Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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• At a regional level, several protected classes are more likely to have lower incomes than the general
population, including seniors, people with disabilities, foreign-born people, and people of color.
• When housing costs are high, those high costs are borne disproportionately by those protected classes
with lower incomes, despite the structure of housing costs being neutral on its face.
• Though housing costs are neutral on their face, Arlington’s high housing costs are one mechanism for
discrimination against certain protected classes.

Local Policies and Tools
Housing Policy and Development

• The Town of Arlington lacks explicit fair housing laws or other laws that reference housing and protected
classes. However, Arlington has numerous policies, plans, programs, and resources that affect the housing
market and thus fair housing.

Zoning

• Arlington’s Zoning Bylaw includes eight residential districts and six business districts, each of which allow
different types of housing at differing densities.
• The current Bylaw is, in many areas, more restrictive than Arlington’s historic development patterns.
• About 61% of Arlington’s land is devoted to single-family housing, and any type of multifamily housing
greater than two units is permitted on only 9% of the Town’s land.
• Even in districts where multifamily housing can be built, it is not permitted as a “by right” use. Conversely,
single-family housing can be built by right in all residential districts.
• In multifamily residential districts, many zoning requirements can discourage or even preclude multifamily
development that would be suitable in these areas and that would provide a broader range of housing
types.

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Arlington Fair Housing Action Plan