On Tuesday, August 6, Governor Maura Healey signed into law the Affordable Homes Act. The law includes language addressing one of The Arc’s longest-held priorities, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), and permits ADUs (<900 SF) to be built by-right in single-family zoning districts in all communities across the Commonwealth. We are so grateful for our community’s continued advocacy around this issue for many years!
Thank you to our legislative champions who ensured that our disability community needs were met by the law, including broad language to allow special needs trusts to be owner occupiers and no restriction on bedrooms, in order to meet the AFC and Shared Living requirements.
The Arc takes pride in the hundreds of families that never stopped advocating through action alerts, calls, and testimony at hearings. We are especially grateful to Representative Christine Barber and Senator Bruce Tarr, our ADU bill sponsors. The Arc is also thankful to our partners in advocacy, Advocates for Autism of Massachusetts (AFAM), Autism Housing Pathways, the Disability Law Center, and many others.
Our Government Affairs team is working on a fact sheet to summarize the Affordable Housing Act. It will be available next week.
