Planning Board To Discuss MBTA Communities Act

FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Planning Board will host a discussion on zoning for the city's MBTA Communities Act compliance.

This meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be seen both via Zoom and in person in the Blumer Community Room at the city's Memorial Building. More details can be found here.

The MBTA Communities law has been controversial since before it was added to the books. The law affects 177 cities and towns between Boston and Worcester, and requires each one to create new zones where multifamily housing would be allowed. The law does not require the construction of new homes.

Framingham is a Commuter Rail community under the policy, meaning the city must allow multi-family housing in a zone that is at least 50 acres, provides a density of at least 15 units per acre and provides units suitable for families, according to city documents.

The city's zoning map is focused on the Waverly Street area of the city, centering it around the MBTA station and the area's industrial sites and parking lots that can be "more easily developed into housing."

This would also, hypothetically, allow the city to develop the units without having to alter historic buildings in the city.

More than 50 towns have approved zoning plans this spring, including Acton, Medfield and Lincoln. Some towns have resisted the law, however.

Milton is the most famous case, with state officials revoking grants and suing the town after voters overturned a zoning plan earlier this year. Marblehead rejected a proposed zoning plan this week at a heated Town Meeting.

Documents related to Framingham's MBTA Communities planning process can be found at the link here.