Massachusetts Plan for More Starter Homes Fails as ‘NIMBY’ Voters Insist on Local Zoning Control

Massachusetts voters rejected Question 7, a ballot initiative aimed at promoting starter homes by reducing the size of the lot required to build a home.The initiative would have established a new minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet for single-family homes. The lot would need at least 50 feet of land bordering the street or public way, and it would also need access to public sewer and water, but otherwise, it would pave the way for smaller starter homes to be built across Massachusetts.The measure failed by a slim margin of 50.6% to 49.4%."I think that, you know, there unfortunately is still a lot of NIMBYism throughout Massachusetts," says Mike Travaline, the government affairs chair of the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Massachusetts. The HBRA supported the measure, arguing that it would help address the state's 220,000-home shortage and allow builders to build more starter homes."There's a lot of resistance to any type of legislation or referendum that would take away local control from each individual municipality," he tells Realtor.com®. "Residents and town politicians really want to have the final say in what gets built in their towns."Massachusetts has a serious...