Why 40B Opponents Failed
A post-mortem of the anti-anti-snob zoning ballot initiative
Kristen McEvoy is a Groton resident, a studio potter and an activist. Like many people across the state, McEvoy got involved in the fight against the state "anti-snob zoning" law known as Chapter 40B after a developer used the law to get permission to build a large, dense residential project in her neighborhood that would normally have violated local bylaws.
This past fall, McEvoy and others like her saw their hopes to change the law soar when it looked like a proposal to repeal 40B had a good chance of making it to the 2008 ballot. But in the end, those hopes were dashed a few weeks later when it became clear that the proposal - unlike efforts to get rid of the income tax, ban dog racing and reduce penalties for marijuana offenses - had fallen far short of the number of petition signatures it needed.
Groton resident Kristen McEvoy helped collect signatures in a failed attempt to get the repeal of 40B on the state ballot. One of the developments permited under the law is planned for her backyard.Close Doesn't Count
The story of opponents of 40B involves mistakes on several sides, the difficulties of navigating complex state laws and the monumental obstacles that face a loosely organized group of volunteers taking on a task that is often accomplished at least in part by hired professionals.
Chapter 40B has been controversial since it was passed in 1969. Supporters of the law say it has been responsible for significant growth in affordable housing. But many opponents complain that it circumvents local control. They argue that there are better solutions possible, including "inclusionary zoning" laws that require all residential projects to include affordable units.
Like many cities and towns across the state, McEvoy's hometown of Groton saw a major influx of 40B project proposals while the recently burst housing bubble was still inflating. McEvoy said five of the developments began the permitting process over the past three years in Groton. As result, when McEvoy and some others in town started collecting signatures to bring the repeal of the law to the 2008 ballot for a statewide vote, they had no trouble finding support.
"I had people calling me saying, 'Where are the petitions? I need a copy of the petitions to circulate among my neighbors,'" she said.
The same story was playing out in nearly 300 communities all over the state, with volunteers spending hours at their towns' transfer stations and supermarkets collecting signatures.
The level of activity was a testament to the hard work of many people, chief among them John Belskis. Belskis, an Arlington retiree, got involved in the fight against 40B when one of the projects was proposed in his neighborhood about five years ago. As chairman of the grassroots group called Repeal 40B, he helped coordinate other volunteers who built a collection of web sites opposing the law, set up Internet discussion groups for the volunteers and started the ballot initiative moving forward.
But it was Belskis' first time running a petition drive, and some aspects of the state laws governing the effort got lost in the shuffle. For one thing, the volunteers thought they would be able to collect signatures at shopping malls over the post-Thanksgiving weekend. Not until the last minute did they find out that petitions had to be filed the day before the holiday. And the activists didn't realize at first that the same person had to take out petitions and return them in person to town clerks' offices.
"The collection process was a zoo," Belskis said.
Big Disappointment
In the end, after the volunteers had the petitions certified at the local level and sent them on to the state for final approval, even Belskis didn't know how many signatures they had collected. So he was thrilled to read in the Nov. 24 issue of The Boston Globe that the petition was one of four ballot measures that had apparently gotten the required 66,593 signatures.
The others, which did receive enough signatures to take the next step toward the ballot, would eliminate the state's income tax, ban greyhound racing and soften marijuana laws.
"What happened there was there was a little miscommunication," said Brian McNiff, the spokesman for Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin who was quoted in the Globe story. "I think that was my mistake."
As it turned out, the anti-40B petition had only 31,309 valid signatures. The confusion appeared to arise from the fact that, unlike some other petition drives that never got off the ground at all, Repeal 40B turned in pages of petitions stacked high enough that officials thought at first glance they might have enough signatures.
After the elation that supporters felt from the initial Globe report, the real numbers came as a blow.
"We were all shocked when we got the next story," said Tony Marolda, an anti-40B volunteer from Harvard.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the issue, Thomas Callahan, the executive director of the Dorchester-based Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, was feeling relieved.
His group had been preparing to fight the ballot initiative if it moved forward. He saw the petition drive's failure as a sign that the anti-40B forces did not have the grassroots support they often claim.
"It's kind of embarrassing to get only half the number of signatures you need," he said. "That's not a very credible effort, frankly."
Marolda, Belskis and other activists said they view the petition drive as a learning experience and aren't planning to abandon their efforts any time soon.
One lesson in particular, they said, is that successful petition campaigns tend to use professional signature collectors, relying on activists for the financial support to pay them.
To McEvoy, the volunteer petition drive was impressive, but she said she'd be willing to support a paid effort next year if it seems necessary.
"The whole thing is a game," she said. "You need to get on the ballot."
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