MBTA Communities Glossary of Terms

The following glossary provides a list of common terms used in presenting and discussing MBTA Communities Law. If further explanation or an example is needed, these may be provided. A key to sources for these terms is located at the bottom.

  1. Affordable Housing - Affordable Housing is a general term used to describe any housing that is built or operated with federal or state tax credits and/or other public subsidies. All housing of this type is “deed-restricted”, meaning the properties have restrictions placed on them to ensure they are rented or sold only to financially eligible individuals or families.*
  2. Area Median Income (AMI) - The estimated median income, adjusted for family size, by metropolitan area (or county, in non‐metropolitan areas). AMI is updated annually by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and used as the basis of eligibility for most housing assistance programs.
  3. As-of-Right Zoning - A zoning provision is considered “By-Right” or “As-of-right” if the approvals process is streamlined so that projects that comply with the zoning standards receive their approval without a discretionary review process. In this case, discretionary refers to a Special Permit process and not site plan review. By-right may involve either administrative or site plan review approval processes.^#
  4. CHAPA - The Citizens' Housing and Planning Association is a statewide non‐profit umbrella organization for affordable housing and community development activities. CHAPA’s mission is to encourage the production and preservation of housing affordable to low‐income families and individuals. 
  5. EOHLC - The state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities sometimes referred to as "HLC" for shorthand.
  6. Housing Suitable for Families - Means housing comprised of residential dwelling units that are not age-restricted housing, and for which there are no legal restriction on the number of bedrooms, the size of bedrooms, or the number of occupants.c
  7. Inclusionary Zoning - A local zoning ordinance that either requires or encourages a developer to include deed-restricted Affordable Housing as part of a development, or contribute to a fund for such housing. The ordinance may provide incentives such as increased density, reduced parking requirements,  or expedited permitting in exchange for the affordable housing.**
  8. MBTA - The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and provides subway, bus, commuter rail, ferry, and paratransit services to eastern Massachusetts and part of Rhode Island.
  9. MBTA Community - Section 3A of the Massachusetts Zoning Act (“Chapter 40A”), together with the Section 3A Guidelines, provides multi-family zoning requirements for MBTA Communities. Chapter 40A defines an “MBTA Community” in Section 1A as a city or town that is: (i) one of the 51 cities and towns as defined in section 1 of chapter 161A; (ii) one of the 14 cities and towns as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; (iii) other served communities as defined in said section 1 of said chapter 161A; or (iv) a municipality that has been added to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority under section 6 of chapter 161A or in accordance with any special law relative to the area constituting the authority. There are 177 such communities in Massachusetts that meet this definition.o
  10. MHP - The Massachusetts Housing Partnership is a quasi‐public agency created by the state legislature in 1985 to support affordable housing and neighborhood development. It is funded by state‐mandated contributions from interstate banks and has received state funds as well. It is governed by a seven‐member board appointed by the governor and the state’s banking industry. MHP provides, below‐market financing and bridge loans for affordable rental housing, runs the “One Mortgage” program for first time homebuyers and provides technical assistance to communities to support affordable housing.
  11. Mixed-Use Development - Projects that combine different types of uses such as residential, commercial, office, industrial and institutional into one development project. Mixed use may be vertical, meaning it is mixed in one building such as commercial on the first floor or street level and residential on upper floors, or it may be horizontal, where different uses are in the same parcel or project site but separated by building or area on the site. Mandatory Mixed Use or MMU is a type of mixed use that requires the commercial component. In 3A, MMU does not provide full credits for zoned units and no credit for zoned land.**#
  12. Multi Family District - A multi-family district refers to a designated area within a city or town that is zoned for the development of residential buildings intended to accommodate multiple households, typically in the form of apartment buildings, townhouses, or condominiums. It is typically characterized by a higher population density and a mix of housing types designed to accommodate a wide variety of housing market needs.>#
  13. Reasonable Size Requirement - In addition to the reasonable size factor under contiguity whereby at least one district (if multiple districts) must be 50% of the total district area, If a district has multiple locations, there is a 5-acre minimum district land area in order to contribute towards the reasonable size requirement. This does not mean each parcel needs to be 5 acres. Instead it requires that each part of the district, which can be many or few parcels, be no less than five acres. This allows the district to be located in multiple locations and creates flexibility for the compliant districts to meet the needs of the community. This requirement also helps create neighborhoods, not just “project sites,” which also helps avoid spot zoning.o
  14. Station Area - Section 3A states that a compliant zoning district must be “located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable.” Section 8 of the 3A Guidelines addresses the details of district location within the station area, which is the area within a ½ mile radius around the center point of a transit station’s platform. The amount of the minimum land area and unit capacity that must be located within the station area is determined by how many acres of developable station area a municipality has. It is possible for a community to have developable station area from a station that is not within its boundaries.o
  15. Unit Capacity - For Section 3A, “Unit capacity” is a measure of the number of multi-family units that zoning allows as of right based on the capacity of the lots in the district. Although some units may already exist, unit capacity for any given lot may be higher or lower than existing development on the site. Unit capacity is one of the factors that is used to determine if a zoning district is a reasonable size. The Compliance Model must be used to evaluate unit capacity. The Compliance Model takes the zoning requirements into account, as well as other factors such as lot size, parking requirements, excluded land and open space requirements. The unit capacity of each lot is measured as if that lot was undeveloped. See this site for additional information.o
  16. Contiguity - For the purpose of the 3A law, the term contiguity relates to the law's "reasonable size requirement" whereby at least one portion of the required acres must be 50% of the total required. In other words, "Compliance with Section 3A can be achieved with multiple districts, or multiple areas of the same district. However, there are contiguity standards that must be met, in order to ensure that the compliant district(s) exist on a neighborhood scale. Section 5 of the Guidelines has Reasonable Size requirements including contiguity, and Section 8 has Location requirements.Thus, 50% of the total district area must be contiguous"o
  17. Zoning - Belmont has rules that determine what land can be used for (e,g., housing, retail stores, etc.) and what size and type of building can be built on the land. These rules are the Town's zoning laws which have been in place since 1925 and have been updates and amended many times. Zoning consists of districts, of which each district type has different standards for uses and dimensions (e.g., a residential zoning district allows houses of a specific size and other compatible uses), and other rules governing how the land is used and developed.#
  18. Zoning, Overlay District - An overlay zone or district is a zoning district that "lies" on top of the existing base zoning district. This overlay district identifies special provisions in addition to those in the underlying or base zoning district. Under a future proposal developed by the Committee, each property would continue to have the existing base zoning available for use, but would also have an optional set of zoning tools available to building according to the overlay provisions.&#
  19. 3A - The term "3A" is often extreme shorthand for Mass General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 3A which is the state law governing MBTA Communities Zoning.
  20. 40B - Refers to Mass General Law Chapter 40B which is the state’s Comprehensive Permit law, enacted in 1969, established an affordable housing goal of 10% for every community. In communities below the 10% goal, developers of low and moderate income housing can seek an expedited local review under the comprehensive permit process and can request a limited waiver of local zoning and other restrictions which hamper construction of affordable housing. Developers can appeal to the state if their application is denied or approved with conditions that render it uneconomic and the state can overturn the local decision if it finds it unreasonable in light of the need for affordable housing. (Chapter 774 of the Acts of 1969; M.G.L.c.40B§20‐23).   

 

 

 

 

Key to Sources
* Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)
^ Opticos Design
# Belmont Planning
** Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP)
> Abundant Housing Massachusetts
< Commonwealth Magazine
o Commonwealth of Massachusetts (typically EOHLC)
c Miyares and Harrington
& Town of Arlington