Terms and Definitions: A-L 

Affordable Housing - Inexpensive dwellings affordable to those of modest income. Learn more at: www.huduser.org

Anti-Snob Zoning – see Chapter 40 B

Approval not Required (ANR) - Chapter 41 Section 81-P of the Massachusetts statutes permits unlimited subdivision of individual parcels along existing roads without local review as long as the have adequate frontage.

" Big Box" Retail - Large retail stores over 35,000 square feet drawing customers from a large area and typically surrounded by parking lots.

Biodiversity - The tendency in ecosystems, when undisturbed, to have a great variety of species forming a complex web of interactions.

Board of Health Regulations - Boards of Health, like conservation commissions with wetlands, can augment their regulations pertaining to on-site sewage disposal beyond that provided by state regulations. Title 5 of the State’ s Sanitary Code (310 CMR 15.00) applies uniformly to all cities and towns in the Commonwealth and offers only minimum standards. The law change to regulation does not account for the differences in surficial geology, existing surface and groundwater quality, soils, slope, topography, land use, and sensitivity to pollution from wastewater among Massachusetts’ 351 towns and cities. After study, towns can tailor their regulations to ensure that the cumulative effects of widespread use of on-site systems will not adversely affect public health, the environment, or property values over time.

Brownfield - Abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial or commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.
Building codes - Municipal ordinances that regulate the construction and occupancy of buildings for safety or health reasons.

Building Permit Caps - This technique places a limit on the issuance of building permits for new construction, whether annually or a rolling maximum in a specified period (usually, two years). The number of permits is often set at the average for the previous five or ten years to stabilize growth, but may be set lower or somewhat higher as desired by the community. It is generally acknowledged that a town cannot limit the subdivision of land in this manner, but can only pace the construction of dwellings on the newly-created lots. The technique is not designed to stop growth, but rather to help avoid unexpected growth spikes so that the provision of town services can keep pace with new development. Other benefits include spreading the financial burden of providing services to new residences over longer time periods, and allowing open space acquisition funds to better keep pace with development. Building Permit Caps should be reviewed periodically (every 5 years is recommended) and revised if necessary.

Buildout - No additional development is possible on a parcel or within a community.

Buildout Analysis - A Build-Out Analysis is a predictive process for estimating a community’ s total and school-aged population, number of housing units, commercial square footage, and remaining open space at some future point in time when all available land has been utilized in accordance with a town’ s existing land use regulations (zoning, subdivision, wetlands, etc.). The results are often presented in mapped form, and can be shocking, especially in a still-rural town with higher-density residential zoning and little protected open space. A Build-Out Analysis is often the catalyst for residents to think and act on planning and zoning issues, in particular the density and location of development. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, in conjunction with Executive Order 418 and the Community Preservation Act, has prepared a computerized Build-Out Analysis for every community in the Commonwealth as well as a Buildout Book to help explain the process.

Chapter 40 A – Chapter 40A (the Zoning Act) outlines how cities and towns can regulate the use of land, buildings and structures to protect the health, safety and general welfare of their present and future inhabitants.

Chapter 40 B - Chapter 40B is a state statute, which enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals (ZBAs) to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions. Also known as the Comprehensive Permit Law.

Charrette - An intensive design process that involves the collaboration of all project stakeholders at the beginning of a project to develop a comprehensive plan or design.

Community Development Plan - A Community Development Plan identifies a town or city's future growth by identifying location, type and quality of new housing units and commercial and industrial development. It also identifies where communities should protect open space, including identifying critical environmental resources. Community development plans are meant to aid in the creation of a master plan or comprehensive plan.

Community Preservation Act - A law passed in Sept. 2000 that enables communities to establish a local Community Preservation Fund, through a ballot referendum, dedicated to open space protection, provision of low and moderate income housing, and historic preservation. Revenue for the fund is generated by a local property tax surcharge of up to 3% and a state match of about $25 million annually to participating communities.

Community Preservation Initiative - An effort of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs to provide tools and information to local decision-makers so that they will be able to make informed decisions about future growth.

Comprehensive Permit - A comprehensive permit is issued by a municipality to a developer who proposes to build housing in which at least 25% of the units are affordable to low-income residents. A comprehensive permit is an all-encompassing permit which subsumes all permits and approvals normally issued by other local boards. A comprehensive permit typically allows a developer to build at a higher density than is normally allowed under a town’ s zoning laws.

Development Scheduling - Also known as phased growth, this technique allows for the gradual buildout of approved subdivisions over a number of years. Small subdivisions are able to be constructed in one year, while larger subdivisions would be " phased" over a number of years. An option is to run the schedule as a " points" system where the more points a project earns the quicker the buildout. Points are awarded for good design, provision of open space or parks, affordable housing, etc. they are subtracted for building on farmland, using scenic road frontage, etc.

Down-Zoning - Down-Zoning (vs. Up-Zoning, next page) reduces the allowable uses of land and/or increases the land area required to support a given development type or use. Down-Zoning may be advisable where density, intensity or type of use has created problems in the past, or for environmentally sensitive areas or lands important for their natural resource, historic, scenic, or recreational values. Examples would be the increase in the minimum lot size requirement for a single-family dwelling from one acre to three or a decrease in allowed lot coverage for commercial buildings. Residential Down-Zoning will reduce a town’ s buildout potential in terms of ultimate number of housing units and associated environmental impacts, traffic, population, school children, etc. Down-Zoning is not to be confused with a " regulatory taking" whereby private property is " taken" without just compensation. This technique generally withstands legal challenges provided such an action furthers a legitimate public purpose (preferably as expressed in an adopted comprehensive growth management plan for the community), is not arbitrary or capricious, and leaves the property with some reasonable economic use.

Easement - Access rights to a portion of a property for which the owner gives up his rights of development (such as a power line easement to a utility company).

Ecosystem - A complex set of natural, interconnected elements on which a habitat's survival depends directly or indirectly.

Executive Order 418 - An initiative of the Swift Administration to provide incentives for housing production and to provide $30,000 in services to each MA community to draft a Community Development Plan that addresses housing, environmental resources, transportation, and economic development.

Feasibility Study - A combination of a market study and an economic analysis that provides an investor with knowledge of both the environment where a project exists and the expected return on investment to be derived from it.

Floodplain - The land adjacent to a body of water or water course that is subject to flooding.

Floor Area Ratio (FAR) - The ratio of floor area in a building to the land area of the lot on which it sits. Used to regulate building volume.

Geographical Information System (GIS) - GIS is a computer system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information (i.e. spatial data).

Grandfathering (vesting) - A right to proceed with a development project that cannot be abolished by subsequent changes in development regulations.

Graywater - Water that has been used for showering, clothes washing, and faucet uses that can be reused for irrigation in some circumstances.

Great Estate Preservation Bylaw - A creative municipal zoning bylaw designed to encourage the balanced preservation and development/reuse of large estate properties and their buildings in keeping with the estates' significant architectural and natural resource features.

Greenfield - Undeveloped lands such as fields or forests.
Habitat - The environment in which an organism or biological population lives or grows.

Highest and Best Use - The property use that at a given time produces the greatest net worth return.

Infill - Developing on empty lots of land within an urban area rather than on new undeveloped land outside the city or town.

Infrastructure - Services and facilities provided by a municipality or privately provided including roads, water, sewer, emergency services, parks, etc.