Massachusetts voters are considering a statewide zoning change that could make it legal to build modest homes that are common in older neighborhoods but barred in many places elsewhere.
The debate comes as high housing costs continue to frustrate many adults in the state.
Here’s what to know
According to NPR, the plan would force many municipalities to allow detached houses on parcels as small as 5,000 square feet, about the footprint of a basketball court.
If approved, the ballot question would set aside local minimum lot-size requirements in communities with water and sewer service, requiring them to allow smaller single-family homes. That could add badly needed starter homes, but Boston is exempt because it uses its own zoning system…