Here we go again. The group that was trying to repeal the state’s affordable housing law two years ago is taking another crack it.
The Boston Globe reports today that the Coalition to Repeal 40B has submitted a petition to repeal the state’s Chapter 40B law to the state attorney general’s office.
They tell Globe reporter Jenifer McKim they are more organized and frustrated and they will be able to gather enough signatures to get on the ballot in November 2010.
Last time around, the coalition could barely gather 35,000 signatures. They needed 66,593 to get the question on the ballot.
John Belskis, the leader of the group who filed the petition, told me at the time that they had submitted 72,000 signatures.
“I think this strikes at the heart of the credibility of [supporters of the petition],” Mark Leff, a banker and former president of the state’s homebuilders group, told me back then. “They claimed they had 72,000 and it turns out they didn’t have even half of that. This is consistent with the misrepresentation of Chapter 40B that they’ve been spewing …”
Belskis and crew have railed against the law, saying developers have taken profits that belong to communities and built projects that are too dense and that strain community services.
The law was designed to encourage the development of affordable housing, particluarly in suburban areas that lack it.
There’s no disputing that there are issues with the law and that it’s been controversial. But does Belski and his followers realize what a tough sell this going to be at a time when most people are preoccupied with more pressing concerns – unemployment, foreclosures, etc.
In, Massachusetts, thousands of homeowners have faced foreclosure this year, as The Warren Group reported today.
 Real estate development has stalled. Developers are having a hard time securing financing for already-approved projects. When there’s no development going on that means there are fewer jobs.
How many unemployed residents are going to want to put yet another roadblock to development in this state at a time when the economy could use the boost and people could use the jobs that come with it?