The MBTA Communities Act required local municipalities to address Massachusetts’ housing shortage by allowing higher-density multifamily and mixed-use projects near transit stops. Enacted in 2021, the state’s transit-oriented housing law was initially hailed by the real estate industry for its potential to unlock new development.
But some communities are outright rejecting new zoning plans, and some that are seemingly complying with the law are adopting strategies that undermine its goal.
Developers at Bisnow‘s Boston suburbs event on Wednesday said the optimism they once had in entering these communities is starting to fizzle.
Bisnow/Taylor Driscoll
Mark Development’s Damien Chaviano, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ Eric Shupin, the town of Lexington’s Sandhya Iyer and Sullivan & Worcester’s Gregory Sampson.
“I think it’s a lot more than just getting to yes,” Mark Development principal Damien Chaviano said at the Hilton Dedham/Boston Hotel. “As I look at the zoning tools that are being discussed, I just think there’s too much latitude that local municipalities have been given. When I look at what is going to be implemented, I question how far it’s going to move the needle.”
As of Tuesday, 55 of the 177 MBTA communities have approved new zoning measures ahead of a second deadline of Dec. 31, but the plans still need to be reviewed by the state to see if they comply with the housing law.
Although the number is promising and some towns are proposing notable zoning changes, some developers said they think communities are finding loopholes that would prevent new development.
The town of Chelmsford proposed a plan in March that focused on rezoning land that already has townhome development on it, Banker & Tradesman reported. For the site to be redeveloped, all of the townhome owners would have to agree to sell their properties, an unlikely outcome.
On Tuesday, town members at the Sudbury town meeting voted in favor of a similar plan that would rezone the Meadow Walk and Cold Brook Crossing area, which is already densely developed and would likely not create new opportunities for developers, Patch reported.
“I think on the development lines, there’s going to be a lot more to be done,” Chaviano said.
The state’s response to such plans that might not bring new development would depend on the circumstances, Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Chief of Policy Eric Shupin said.
“If a community meets the requirements of the guidelines, we will approve it. That is the purpose of those guidelines,” Shupin said. “Of course, we want to maximize the amount of housing that comes out of these districts, but some of that really does fall upon the local community to come up with their districts.”
Shupin added that the MBTA Communities Law isn’t the only tool developers and towns can use to produce housing.
“I think the last 50 years of local control zoning has shown what that can play out to be, but that’s why this can’t be the only solution,” Shupin said.
The state’s 40B statute enables developers to override local zoning through affordable housing projects that set aside 20% to 25% of the units as income-restricted.
Gov. Maura Healey‘s $4B Affordable Homes Act, which has yet to be approved, has several policies that would benefit multifamily developers. One of these policies includes a revolving momentum fund that would help accelerate the development of mixed-income multifamily housing.
While some communities have found loopholes, others are voting against new zoning proposals, which may represent a bigger…
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