The MBTA has plans to eventually rebuild all three of Newton’s commuter rail stations, allowing for service to grow significantly beyond the five inbound and five outbound trains that stop in the city each weekday. Photo By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service
The town of Middleborough is challenging state regulations that would put it out of compliance with the MBTA Communities law, with a lawsuit filed in Plymouth Superior Court Friday.
The town passed a “smart growth” zoning district in 2021 near its commuter rail station that’s just over 40 acres in size, which town officials claimed in a press release allows multifamily housing by-right at densities greater than required by the transit-oriented zoning law which Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the same year.
Town officials said 26 new housing units have been built so far, and another 148 are in the development stage within a half-mile of its MBTA commuter rail stop, plus 881 existing multifamily housing units within a mile of the station.
As-is, however, it would appear this district doesn’t meet the law’s standards, which are intended to make sure Boston’s suburbs are doing their part to produce the hundreds of thousands of new homes the state needs to ease its housing crisis.
Regulations implementing the MBTA Communities law say Middleborough’s district – like those for all other towns along or near commuter rail and subway lines – must be at least 50 acres in size. Those regulations say the district must be capable of housing 1,471 multifamily units, whether those are existing apartments and condominiums or hypothetical units a developer could build under the zoning by-right if they redeveloped a parcel.
The town has until July 14 to pass zoning that meets the requirements, but due to a missed interim compliance deadline, town officials claimed that state agencies, including the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, are refusing to send it around $6.5 million in grant funding to reimburse the town for various projects.
“For generations, Middleborough’s leaders have been thoughtful, responsible stewards of its future. While many towns have fought growth, we’ve embraced it and are a stronger community because of it,” Town Manager Jay McGrail said in a statement. “The one-size-fits-all interpretation of the MBTA Communities Act is unreasonable and is not what the Legislature intended. What we’ve done in Middleborough should be modeled and celebrated, not punished.”
Middleborough’s move also comes after State Auditor Diana DiZoglio officially labeled the MBTA Communities law as an “unfunded mandate” – a development Middleborough officials cited in their press release announcing the lawsuit.
It’s a charge the Healey administration and Attorney General Andrea Campbell both strongly deny. The determination by the state auditor’s office Division of Local Mandates are not legally binding.
Gov. Maura Healey’s office said in an email that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which is in charge of overseeing compliance with the MBTA Communities law, has already provided nearly $8 million in technical assistance to towns and cities to help them write new zoning and engage residents.
“The MBTA Communities Law was passed with bipartisan, nearly unanimous support in the Legislature, signed by a Republican Governor and is being implemented by our administration. The law is essential to our efforts to lower the high cost of housing, which we know is one of the greatest challenges facing the people of Massachusetts. We are proud that 119 communities have already adopted new zoning under this law, with more than 3,300 new housing units in the pipeline because of it,” Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said in a joint statement. “The law is not an unfunded mandate, and it is unfortunate that some communities are choosing to use the Division of Local Mandates’ advisory opinion to try to stall its implementation. We know that Attorney General Campbell and her team will vigorously defend the law, and we’re committed to working with all towns to turn these plans into new housing and lower costs for all of our residents.”
