Annual Updates; Certificate of Revocation
Effective Mar 13, 2026Mass. Register #1569MGL c. 23B MGL c. 40 St. 2004, c. 149 St. 2012, c. 219, §§ 37 through 54Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
(1) Annual Update by Municipality. On or before July 31st of each year, each Municipality with an approved District that had been Approved by the end of the previous fiscal year ending on June 30th, shall file its annual update with EOHLC, in a form to be prescribed by EOHLC. Unless otherwise permitted by guidance issued by EOHLC, the Municipality shall provide the following information in the annual update:
- (a) A list of all Approved Districts within the Municipality, with a tabulation for each District of the total land area, the Developable Land area and the Substantially Developed Land area, and the number of Incentive Units;
- (b) A written narrative describing whether the Municipality has repealed or amended, or proposed to amend or repeal, any of the requirements applicable to the District(s);
- (c) A written narrative describing any proposed Projects within each Approved District for which building permits have not yet been issued, including the total number and types of proposed total units and Bonus Units in such Projects;
(d) For Projects in each Approved District, the total number of Starter Homes:
- 1. For which building permits had been issued during the previous fiscal year;
- 2. Completed during the previous fiscal year; and
- 3. Completed in total since the District was approved.
- 4. Completion shall be documented by issuance of occupancy permits, with a tabulation of the types of such Starter Homes (Income-restricted, market rate, accessible, and bedroom size;
- (e) A written narrative for each Project describing any constructed starter homes that comply with the zoning requirements applicable to the Approved District;
(f) For each Approved District, the number and category of Projects for which the Site Plan Review procedure was completed during the previous fiscal year, including:
- 1. The number of Projects both approved and disapproved; and
- 2. The total number and types of proposed total units and Bonus Units in each category of Project. For each proposed Project that was disapproved, the annual update shall contain sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the Plan Approval Authority did not unreasonably deny its approval, and that it only denied its approval in a reasonable manner consistent with M.G.L. c. 40Y, 760 CMR 69.00 and the Starter Home Zoning;
- (g) If no building permit has been issued for any Starter Homes in an Approved District within five years of the date of EOHLC’s approval of the District, or if a building permit was issued within such five-year period, but no certificate of occupancy for such Starter Home was issued within two years after issuance of the building permit, then the Municipality must submit satisfactory documentation, in the form of certification by the Plan Approval Authority, Municipal zoning enforcement officer, or public works official, of the Start of Construction within that two-year time period of one or more Projects, or of a Planned Infrastructure upgrade identified in the Starter Home Zoning Application or a related utility relocation; and
- (h) A list and copies of text and maps of any adopted amendments of the Starter Home Zoning, any Design Standards, or the boundary of any Districts or sub-districts; any amendment to or adoption of the Plan Approval Authority's administrative rules; or any adoption or enlargement of a Historic District within the boundary of any Approved Districts.
(2) Letter of Noncompliance; Certificate of Revocation.
(a) EOHLC may issue a Letter of Noncompliance to a Municipality with an Approved District at any time upon determining that:
- 1. The Municipality has not complied with the requirements of M.G.L. c. 40Yand 760 CMR 69.00;
- 2. The Municipality’s Starter Home Zoning no longer complies with the requirements of M.G.L. c. 40Y, 760 CMR 69.00;
- 3. The Municipality’s Starter Home Zoning has been repealed, or amended in such a way that reduces the number of Starter Homes that can be developed within the Starter Home District; or
- 4. No building permits have been issued for any Starter Homes within the District within five years from the date of EOHLC’s approval of the district.
- (b) EOHLC may establish conditions and a deadline in its Letter of Noncompliance for a Municipality to correct any such noncompliance with respect to its Approved District.
- (c) Upon issuance of a Letter of Noncompliance, no further Zoning Incentive Payment or Production Bonus Payment will be made to that Municipality until EOHLC confirms through issuance of a Certificate of Compliance that the noncompliance has been cured.
- (d) EOHLC shall hold an adjudicatory hearing in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A when it intends to issue a Certificate of Revocation unless the hearing is waived by the Municipality.
- (e) A Municipality subject to a Certificate of Revocation shall repay the Zoning Incentive Payment, or such portion thereof as EOHLC may specify, to EOHLC. All monies repaid to EOHLC under this section shall be credited to the funding source from which the payment originated.
- (f) The issuance of a Certificate of Revocation shall not affect the validity of the applicable Starter Home Zoning or the application of any such zoning to the land, development, or proposed development within that District.