REGIONAL – In 2025, housing will again be a very hot potato communities along the North Shore and throughout eastern Massachusetts have to handle.
For several years, residents and would-be homebuyers have grappled with the challenge of low inventories of housing and rapidly rising costs. The median price of a home in the state has hit a record of $600,000.
To try to solve the low-inventory, high-cost problems, the state mandated a remedy designed to encourage towns and cities served by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to zone large swaths of land for multi-family homes.
Signed into law in 2021 by then-Gov. Charlie Baker, the MBTA law, known as 3A, requires 177 communities served by or located near the T to zone for more multifamily housing. The hope is this mandate will increase the inventory and drive down housing costs.
The tonic is not going down well.
Led by the town of Milton, municipalities are facing a year-end deadline to comply with the mandate to redraw their zoning maps for builders to design and construct hundreds of new residences by right.
Several North Shore towns, including Rowley and Ipswich, have said no to the mandate. Others like Georgetown have kicked the can down the road into 2025.
The law uses carrots, rather than sticks. It does not mandate new housing construction, but rather sets targets for each community’s zoning. Builders are encouraged to build new multi-family house.
But if the municipalities refuse, they face the possible loss of state funding for new infrastructure that will exacerbate the low inventory problem. MassWorks and HousingWorks, two competitive funding programs that may be withheld from non-compliant towns. Those grants are awarded to communities for the purpose of boosting housing production.
“When communities say yes to housing production, they are saying yes to making housing more affordable for the teachers, first responders and middle-class families that make our communities strong,” Healey said. “We’re grateful for the communities that have adopted these changes and look forward to celebrating many more who will keep up this momentum.”
Opponents argue that the communities are not prepared to handle new housing.
Rowley voters struck down a second MBTA zoning proposal at the special town meeting recently. The vote was 217 to 191.
Amesbury must develop zoning for up to 789 multi-family units near public transit.
Georgetown is in the MBTA Communities Act’s Adjacent community category. It must develop zoning to allow up to 750 multi-family units near public transit. The deadline to comply is 12/31/2024.
Ipswich must allow up to 971 multi-family units near public transit.
Merrimac is in the MBTA Communities Act’s Adjacent small-town category to allow up to 138 multi-family units near public transit.
Newbury in the MBTA Communities Act’s Adjacent small-town category must develop zoning to allow up to 154 multi-family units near public transit
Newburyport has developed zoning to allow up to 1,292 multi-family units near public transit.
Salisbury has passed zoning to allow up to 750 multi-family units near public transit.
