{"id":80,"date":"2026-05-28T14:05:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=80"},"modified":"2026-05-28T14:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T14:05:39","slug":"driscoll-offers-support-for-yimby-legislation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"Driscoll offers support for YIMBY legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ADVOCATES FOR STRONGER <\/mark><\/strong>state laws allowing more housing to be built got a boost Wednesday from the Healey administration, as Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll told a crowd gathered in front of the State House that local communities have to step up and be part of the solution. <\/p>\n

Read more Controversial private jet expansion proposal at Hanscom faces setbacks as developers look to move project ahead<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, too many of our communities are unaffordable for people who go to work every day,\u201d Driscoll told rally-goers who came to support legislation being pushed by the advocacy group Abundant Housing Massachusetts. \u201cThere is a way to address our housing shortage. It\u2019s called building more housing and building it faster.\u201d <\/p>\n

So-called YIMBY, or \u201cYes In My Back Yard,\u201d legislation, sponsored by Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn and Rep. Andy Vargas of Haverhill, would generally allow up to five units on all lots served by water and sewer and up to three on all non-sewered lots. It would also eliminate parking minimums near transit and make it easier to split larger lots and build on smaller lots, which proponents said would help lead to more affordable starter homes. <\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people are fleeing our state in droves for more affordable states,\u201d said Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts. \u201cThe people that our communities rely on \u2013 child care workers, nurses, service, and retail workers \u2013 can\u2019t find homes in the cities and towns that they serve. When there are not enough homes, the wealthy will always outbid working people, and everyone has to move further away, including away from Massachusetts.\u201d <\/p>\n

The YIMBY rules would be fine-tuned by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and subject to some \u201creasonable restrictions\u201d from cities and towns. <\/p>\n

Driscoll, who served 16 years as mayor of Salem, said she believes in local control by municipal government, but within limits. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a former local official, I love local autonomy,\u201d she said, \u201cbut not if it means the autonomy to build nothing anywhere or not meet our key housing goals.\u201d <\/p>\n

A goal of the bill backers said, is to roll back some of the ways that municipalities can stymie new housing in the name of community preservation. <\/p>\n

Bay Staters \u201cneed to remember that zoning and zoning laws are provided to municipalities from the state,\u201d said Vargas. So, he said, \u201cif we\u2019re not building housing, it\u2019s time for the state to relook at how we can take up that responsibility more aggressively.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Rikleen ends US Senate bid, endorses Markey<\/a><\/p>\n

Efforts to push communities to allow more housing through the MBTA Communities law have already stirred opposition. Dozens of communities dug in their heels against the law, which requires cities and towns near MBTA service to rezone for more multifamily housing, with some ultimately choosing \u201cpaper compliance\u201d with the law that rezoned in a way that would lead to little or no new housing. <\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, and even with the support of the Healey-Driscoll administration, the YIMBY bill\u2019s fate is anything but certain. Under new rules for the current term, just eight weeks remain until all bills need to be approved in both chambers and sent to conference committees or perish. Lawmakers will still be able to negotiate on the language until the term concludes. <\/p>\n

Senators on the Joint Committee on Housing voted to send an amended version of the bill to Senate Ways and Means in December, where it has sat since. Representatives on the committee have not moved the bill out of the housing committee. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s opportunities to do individual bills\u201d even given the tight timeline, Crighton said. He noted that there is an economic development bill pending that may include housing provisions when it is finalized. That could echo the way MBTA Communities became law \u2013 a few brief lines in a 2021 economic development bill. <\/p>\n

Advocates at Wednesday\u2019s rally trotted out an unlikely recent celebrity in the pro-housing world to hammer the point home in colorful fashion. Marblehead resident David Modica took the internet by storm when a video clip went viral of him earnestly asking a recent town meeting whether voters were \u201ckind of being pricks\u201d by approving an MBTA Communities rezoning plan that was unlikely to actually result in new housing. <\/p>\n

Marblehead loves its history, Modica said, sometimes at the expense of its present. <\/p>\n

The town\u2019s structures are covered with memorial plaques about when buildings were founded and why. \u201cIt\u2019s a very high-plaque-density place,\u201d Modica joked, but most of the beautiful structures there were built during a period of no setback rules and no parking minimums, on account of the horses, and couldn\u2019t be built now under modern zoning rules. <\/p>\n

Though he confessed that he \u201cis not a history guy,\u201d Modica suggested Marblehead could benefit from some of the same flexibility shown in the past. A sign he came across on Fort Sewall, completed in 1644, reads \u201c\u2019the structure has been modified to accommodate the town\u2019s changing needs,\u2019\u201d Modica said, \u201cand I was like, maybe history does have lessons for us, after all.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Rikleen ends U.S. Senate bid, endorses Markey<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bay Staters \u201cneed to remember that zoning and zoning laws are provided to municipalities from the state,\u201d said Rep. Andy Vargas. So, he said, \u201cif we’re not building housing, it’s time for the state to relook at how we can take up that responsibility more aggressively.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing"],"yoast_head":"\nDriscoll offers support for YIMBY legislation - Worcester Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worcestermovingreport.com\/?p=80\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Driscoll offers support for YIMBY legislation - Worcester Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bay Staters \u201cneed to remember that zoning and zoning laws are provided to municipalities from the state,\u201d said Rep. 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