Planning Board votes to ease inclusionary zoning rules
Chelsea Planning Board votes 5-4 to loosen affordable-housing rules for new development. The board recommended cutting the fee developers pay to skip building affordable units from $400,000 to $200,000 and raising the unit count that triggers the requirement from 10 to 50 (100 in West Chelsea).
Planning Board · Meeting of May 19, 2026
Chelsea Planning Board votes 5-4 to loosen affordable-housing rules for new development. The board recommended cutting the fee developers pay to skip building affordable units from $400,000 to $200,000 and raising the unit count that triggers the requirement from 10 to 50 (100 in West Chelsea). Housing director Ben Cares said the 2017 ordinance has produced just 49 affordable units, only six of them "deeply affordable," while the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund has dwindled to about $200,000.
City Councilor Todd Taylor said "I will die on this hill" urging the board to pass the council's original version instead, and Green Roots' Roseanne Bongiovanni called the meeting's hour-and-45-minute wait before public comment "disappointment" and "embarrassment." The recommendation now heads to the City Council.
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Source: the Planning Board meeting of May 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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