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Needham select board votes to submit MBTA action plan, advance base compliance plan to annual town meeting
Summary
The select board voted unanimously to submit an action plan to the state under newly issued EOHLC emergency regulations and to advance the town’s base compliance zoning to the 2025 annual town meeting after a week of public comment and a local referendum overturning the neighborhood plan.
The Needham Select Board voted unanimously Jan. 21 to submit an action plan to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) seeking interim compliance with the MBTA Communities Act and to advance the town’s base compliance zoning article to the 2025 annual town meeting.
The action follows emergency regulations issued by EOHLC the week of the Jan. 14 referendum and a closely watched local vote in which 58.4% of voters overturned the neighborhood housing plan. Katie King told the board the state agency “confirmed in writing that Needham is included in the category of communities that can achieve interim compliance by filing an action plan by February 13th,” and that a final compliant zoning must be approved by July 14, 2025, to avoid funding or legal risk.
Why it matters: the vote moves Needham from noncompliant status toward interim compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, removing threats to state funding and some legal exposure…
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