Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks to reporters on June 29, 2023. Photo by Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

Attorney General Andrea Campbell is once again warning cities and towns stirring up rebellion against the MBTA Communities Act that compliance with the law is not optional, even as she waits for the Supreme Judicial Court to weigh in on her case against Milton.

Alongside a link to a CommonWealth Beacon story about Winthrop’s resistance to the MBTA law, Campbell tweeted: “A few reminders from your friendly Attorney General: 1) The MBTA Communities law is a critical tool in solving our state’s housing crisis. 2) Compliance with our laws isn’t optional. 3) The majority of communities are taking steps to come into compliance.”

In an e-mail statement Tuesday, Campbell added, “A coalition of Democrats and Republicans passed the MBTA Communities Law, and it’s my job to enforce it.”

Campbell, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration, and pro-housing advocates in the state have repeatedly emphasized that most towns and cities have come into compliance. But there definitely are outliers.

Milton was the first town to reject a plan put forward to comply with the MBTA Communities law, which requires cities and towns served by the MBTA to set up new zoning for multi-family housing. Campbell sued Milton, not only to force Milton into compliance but also to warn other cities and towns that they had no choice but to fall into line. The court is set to hear the case in October.

In Winthrop, a vocal group called Winthrop Says No to 3A, the city’s state representative, and several town officials are saying the town will not comply with the law. Winthrop is facing a December 31 deadline for submitting compliance plans to the state. 3A is the section of the state zoning code that the MBTA Communities Act is part of.

Winthrop isn’t alone. There has been resistance to the MBTA law in several different towns facing the December deadline, including Medway, which recently sent a letter to several state government officials opposing the content of the law itself.

Rep. Jeffrey Turco, who represents Winthrop, said in a phone interview that he was not in the Legislature when the law passed and that he would have voted no if he had been there.

“I definitely hope that Milton wins,” said Turco. “3A is trying to force working-class communities to flood [towns] with new construction. To say to the people [of Winthrop] that you need to change your zoning to build an additional 880 units is crazy. It doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground.”

Campbell doesn’t think much of the argument.

“Compliance with the law is mandatory, and this law is an essential tool to address our housing crisis, which sadly is leading to more and more residents leaving Massachusetts,” said Campbell in an email. “It’s nonsense to suggest this law is hurting working-class residents when in fact it will help our public employees, teachers, nurses, and first responders stay and live in the community they choose.”

According to Turco, even if Milton loses, towns and cities would be within their rights to continue fighting the law.

“If the Supreme Judicial Court says Milton can’t refuse to comply with the law, the people of the town still have the right to vote,” said Turco. “If the Supreme Judicial Court tells Milton they have to comply, and the board of selectmen come up with another zoning plan that gets rejected again by the people, are they gonna [take] away grants?”

Jim Letterie, the president of the Winthrop Town Council, made it clear that he is a “no” on 3A. He said that would vote no on any compliance plan that comes to the council from the town’s planning board.

“My job as president of the Winthrop Town Council is to look out for the best interest of the town of Winthrop and its residents. Passing 3A does not do that,” said Letterie. “I would vote no on a plan to comply with 3A.”

Letterie said that the cost of implementing 3A is higher than any of the potential consequences of non-compliance.

Several Winthrop residents have formed a pro-housing group supporting compliance with the law. Many emphasized that the MBTA law doesn’t actually mandate housing, but instead mandates zoning changes that would allow for more housing.

Campbell pointed out that the law actually gives a lot of power to towns and cities to make their own decisions.

“The law gives municipalities considerable discretion in developing the most effective zoning for their community, including discretion over the location and size of the zoning district,” said Campbell.

In Winthrop, where the zoning doesn’t actually reflect the current density, supporters of the law say that changing the zoning to comply would merely make the lives of people who live there easier.

“We’re asking the wrong questions saying you need to exclude us from this. What we should be doing is saying: ‘hey, look, we have the density already,’” said Cassie Whitthaus, a resident of Winthrop who works in the field of affordable housing development. “Acknowledge it and move forward with the work that our community has already done and say” ‘we’re complying and look, our little community already has this density.’ We’ve already got this going on.”

This article first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.