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MBTA Communities

Project Page for MBTA Communities Zoning Guidelines

LATEST NEWS
Updated November 15, 2023

  • NEW - Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. was selected as the Town's consultant for the MBTA Communities Zoning project.  
  • RFP for MBTA Communities Zoning was released on August 15, 2023 and proposals were due on September 15th at 12:00 noon. RFP can be downloaded HERE
  • Please see latest potential MBTA Communities siting map HERE.
  • Duxbury is working with the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) to develop outreach regarding MBTA Communities Zoning Guidelines. Bookmark this page as will continue to add more information (6/9/23).
  • Planning consultant JM Goldson has completed their work assisting Duxbury in using the State's Compliance Model to validate Duxbury's five initially selected sites for MBTA Communities. Three sites were identified as the most likely to move forward in consideration.
    • See Technical Memo from JM Goldson HERE and map HERE

INTRODUCTION

This page is dedicated to providing the public with information related to the recently released final guidelines from the state related to multifamily housing zoning in MBTA Communities. These guidelines were the necessary follow up to one specific element included within legislation passed by the state in December 2020 and signed into law by Governor Baker in January 2021. Duxbury is one of 59 Massachusetts towns designated as "MBTA Adjacent" and as such, the Town is required under the compliance guidelines issued on the 10th of August 2022 (and updated/finalized on October 21, 2022) to develop zoning to allow 750 multifamily housing units. More information is below regarding the guidelines as well as links to pages and documents regarding the program. We will try to update this page regularly.

BASIC INFORMATION

The Legislation - The impetus for the draft guidelines was the passage in the State Legislature of Chapter 358 of the Acts of 2020, AN ACT ENABLING PARTNERSHIPS FOR GROWTH. In short, while there were a wide range of important Zoning Act (Ch. 40A) amendments, one key provision was the requirement that all MBTA Communities have to establish a multifamily residential zoning district that is by-right or as-of-right, which means that it can be approved through site plan review but cannot impose a special permit. Such a district must be at least 50 acres in size (with at least 25 of those acres contiguous) and have a minimum density of 15 units per acre. There is no affordability component required. Failure to adhere to these guidelines, either on an interim or final basis will result in Duxbury becoming ineligible for a range of state grant programs as described below.

[From bostonindicators.org] This law is a legal requirement of all MBTA communities, meaning that they are expected to comply on their own. For those that do not comply, the state will withhold state grant money from three (3) programs, the Housing Choice Initiative, the Local Capital Projects Fund, and the MassWorks infrastructure program. 

These programs vary in size, but MassWorks is by far the largest, awarding $66.5 million in grants in FY 2021 to 50 communities for projects ranging from street redesign in Acton to sewer upgrades in Dartmouth. The Housing Choice Initiative (HCI) gives communities that meet state housing production and planning expectations exclusive access to the HCI grant program—much smaller, at $5 million FY 2021—as well as “bonus points” when applying to many other state grant programs. Finally, the Local Capital Projects Fund receives revenue from the casino tax and gaming license fees and has historically been used to support subsidies for public housing authorities ($8 million in FY 2021).

Analysis shows that since 2011, 37 percent of MBTA communities (64 out of the 175) have not received any funds from the Housing Choice Initiative or MassWorks. So, it does seem possible that some communities could violate this state requirement and forgo these sources of state grant funding. Beyond withholding state funds, there could be legal avenues for addressing communities that do not comply. Perhaps, for instance, home builders looking to build multi-family housing near transit in a non-compliant community could sue and request a judge to demand that their permit be approved.

In summary, the law itself lacked specifics and assigned The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to develop guidelines to implement the law as shall be detailed next.

The Draft Guidelines - These draft guidelines were released by DHCD on December 15, 2021 and were extensively reviewed by Massachusetts communities and other stakeholders. A .pdf version can be downloaded HERE.

The Final Guidelines - After a period of public comment, the final set of guidelines was released on October 21, 2022 and a .pdf version can be downloaded HERE.

MBTA Community Compliance Deadlines

  • Current Status - Duxbury is currently compliant with interim guidelines
  • Action Plan - To remain compliant on interim basis, Duxbury was required to submit an Action Plan to DHCD by 1/31/2023. Duxbury was able to submit an Action Plan on January 26, 2023 and received approval of the Action Plan on March 3, 2023.
  • Final Compliance - Duxbury must achieve full compliance by December 31, 2024. Full compliance means that Duxbury must have zoning in place at that time (having been approved by Town Meeting).

WHERE DOES DUXBURY STAND NOW AND WHAT IS THE PLAN GOING FORWARD?

Presently, Duxbury remains in interim compliance and has submitted out Action Plan to the Commonwealth, which has been approved. The Planning Department and Planning Board worked with planning consultant JM Goldson to analyze an initial 11 potential sites through what the State calls the "Compliance Model" which is a complex spreadsheet that takes a site, removes undevelopable and sensitive areas, and applies the acreage and density to determine if it meets the minimum requirements of MBTA Communities. This process was completed in May and Duxbury is now considering three (3) primary and seven (7) secondary sites (see JM Goldson report HERE and the latest site map HERE). As of Tuesday, August 15, 2023, Duxbury released on RFP for the zoning work for MBTA Communities in Duxbury. The proposals for this job are due on Friday, September 15, 2023.

While this work is being done, it must be stressed that Duxbury has made no commitment to a full compliance program, and this work is merely intended to remain on a timeline to meet compliance in the event that commitment occurs. For now, the Planning Board continues to discuss the issue and any change to this status will be provided on this page.

RESOURCES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

DHCD Resources and Information

Mass Housing Partnership Information

Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association

DUXBURY RELEVANT DOCUMENTS AND SITES