Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed suit today against the Town of Milton for failure to comply with the MBTA Communities Law, a bipartisan law that addresses the Commonwealth’s housing affordability crisis by requiring municipalities served by the MBTA to have at least one reasonably sized district where multi-family housing can be built. The lawsuit follows a town referendum that voted down the creation of a multi-family housing district that would have complied with the MBTA Communities Law.
Approximately 177 communities are subject to the MBTA Communities Law, and 12 of these had a deadline of December 31, 2023 to enact a compliant zoning district. The town of Milton developed a compliant zoning district to submit to the state, but in February, voters in the town overturned it.
“The housing affordability crisis affects all of us: families who face impossible choices between food on the table or a roof over their heads, young people who want to live here but are driven away by the cost, and a growing workforce we cannot house.” said AG Campbell. “The MBTA Communities Law was enacted to address our region-wide need for housing, and compliance with it is mandatory.”
"We need every community to come together and do their part to make housing more affordable. I'm grateful to Attorney General Campbell and her team for taking this important step today to enforce compliance with the MBTA Communities Law. This is not just about one community – but about the future of our workforce, our economy, and our entire state," said Governor Maura T. Healey.
“Compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is mandatory,” said Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “The Attorney General is keeping her commitment to the people of Massachusetts by upholding the law. It’s the right thing to do for the town of Milton and Massachusetts. The town has an obligation to adopt zoning for multi-family housing as of right. The law will forge a more affordable and livable community by removing barriers to creating new multi-family housing in Milton. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is hopeful that we can continue working with Milton to bring the town into compliance and build a stronger, more affordable Massachusetts for everyone.”
Attorney General Campbell last year issued an advisory making clear that municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is mandatory. The advisory also offered the Attorney General’s Office as a resource to help all covered cities and towns comply with the law.
Today’s lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County asks the court to order Milton to come into compliance with the law.
The bipartisan MBTA Communities Law was passed by the Legislature overwhelmingly in 2021 and was signed into law by then-Governor Charles D. Baker. It is an important step to address the Commonwealth’s housing crisis by providing more multi-family housing, the shortage of which causes housing prices to continue to rise. The housing affordability crisis disproportionately impacts working families, young people, and communities of color, and impedes the state’s economic growth. The MBTA Communities Law also mandates that the housing must be suitable for families with children and not age restricted.
This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Eric Haskell and Erin Fowler of the Constitutional and Administrative Law Division, and Jonathan Burke of the Civil Rights Division, with support from paralegals Jeff Williams and Pat Byfield, and legal interns Morgan Lloyd and Sam Jacobson.
Original source can be found here.