Land Use & Housing Development

Begun in 2024, the Town of Dover maintains this Land Use and Housing Development page where residents can find all pertinent information on new and impactful development in Dover.

Single-family housing considerations outside of Accessory Dwelling Units will not be discussed here. Subdivisions, Chapter 40B developments, Approval Not Required (ANR) Plans, Town Land Acquisitions, Housing Production Plan updates, MBTA Communities Act requirements, and zoning changes and updates can all be found on this page.

These pages will also provide additional educational materials and references to laws and regulations governing development in Dover for residents who wish to become more informed on Land Use and Housing Development processes.

To encourage the development of both affordable and multi-family housing, the Commonwealth has passed several laws with goals to make it easier for such development to occur. Ch. 40B and the MBTA Communities Act are particularly relevant in Dover and are described in more detail below and in the links that are included. It’s worth noting that Dover’s housing inventory is at present almost completely comprised of single-family residences, with less than 3% built in accordance with the Chapter 40B affordable housing law.

The development pressures on Dover are real.

Dover Housing Task Force

The Housing Taskforce was formed in 2023 to address land use and housing development pressures in Dover proactively. Representatives of all the Town functions involved with land use (Planning Board, Board of Selectmen, Board of Health, Conservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Building Inspector, Town Engineer/Department of Public Works) are working together to ensure that all projects are collaboratively and appropriately vetted and managed, and that a comprehensive plan and philosophy of multi-family and affordable housing is developed to serve as a road map for future decisions and actions. In 2024, Town Meeting supported this effort by approving $100,000 to develop a comprehensive Dover Development and Housing Plan. Following an extensive RFP process, the Town awarded a contract to Barrett Planning Group LLC in November 2025 to serve as our consultant for this project. A dedicated webpage is being developed to inform and keep residents updated on these efforts, which will include extensive public outreach and participation.

Affordable Housing: Chapter 40B

Chapter 40B is a state statute whose purpose is to increase low- and moderate-income housing across the Commonwealth by allowing for the bypass of local zoning laws if the town has not reached a 10% affordable housing inventory (a threshold which Dover has not reached). This law authorizes Dover’s Zoning Board of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments with variances to local zoning, Board of Health and Conservation Commission bylaws which are stricter than State statutes.

Please click HERE to learn more.

Multi-Family Housing: MBTA Communities Act

This law (MGL Ch.40A, Section 34A) requires that the 177 municipalities in the MBTA’s service area (including Dover) have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing (but not necessarily affordable housing ) with no age restrictions and suitable for families with children is permitted as of right, subject to specific zoning ordinances in that district.

It should be noted that the MBTA Communities Act:

Does NOT require that multi-family housing, in fact, be built
Does NOT compel Dover to pay for new infrastructure like sewer or water
Does NOT supersede or override Dover wetlands or Title V laws.
Does allow Dover to develop specific zoning regulations for its proposed MBTA multi-family district, such as design criteria, setbacks, and dimensional requirements.

Please click HERE to learn more.

Housing Production Plan

The Dover Planning Board has completed the process of creating a Housing Production Plan (HPP), pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Ch. 40B. The HPP process enables the Town to study local housing needs, market conditions, environmental constraints, and issues of affordability. The current plan was effective 12/21/2021 and is good for 5 years, per state regulations.

Dover’s Housing Production Plan

Accessory Dwelling Units

At the May 2023 Town Meeting, an updated Accessory Dwelling Unit Bylaw (Ch. 185-43) was approved. This enables residents to construct attached or detached accessory dwelling units, not to exceed 50% of the primary structures floor area, or 900 square feet, whichever is less, through a site plan review process with the Planning Board or a special permit process through the Zoning Board of Appeals, respectively.

At the May 2025 Town Meeting, the ADU Bylaw was amended again to comply with the Commonwealth's 2024 Affordable Homes Act by removing the requirement that either the primary residence or ADU be occupied by the property owner and removing the requirement of a special permit for a detached ADU so that all ADUs, attached and detached, are now only subject to the Planning Board’s Site Plan review process.