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Lawmakers hear requests to soften MBTA Communities Act for small, adjacent and rural towns
Summary
Municipal leaders and legislators asked the joint committee to adopt exemptions or an appeals pathway to the MBTA Communities Act, telling lawmakers that small adjacent towns and communities with limited water, sewer or transit access cannot safely or feasibly meet a uniform zoning mandate.
Town officials, state legislators and residents told the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government that parts of the MBTA Communities Act (commonly referred to as “Chapter 40A/MBTA Communities” or “3A” in testimony) impose a “one‑size‑fits‑all” zoning mandate that fails to account for local infrastructure, environmental constraints and municipal capacity. Representative Ken Sweezy, Representative Jeffrey Turco and several municipal leaders asked for exemptions or an appeals pathway for “adjacent” small towns and for communities lacking municipal water, wastewater or adequate firefighting capacity.
Representative Sweezy described three bills he filed (H.2338, H.2339, H.2340) designed to exempt certain adjacent communities and adjust the timing…
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