Greg D. Peterson, a former president of the Real Estate Bar Association and current partner with Boston-based law firm Tarlow Breed Hart & Rodgers PC has been appointed to serve on the newly-created Special Senate Commission on Housing.

The commission has been tasked by State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg to develop a path toward a 21st-century housing policy reform measure. It is expected to study the serious shortage and high cost of housing in Massachusetts, especially in the eastern half of the state.

The Special Senate Commission is made up of members of the Senate, the administration, advocates, academics and business representatives. Peterson was appointed as a representative of the Real Estate Bar Association, of which he is a former president. The commission is being chaired by Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, with Senate Majority Leader Harriet L. Chandler serving as vice-chair.

Peterson has experience in real estate law and environmental law and played a role in the drafting of the Smart Growth Zoning Act, Chapter 40R of the Massachusetts General Laws, its companion statute, Chapter 40S, which obliges the state to pay the marginal education costs of children residing in a Chapter 40R development, and the Expedited Permitting Act.  He has served on his community’s planning board and chaired its Affordable Housing Trust, where he spurred the development of rental housing for low and moderate income seniors and persons with intellectual disabilities.