Friday, May 29, 2009

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Mass. economic development chief rips bad land-use laws

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Massachusetts land use is deterring businesses from relocating here and is pricing out middle- and lower-income families, state Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki told lawmakers Tuesday. “Our planning and zoning laws are old and outdated, and because of that we have some of the most unsuccessful, disruptive patterns of land use in the country,” said Bialecki. “What we have right now is not good. In fact, it’s really impressively bad.”

Bialecki said a fragmented system — individual cities and towns set their own zoning regulations — prevented a focus on a comprehensive statewide plan. To remedy the problems, the administration hopes to offer incentives to cities and towns to take into account statewide concerns when making zoning decisions. Such incentives would include state assistance, regulatory freedom, and priority in infrastructure funding, Bialecki said.
 

— State House News Service