Planning board member Rob Almeida details MBTA bylaw fixes, warns town could lose state grants

Planning board member Rob Almeida outlined proposed corrections to Article 33, the town’s MBTA Communities bylaw, and warned that failing to meet state compliance could jeopardize eligibility for certain state grants.

"The MBTA communities act was passed in January 2021 [and] requires 177 cities and towns in the Commonwealth served by the MBTA to establish at least one district of reasonable size where multi-family housing [is] permitted as by right," Almeida said, summarizing the statute’s core mandates, including a minimum density of 15 units per acre and districts generally required within half a mile of a transit stop. He noted the town is served by two MBTA stops, West Conquered and Conquered, which brings the town under the law’s scope.

Almeida told listeners the town previously adopted an MBTA bylaw at the 2024 annual town meeting, but the Attorney General’s office review found several items out of compliance. "There were a few items that were not in compliance per their review," he said, citing that at least half of any MBTA district must be contiguous, the bylaw cannot require a special permit for work in the floodplain conservancy district, and street and rail rights-of-way must be included when defining the district area.

To address those issues, the planning board is proposing a set of technical amendments. One change would add the Conquered Green neighborhood into Subdistrict 4 after the board evaluated several GIS models to meet the statutory tests while trying to avoid taking commercially zoned parcels. "We wanted to avoid trying to take any commercial land that's zoned for commercial because we wanted to preserve that tax base as best we could," Almeida said.

Another amendment would move certain floodplain conservancy requirements out of a special-permit process and into site-plan review. Almeida described that as reducing the discretionary hurdle while still requiring developers to present projects to the planning board for site-plan approval.

Almeida emphasized that statutory capacity estimates are theoretical. He cited a calculated capacity of about 1,094 units for the district but said this does not mean that number will be built. "The majority of the land within these districts are already developed and occupied," he said. "It would require developers to determine the feasibility of buying existing homes or properties along with homeowners interested in selling their properties. It doesn't mean that 1,094 units will necessarily be built."

On how 'by-right' zoning will work locally, Almeida explained that projects meeting established zoning and land-use rules may proceed without discretionary reviews such as special permits, although developers seeking waivers or proposing projects outside existing rules would still come before the planning board.

Almeida also warned of a practical consequence if the town does not meet the state’s compliance threshold by the June 12 deadline. "So, the town will be prohibited from certain grants such as the MassWorks grant that could be used for upgrades to town's wastewater facilities or towards the construction of new water treatment facility," he said, naming a specific funding source the town could lose access to.

The planning board made modest clarifying edits after a public hearing, Almeida said, and attendees generally understood the board’s approach. He stressed that adding Conquered Green to a subdistrict does not force redevelopment: every property owner would have to agree to sell for wholesale redevelopment to occur, making that outcome unlikely.

The Article 33 amendment is scheduled for the upcoming town meeting; the board and staff are working to meet the state’s June 12 compliance timeline to preserve grant eligibility and align local bylaws with the MBTA Communities Act.