State updates MBTA Communities housing law
On August 17, the State gave more flexibility to cities and towns required to have at least one zone in which denser, multi-family housing is permitted, but also expanded the list of state grant opportunities that can be denied to any town that does not comply with the law meant to spur much-needed housing production.
Lynnfield is one of 177 cities and towns that are considered “MBTA communities” and are subject to the law’s requirements because they either host MBTA service or are adjacent to a town that does. In February 2023, the State accepted Lynnfield’s MBTA Communities Action Plan, confirming “interim compliance” which remains valid through December 31, 2024.
The January 2021 law requires that every MBTA community have at least one zoning district near a transit station in which multi-family housing is allowed as of right. Updated guidelines announced August 17 allow housing units in mixed-use buildings with commercial space required on the ground floor to count towards a community’s compliance with the law. The changes do not reduce the total unit capacity required.
Towns that don’t comply with the law are not eligible for three significant state grant programs: MassWorks, the Housing Choice Initiative and the Local Capital Projects Fund. The Healey administration will consider compliance with the MBTA community zoning law when making funding decisions for 13 other programs, “emphasizing the seriousness with which the Healey-Driscoll Administration views compliance.” Those grant programs are: community planning grants, Massachusetts Downtown Initiative, Urban Agenda, Rural and Small-Town Development Fund, Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, Site Readiness Program, Underutilized Properties Program, Collaborative Workspace Program, Real Estate Services Technical Assistance, Commonwealth Places Programs, land use planning grants, local acquisitions for natural diversity grants, and Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning grants.
(Excerpted from State House News Service, Colin A. Young, 8/18/2023, and Lynnfield Villager, Dan Tamasello, 8/30/2023)