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Municipal leaders press committee for exemptions, appeals to MBTA Communities Act
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Summary
Local officials and legislators urged the joint committee to create exemptions and appeals processes for communities constrained by the MBTA Communities Act, citing infrastructure, water supply and unique geographic limits in small or adjacent towns.
Municipal leaders and several legislators asked the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government to adopt bills that would exempt or create appeals and flexibility from the MBTA Communities Act (often referred to as “3A”).
Rep. Ken Sweezy and other representatives described bills (including H.2338–2340 and H.2343–2345 in various witnesses’ testimony) intended to exclude some adjacent or very small communities from mandatory zoning changes under the MBTA Communities Act. They argued a “one‑size‑fits‑all” mandate does not account for towns with limited water resources, volunteer fire departments that rely on tanker trucks, environmentally sensitive or very small communities and places with little or no MBTA rapid transit access.
Senator Dooner and other members from rural or adjacent towns described practical limitations: towns without municipal water or sewer, few or no hydrants, and only volunteer fire services that rely on tanker relays. In those cases they urged the committee to allow appeals grounded in drinking water supply, wastewater capacity, transportation constraints, historic preservation and other environmental conditions.
Other witnesses urged the committee to recognize classifications of MBTA service that differ substantially — for example, the Mattapan trolley was cited by several testifiers as operationally different from rapid transit and thus not equivalent for imposing multifamily zoning mandates. Milton and other communities argued their designation rests on older MBTA definitions and that the current implementation fails to reflect actual transit capacity.
Why it matters: The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 municipalities to adopt zoning to allow multifamily housing by right. Witnesses said compliance fines, reduced grant eligibility and legal risks threaten small towns’ finances and local control. Several speakers asked for appeals processes, clarifications and temporary extensions so that communities with unique constraints could pursue locally‑tailored plans rather than face statewide penalties.
Committee status: The hearing collected testimony on multiple bills that would create exemptions for small adjacent towns, provide appeals procedures, and otherwise slow or alter the Act’s requirements. No committee votes were recorded during the session captured in this transcript.
