Voters say no to smaller lot housing rules

Massachusetts voters turned down a measure that would have allowed single-family homes on smaller plots of land.

Unofficial results with 99% of the vote counted show 1,287,917 voters choosing no and 1,255,595 choosing yes. This was the final of nine ballot questions to be settled on Friday.

Question 7 proposed permitting homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet. To qualify, the lot needed at least 50 feet of street frontage and access to public water and sewer services. The text did not set specific size limits for the houses themselves.

Supporters argued the change would speed up the construction of starter homes and allow older residents to downsize. Opponents and analysts noted that details regarding building dimensions would still require state regulatory action and local zoning decisions.

A report from the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University estimated the measure would create roughly 750 new homes per year. The study projected the highest activity in suburbs around Boston. It also found that local towns would lose some authority over construction rules for about 850,000 parcels, though they could still set limits on setbacks, height, and bulk.