*"Spirit of the law" is too vague a term, and could open the door to push a specific agenda.*
Be careful what you ask for. Laws are complex beasts with inevitable subtleties and potential loopholes. Some would exploit those loopholes to achieve what was not the original intent of the law yet not be in violation of it. As a Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_and_spirit_of_the_law> article points out, "intentionally following the letter of the law but not the spirit may be accomplished through exploiting technicalities, loopholes, and ambiguous language." Massachusetts seems to be trying to acknowledge this by giving some detail as to the law's 'spirit': In a letter, Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic > Development (EOHED) Mike Kennealy and Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox wrote, > “This law is not a housing production mandate. It is all about setting the > table for more transit-oriented housing in the years and decades ahead — > which is not just good housing policy, but good climate and transportation > policy, too.” > https://www.planetizen.com/news/2022/08/118425-massachusetts-releases-transit-oriented-multifamily-housing-rules On Mon, Oct 23, 2023 at 7:40 PM Karla Gravis <[email protected]> wrote: > "Spirit of the law" is too vague a term, and could open the door to push a > specific agenda. Seems like even the State agency keeps changing what the > "spirit of the law" is, since the transit area requirement was reduced down > from 100% to 20%. > > As an example, as recently as September 30th, the HCAWG considered that > building housing by the Hanscom bus stop would comply with the "spirit of > the legislation". > >
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