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Municipalities that don’t comply with the state law requiring that denser, multifamily housing be allowed near transit stations could be slapped with lawsuits in addition to losing access to key sources of state funding, Attorney General Andrea Campbell warned Wednesday.
An economic development law that Gov. Charlie Baker signed in January 2021 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. There are 177 cities and towns that are subject to the law’s requirements, but a handful of towns missed a deadline to submit action plans and have resisted the state’s push to encourage more transit-oriented housing.
“All MBTA Communities must comply with the Law. Communities that do not currently have a compliant multi-family zoning district must take steps outlined in the DHCD guidelines to demonstrate interim compliance. Communities that fail to comply with the Law may be subject to civil enforcement action,” Campbell’s office wrote in an advisory that she previewed last month in an interview with GBH News’ Basic Black program. The AG added, “The Law requires that MBTA Communities ‘shall have’ a compliant zoning district and does not provide any mechanism by which a town or city may opt out of this requirement.”
Non-compliant towns are ineligible for awards from major sources of state funding for municipal projects – the Housing Choice Initiative, the Local Capital Projects Fund, or the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. Campbell said Wednesday that municipalities cannot simply accept that fate and move on without complying with the zoning law. She said towns that don’t comply “risk liability” under both the Massachusetts Antidiscrimination Law and federal Fair Housing Act.
“Compliance with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is not only mandatory, it is an essential tool for the Commonwealth to address its housing crisis along with our climate and transportation goals,” Campbell said. “While the housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color and poor, working families, it threatens all of us along with our economy and thus requires all of us do our part including ensuring adequate development of affordable, transit-oriented housing for our residents and families.”
Campbell’s office said that rental housing was the top issue raised in complaints to its Consumer Advocacy and Response Division last year, surpassing complaints in all other categories for the first time as residents reported unsafe and unsanitary conditions, rent hikes and evictions.
Greater Boston Real Estate Board CEO Greg Vasil issued a statement in response praising Campbell’s move.
“Attorney General Campbell’s move to mandate that cities and towns comply with the 2021 MBTA Communities Zoning Law is a positive, critical step forward in helping the state overcome its housing crisis. Requiring housing creation near public transit across the Greater Boston region will prove essential to meeting sky-high demand, and ultimately, lowering rents,” Vasil said. “Enforcing this law will give the private sector the free-market ability to produce the housing units vital to help solve our housing dilemma. This law will not only benefit new residents who want to call Massachusetts home, but aid people of all income levels suffering from overwhelming housing costs who seek to remain in the Commonwealth. The state must continue to pursue policies focused on housing creation to eventually overcome the crisis.”
Campbell isn’t the first to threaten fair housing lawsuits against towns that don’t follow through with new zoning that allows more housing. Civil rights group Lawyers for Civil Rights had issued its own threat of litigation in February and sent its own statement to reporters Wednesday applauding Campbell’s move.
“Municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is critical to combatting Massachusetts’ affordable housing crisis. LCR is prepared to take recalcitrant towns to Court to compel compliance. If towns don’t comply, they will face litigation brought by LCR. With the advisory now in effect, recalcitrant towns now also face civil enforcement action from the Attorney General’s office,” executive director Iván Espinoza-Madrigal wrote in an email.
Banker & Tradesman staff writer James Sanna contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with comment from Lawyers for Civil Rights.
