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Massachusetts
Bay State Set to Reimburse Communities for Cost of Schooling Children That Move Into Designated Smart Growth Districts
''We need to build more housing to keep our state economically competitive,'' said Republican Governor Mitt Romney, reiterating his commitment to smart growth with his signature on a bill that will reimburse communities for the additional cost of schooling children whose families move into new moderate-income higher-density housing within designated smart growth districts -- the payments for each new student based on local per-pupil spending rates.
Complementing last year's zoning reform bill, which offers communities about $4,000 for each new housing unit in smart-growth overlay districts near transit stations, town centers and other infrastructure-rich areas, the new law, said its sponsor, state Democratic Senator Harriette Chandler, will further cover the increased public school costs ''that communities are concerned about'' and ''will help ensure that future generation will be able to afford to stay right here in Massachusetts.''
Still, reports Boston Globe writer Emily Shartin, some local officials remain unconvinced. Framingham planning and economic development director Kathleen Bartolini, whose town needed no help to adopt smart-growth principles for its three mixed-use projects near the downtown train station, thought the new law gives the state too much control over smart-growth development, called the new incentives ''bribe money,'' and added, ''It doesn't need to be done that way and only that way.''
Others disagree. Metropolitan Area Planning Council executive director Marc Draisen said towns that worried about state control, housing density or insufficient incentives ''are now going to give this some more serious consideration.''
Natick community development director Patrick Reffett was glad that the state ''is desperately trying to create more housing,'' while Wellesley planner Meghan Conlon noted the importance of state attention to the school cost impact on towns that ''have a tough time.''
And Office for Commonwealth Development Secretary Douglas Foy said smart growth policies ''will help us change the way we grow in Massachusetts by replacing sprawl with the kind of vibrant and successful downtowns Massachusetts has known and loved since its founding.'' -- Boston Globe
11/27/2005
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