Chapter 40B

Section 1. This chapter shall be designated and may be known as ''The regional planning law''.

Section 10. Upon the designation of the regional planning and economic development district by the secretary of economic development, all cities and towns within the boundaries of the district shall become members of the district. The secretary of economic development may from ti…

Section 11. If the district boundary of the regional planning and economic development district established in accordance with section nine includes a majority of cities and towns organized as a regional planning district pursuant to this chapter, said regional planning district …

Section 12. In the regional planning and economic development district established pursuant to section nine, there shall be a regional planning and economic development commission which shall consist of the mayor of each city, or in a city that has a Plan D or Plan E form of gove…

Section 13. Twenty-one persons residing within the district shall be appointed to an advisory committee for the purpose of providing advice and guidance to said commission and said persons shall be representative of business, labor, professional and civic organizations and other …

Section 14. The regional planning and economic development district established under the provisions of section nine shall have the following powers and duties: (a) to adopt a corporate seal; (b) to sue and be sued, but only to the same extent and upon the same conditions that a …

Section 15. The commission shall elect annually at its meeting held in the month of June by and from its members a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary and a treasurer, each of whom shall hold office until his successor is elected and qualified. The commission shall from time t…

Section 16. The commission shall employ, and may remove, an executive director, who shall be qualified by education, training and experience in economic development, regional and program planning, and community relations. The executive director, on behalf of and with the approval…

Section 17. The commission is authorized to enter into contracts and agreements with any department, agency or subdivision of federal or state government and any individual, corporation, association or public authority to provide or to receive services, facilities, staff assistan…

Section 18. The commission so established shall not later than fifty days from the issuance of a certificate of organization by the state secretary prepare an estimate of the amount of money required to pay the costs and expenses of the district for the current fiscal year and, i…

Section 19. There shall be a mutual exchange between the commission and all agencies of the commonwealth and of each political subdivision thereof within the district, of data, records, and information within their knowledge and control pertaining to the district, or to parts the…

Section 2. The purpose of this chapter is to permit a city or town to plan jointly with cities or towns to promote with the greatest efficiency and economy the co-ordinated and orderly development of the areas within their jurisdiction and the general welfare and prosperity of th…

Section 20. The following words, wherever used in this section and in sections twenty-one to twenty-three, inclusive, shall, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context, have the following meanings:— ''Low or moderate income housing'', any housing subsidized by th…

Section 21. Any public agency or limited dividend or nonprofit organization proposing to build low or moderate income housing may submit to the board of appeals, established under section twelve of chapter forty A, a single application to build such housing in lieu of separate ap…

Section 22. Whenever an application filed under the provisions of section twenty-one is denied, or is granted with such conditions and requirements as to make the building or operation of such housing uneconomic, the applicant shall have the right to appeal to the housing appeals…

Section 23. The hearing by the housing appeals committee in the executive office of housing and livable communities shall be limited to the issue of whether, in the case of the denial of an application, the decision of the board of appeals was reasonable and consistent with local…

Section 24. There shall be a metropolitan area planning council, in this section and in sections twenty-five to twenty-nine, inclusive, called the council. Said council shall consist of one representative from each city and town of the metropolitan area planning district who shal…

Section 25. The council shall elect annually by and from its members a president, vice-president, secretary and a treasurer, each of whom shall hold his office until his successor is elected and qualified. Election of said officers shall be held annually in the month of May, and …

Section 26. There is hereby established a metropolitan area planning district, in this section and sections twenty-seven to twenty-nine, inclusive, called the district, consisting of the following cities and towns:— and any other city which by vote of its city council and any oth…

Section 27. There shall be a mutual exchange, between the council and all offices, boards, commissions, departments, divisions and agencies of the commonwealth, and all offices, boards, commissions and departments of each political subdivision of the commonwealth within the distr…

Section 28. There shall be an executive committee which shall be composed of a chairman, who shall be the president of the council, a vice-chairman, who shall be the vice-president of the council, a secretary, who shall be the secretary of the council, and a treasurer, who shall …

Section 29. The council is authorized to enter into contracts and agreements with any department, agency or subdivision of the federal or state government and any individual, corporation, association or public authority to provide or receive services, facilities, staff assistance…

Section 2A. No state agency shall place a city or town individually or severally, within a regional or district grouping without the consent of the governing body of such city or town. The governing body in a town shall be the town meeting and in a city, the city council.

Section 3. Any group of cities, towns, or cities and towns may, by vote of their respective city councils or town meetings, vote to become members of and thus establish a planning district, which shall constitute a public body corporate. After a planning district has been thus es…

Section 30. (a) There shall be within each regional planning district created under this chapter or by special act, a technical assistance center for the delivery of coordinated, comprehensive, and continuing technical services to and among local governments for the purpose of ex…

Section 4. In each planning district so established there shall be a district planning commission consisting of one member of the planning board of each city and town voting to join such district, elected annually by said planning board and certified in writing to the district pl…

Section 4A. Upon a two-thirds vote of all of the members of the district planning commission there may be established an executive committee, elected annually from the membership of the commission, and consisting of the chairman, vice chairman, if one is elected annually by the c…

Section 4B. Each planning district may have a seal consisting of a circular die bearing the words, ''Commonwealth of Massachusetts, . . . . . . . . . . Regional Planning District, (insert year)'', which seal may be used whenever deemed advisable by the district planning commissio…

Section 4C. Whenever there is located, wholly or partially, within a planning district established hereunder, a federal military installation having a resident population of at least five hundred persons according to the most recent available federal decennial census, the distric…

Section 5. A planning commission established hereunder shall make careful studies of the resources, problems, possibilities and needs of its district and, on the basis of such studies, shall prepare a comprehensive plan of development or a schematic study plan of such district or…

Section 5A. Such commission may enter into an agreement with the water resources commission for the purpose of conducting water favorability studies under the direction of the water resources commission, as authorized by section nine of chapter twenty-one. The district's share of…

Section 5B. A district planning commission may, by an affirmative vote of two thirds of the representatives of the cities and towns comprising the district, agree to act as, and to assume the duties, obligations, and responsibilities of, an economic development regional commissio…

Section 6. The several officers, boards, commissions, departments and divisions of the commonwealth and city and town officials may consult with any such district planning commission and shall furnish or make available to it on request all data and information within their knowle…

Section 7. Said commission shall, annually in the month of February, estimate the amount of money required to pay the costs and expenses of the district for the following fiscal year, shall fix and determine the proportion of such costs and expenses to be paid by the constituent …

Section 8. The district may authorize debt by a majority vote of the commission in anticipation of revenue to an amount not in excess of that to be received during the current fiscal year from member cities and towns. Notes issued under authority of this section shall be in the n…

Section 9. The secretary of economic development may establish a regional planning and economic development district consisting of all the cities and towns in the Southeastern Massachusetts Regional Planning District established under this chapter, and the towns of Plymouth, Plym…