they first know how that communication or action will ultimately end. In short: they experience time not sequentially, but all at once:

“…by viewing events over a period of time, one recognized that there was a requirement that had to be satisfied, a goal of minimizing or maximizing. And one had to know the initial and final states to meet that goal; one needed knowledge of the effects before the causes could be initiated…

“We experienced events in an order, and perceived their relationship as cause and effect. They experienced all events at once, and perceived a purpose underlying them all. A minimizing, maximizing purpose.”

Story of Your Life

The bandage fell off the wound last night, and it was almost dry as a bone this morning.

Most of it feels okay, but it hurts in one place on the left side of the wound.

Ron suggested that I keep using the mupirocin, and the Intrawebs agrees: will heal quicker than if it dries out.

Tonight my back is killing me.

I put primer on the bare wood portions of the new shed yesterday and puttied some blemishes. I painted today, and it looks quite nice.

Ron did laundry and he and I made the bed. We did the transfer station run and stopped for samples at Roche, did a little shopping, too. I used up the marmalade this morning, so we picked up two more jars of jam at Sprout Farm.

Made meat loaf for supper and I hope to heck it doesn’t poison us; the hamburger was well past “sell date”. Also baked potatoes and roast broccoli.

It could be a wound, it could be an ulcer.

No matter what you call it, it’s been a problem for almost a month, since around the weekend of October 15.

Finally, Occupy Falmouth will not be renewed. “Time to let it go.”

I mowed the back yard yesterday and started cleaning out the Oval.

Kitty was here until quite late yesterday, and came back today around mid-morning.

I brought a pile of flower pots to the transfer station and dropped off political signs at Sprout Farm.

Used up the can of Behr primer. Laura brought a big can of Zinzer so I could finish priming the new shed.

Ron drove Alpha to work; I tagged along. He picked up some auto supplies and I got a couple of items at Job Lot.