Framingham Hosts MBTA Communities Act Meeting This Week

News release from City of Framingham.

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The 5-member Framingham Planning Board will be host another public meeting on Tuesday, June 11 at 7 p.m. to continue discussion how the City can extend its compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.

UPDATED: The public may attend the meeting in person in the Memorial Building in the Blumer room at 7 or participate remotely on Zoom.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8242...

Password: 373818

Under the MBTA Communities statute by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, also referred to as 3A, 177 communities that are in the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s (MBTA) service area need to approve new zoning to permit multifamily housing near public transportation options.

The Planning Board also will listen to discussion on other transportation hubs throughout the City.

This would help meet the Commonwealth’s urgent demand for more housing.

The Statute was enacted in January 2021 as part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ economic development bond bill.

Minimum unit capacity is a measure of whether a multi-family zoning district is of a reasonable size, not a requirement to produce housing units.

Nothing in Section 3A or these guidelines should be interpreted as a mandate to construct a specified number of housing units, nor as a housing production target.

Demonstrating compliance with the minimum multi-family unit capacity requires only that an MBTA community show that the zoning allows multi-family housing as of right and that a sufficient number of multi-family housing units could be added to or replace existing uses and structures over time—even though such additions or replacements may be unlikely to occur soon.