By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

Hull is one of 177 Massachusetts cities and towns required to take next steps in the MBTA Communities housing law, which was passed in 2021 and requires municipalities to establish zoning that encourages construction of new housing units.

State lawmakers believe compliance with this law will create more “stable, diverse, and inclusive communities” in Massachusetts, which they say is in “desperate need of more housing.”

The general regulations require the area to be 50 acres in size and within half a mile of a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal, or bus station, which is essentially walking distance.

After town officials had discussions with the state, the conditions were reduced, so Hull’s district is only required to be seven acres, provide 586 units as opposed to 750 units, and does not need to be within half a mile from the ferry.

“We won’t be able to do it in a seven-acre parcel without creating a really dense district,” Director of Community Development and Planning Chris DiIorio said. “The goal is to spread it out among higher density areas the town already has.”

For all cities and towns, the multi-family housing districts should be allowed by right, at a density of 15 units per acre, with no age restrictions and suitable for families with children.

As long as the district-wide gross density of 15 units per acre is provided, zoning districts can include use restrictions such as commercial, residential, and industrial, as well as intensity limits such as setbacks and height limitations. By-right uses can also be subject to site plan review standards. Finally, uses that are permitted by right are still subject to other applicable state and local regulations.

Like other local towns, Hull is working to comply with the MBTA Communities regulations, in order to avoid the risk of losing access to grant money through MassWorks, Housing Choice funding, and the Local Capital Projects fund.

“The biggest grant to lose is MassWorks, because it provides infrastructure funding to the town,” DiIorio said. “Seven or eight years ago, they provided money to reconstruct Surfside, and most recently provided $275,000 to design the two-way roads.

“Housing Choice has not been used in the town before because it is granted for meeting affordable housing requirements, which we are still trying to do,” he added.

The town submitted an action plan, which secures grant eligibility until December 2024, at which time commuter rail and “adjacent” communities must comply with the new regulations.

Under the framework of this law, municipalities are responsible for their own zoning. Either the zoning is already in compliance with the MBTA Communities law (by meeting the minimum land area, minimum multi-family unit capacity, and other requirements) or, like Hull, the municipality is required to revise its zoning bylaw to comply.

Hull is currently working to plan zoning around the law’s requirements, and there are a couple of existing zones that offer high density already – the Multi-Family B district on Atlantic Hill and Commercial Recreation C, which has zones near DPW yard and at Allerton and Pemberton. “Those two zones allow good by-right development,” said DiIorio.

Hull received a grant from the state to work with planning consultants Eric Halverson of RKG Associates and Emily Innes of Innes Associates to look at different scenarios illustrating how the town can meet the 586 unit requirement when the current count is only around 300 units.

“We need to see what we can do to those zones, for example change the language of the zoning to allow more density to get to 586 units… find what is least impactful to meet it to take to Town Meeting in 2024,” said DiIorio.

The areas identified can be made up of multiple developable zoning districts, but can’t be town-owned, in a floodplain, or wetlands. According to DiIorio, the current guidelines make the area around town hall attractive because the most other parts of town are in a flood zone.

The Affordable Housing Committee applied for a grant to look at municipal properties to see which could be available for affordable housing and local capital projects.

“In the end of the day it will take a public and private partnership to get the units created,” said DiIorio, adding that it is important for the public to “understand the law only requires towns to create by-right zoning, not to build the houses. Zoning is a long-term process.”

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