Next week will be a historic occasion for the housing community in Massachusetts. Over a two-day period (February 4 & 5), the state's highest court will hear arguments in no less than seven cases arising under the state's affordable housing law, Chapter 40B — approximately the same number of Chapter 40B cases decided by the Court over the last decade. The result is likely to be more clarity for towns, developers, state agencies and neighbors about how to work with this sometimes opaque statute. The seven cases raise a cornucopia of issues concerning how local zoning boards, state agencies, and the lower courts should deal with proposals to build subsidized housing.