Massachusetts Voters Reject Question 7: Starter-Home Lot Plan Falls 50.6% to 49.4%
The Associated Press projected on Friday, November 6, that Massachusetts voters rejected Question 7, a ballot measure that would have eased minimum lot sizes for single-family homes to increase the supply of starter homes. With about 99 percent of the expected vote counted, the No side led 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent — 1,287,917 votes to 1,255,595, a gap of 32,322 votes. The final count has not yet been certified.
Question 7 would have barred cities and towns from requiring more than 5,000 square feet for a single-family home lot, with at least 50 feet of street frontage and access to public water and sewer services. Supporters said the state faces a housing shortage of 220,000 homes and argued the measure would help builders construct more starter homes; a Tufts University study estimated it could create between 3,500 and 12,000 net new homes in its first decade.
The vote split along geographic lines. Boston voted Yes by more than 2 to 1 — 119,998 to 53,286, about 69 percent — but Boston runs on its own zoning code outside the state zoning act the question would have amended, so the measure would not have changed the rules inside the city either way. Across the state, 274 of 351 cities and towns voted No. Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu backed the measure, while the Massachusetts Municipal Association led the opposition.
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国住房和城市发展部大楼（GSM 固定图库）。The HUD building. (GSM asset library)
