Housing Production Plan

The Community Development Department began the Housing Production Plan process in early 2016 in order to address Gloucester’s housing needs. A Housing Production Plan is a tool to maintain and increase affordable and market-rate housing, analyze local housing needs, opportunities, and challenges, as well as identify housing goals for the future. The City has hired Ralph Wilmer of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to provide technical assistance for Gloucester’s Housing Production Plan. Planning work was funded through a Planning Assistance Towards Housing (“PATH”) grant awarded through the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

From the State Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development:
A Housing Production Plan (HPP) is a community’s proactive strategy for planning and developing affordable housing by: creating a strategy to enable it to meet its affordable housing needs in a manner consistent with the Chapter 40B statute and regulations; and producing housing units in accordance with the HPP.

The HPP regulation became effective on February 22, 2008 when the DHCD promulgated 760 CMR 56.00, Comprehensive Permit; Low or Moderate Income Housing. The HPP regulation is contained in 760 CMR 56.03(4). HPPs replace Planned Production under 760 CMR 31.07(1)(i).

If a community has a DHCD approved HPP and is granted certification of compliance with the plan by DHCD, a decision by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) relative to a comprehensive permit application will be deemed "consistent with local needs" under MGL Chapter 40B. "Consistent with local needs" means the ZBA’s decision will be upheld by the Housing Appeals Committee.


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Documents

Planning Materials 

Meeting Minutes

The Housing Production Plan was adopted by the City Council and the Planning Board. The following dates are the meetings where the Housing Production Plan was on the agenda: