A trolley on the MBTA's Mattapan Line rolls down tracks in Milton. Photo by Derek Yu | CC BY-SA 2.0
Milton officials are looking at fast-tracking another multifamily rezoning proposal to conform with the MBTA Communities law in the face of a lawsuit from Attorney General Andrea Campbell and loss of state grants.
On Tuesday night, some Milton Select Board members indicated they would push for creation of another plan to bring to Town Meeting in May.
“The Planning Board now needs to create a zoning plan that is compliant, and restore funding to this town,” board member Benjamin Zoll said. “We’re heard from multiple members that putting something like this together should be easy.”
Under the MBTA Communities law designed to encourage multifamily development near transit, Milton is required to create zoning enabling construction of at least 2,461 housing units.
At a townwide referendum Feb. 14, voters overturned the rezoning plan approved by town meeting in December, prompting Attorney General Andrea Campbell to file suit against the town this week seeking a court order requiring the town to submit another zoning plan that complies.
And Healey administration officials notified Milton that it would lose eligibility for a $140,800 seawall grant and not be allowed to apply for MassWorks infrastructure and HousingWorks grants.
The rejected plan would have allowed multifamily buildings near stops on the MBTA’s Mattapan trolley line, along with an office property and state-owned parking lots near the Southeast Expressway, plus retail parcels in East Milton Square.
Board member Richard Wells, a former Milton police chief and town administrator, criticized Gov. Maura Healey and Campbell for politicizing the issue and compared the town’s resistance to events such as the Boston Tea Party.
“We are not alone in this fight. There are other communities looking at us,” Wells said.
Milton was the only community of 12 with rapid-transit service that has not complied with the Dec. 31, 2023 deadline to pass the rezoning. Another 130 communities with MBTA commuter rail service, or are adjacent to those with stations, are required to submit plans to the state by Dec. 31.
Board members also discussed whether to seek state approval to be reclassified as an “adjacent community” under the MBTA Communities law, which would reduce the required housing production goals to 10 percent of its existing 9,844-unit housing stock.
Opponents of the original plan say the Mattapan trolley line does not provide the same level of service as other communities classified in the rapid-transit category, which requires housing production equal to 25 percent of the existing housing stock.
The board went into executive session for further discussion of legal strategy responding to Campbell’s lawsuit.
Affordable housing advocates praised Campbell’s rapid intervention in the issue.
“At a time when people across income levels are feeling the pain of escalating home prices and rents, the status quo keeps Milton’s gates closed and limits opportunities for people to have homes they can afford in the neighborhoods they love,” Citizens Housing and Planning Association said in a statement.
