In Massachusetts, state law Chapter 40B requires communities to have ten percent of their housing stock considered as affordable, and penalizes jurisdictions that do not. After unsuccessfully trying to get state legislative assistance in counting manufactured homes as affordable in order to meet the quota, Wareham is attempting to do it on its own.

A “home rule” petition will be presented to Town Meeting voters April 27. If it passes, it will be sent directly to the state legislature, as villagesoup informs MHProNews. Members of the Wareham Planning Board voted in favor of the measure at their last meeting. If communities do not have ten percent of their housing stock classified as affordable, developers can avoid local regulations if they construct housing that qualifies as affordable.

Wareham currently has 1,100 manufactured homes sited in manufactured home communities, which would be sufficient to qualify for the Chapter 40B requirement. ##

(Photo credit: patriotledger/Greg Derr–Westwood Village MHC, Plymouth, Mass.)

  Article submitted by Matthew J. Silver to Daily Business News-MHProNews.