Time’s run out for 9 of the 12 communities that haven’t signed on to the MBTA Communities Act.
Underneath that statute — a 2021 legislation requiring municipalities served by or adjoining to MBTA transit to create zoning for multifamily housing — the vast majority of the resisting communities had been required to conform by July 2025.
The holdouts: Dracut, Tewksbury, Wilmington, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Holden, Marblehead, Middleton, and Winthrop. Carver and Rehoboth — which had till Dec. 31 to hitch the fold – and Freetown – with an upcoming zoning board assembly which may carry it into compliance – have to date been spared any authorized penalties.
The opposite 9 have been slapped with enforcement lawsuits by the state’s legal professional basic.
In July, AG Andrea Campbell warned that her workplace might pursue enforcement in opposition to noncompliant cities starting in January 2026.
Campbell lately reiterated her earlier enforcement warning. And now she’s made good on that promise.
We’ve already seen some samples of what kind that motion may take.
Tewksbury Public Colleges came upon in December that it received’t obtain sure state funding in fiscal 2026 on account of the city’s noncompliance.
In Middleton, the city misplaced a $2 million MassWorks grant that had already been awarded, together with funding for a Council on Growing old passenger van.
Wilmington City Supervisor Eric Slagle mentioned the city had been speaking with Campbell’s workplace for the reason that second half of 2025 after the zoning did not cross at City Assembly final yr.
“They requested if we deliberate to place it on one other City Assembly agenda, however there was no urge for food on the Choose Board for that,” mentioned Slagle.
For now, he mentioned Wilmington is in a “wait-and-see mode” because the criticism filed by Campbell’s workplace didn’t specify how a decide would pressure compliance.
So, what’s the top recreation for these 9 municipal outliers?
Greater than 90% of the affected communities, 165 out of 177, have created a multi-family zoning district per that MBTA legislation.
Just a few holdouts can’t change that truth, or the inevitability of this laws. Reasonably than persevering with to withstand, these communities might adhere to the letter – if not the spirit — of the legislation.
Whereas the MBTA Communities Act compels designated municipalities to create zoning districts that enable multifamily housing by proper, it doesn’t require them to truly construct housing or assure inexpensive housing manufacturing.
A Boston Globe assessment in Could of a number of preliminary and already-passed zoning methods discovered that some cities have intentionally designed plans that cleverly circumvent the state mandate.
In some instances, cities have created zoning to permit house buildings in locations the place such constructions exist already, making it economically impractical to create a brand new one among comparable dimension.
Others have written zoning guidelines that cap constructing heights and densities in ways in which successfully discourage new growth.
These artistic strategies have apparently happy the legislation’s mandate.
It’s the blueprint these sued communities ought to take, as a substitute of putting up with the substantial authorized and monetary penalties additional resistance will actual.
Sentinel and Enterprise
