'Gross misuse of power': Middleboro sues state over multi-family housing law. What town wants

Yahoo

03-03-2025

MIDDLEBORO — 'We believe we have the moral high ground to call out what's unfair,' said Middleboro Select Board Chair Mark Germain at a press conference Friday afternoon.
He and other town official held the press conference to announce the town is suing the Commonwealth, Gov. Maura Healey, and the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities over forced compliance with a controversial multi-family housing law the town said it's already in compliance with.
Last fall, Middleboro Town Meeting voted down a proposal to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, a state mandate that requires all communities in the state with MBTA transit service establish a multi-acre overlay zoning district specifically for multi-family housing.
Every municipality with direct or adjacent transit service provided by the MBTA has to vote, or already has voted, on this mandate.
Town Manager James McGrail said the town already meets the law's requirements for multi-family housing, but that the state won't acknowledge its efforts.
He said the town is 'taking a stand to defend the community' and to defend 'our school district from arbitrary and draconian methods adopted by the Commonwealth to break communities.'
Town attorney Gregg Corbo said he believes this will be a "landmark case." The town is seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief from the MBTA Communities Act, as well as prevention from the Commonwealth in enacting "arbitrary sanctions," said Corbo.
Middleboro's proposed district that was rejected at fall's Town Meeting would have been on West Grove Street, within a half mile radius of the new MBTA station for South Coast Rail, located on South Main Street/Route 105, just off the I-495 exit ramps.
McGrail said the town already created a Smart Growth Zoning District that predates the state's multi-family housing law. According to a written statement from the town Friday, the district is comprised of 40.4 acres, all within a half-mile of an MBTA Commuter rail station and where multi-family housing is allowed of right at a density of 20 units per acre.
Within this district, McGrail said the town has built 881 housing units, with 250 of those units being affordable. He added there are numerous other housing developments the town has approved and are being built, such as a 108-unit complex, 27 of which will be affordable units, which will directly abut the new MSBA train station.
'Although the Town has clearly demonstrated that it is in compliance with the Act, it has been severely penalized because its choice of compliance methods is different than what a computer model says that an MBTA Community should look like,' the written statement from the town said.
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McGrail said 'the town is a champion of affordable housing." He said affordable/subsidizing housing represents 13.7% of the town's total housing stock, well above the minimum 10% requirement from the state.
The MBTA Communities Act specifically addresses multi-family housing, but not necessarily affordable housing.
Germain added while Middleboro has done everything it can to embrace smart growth that's sustainable for the town and those in need of housing, 'this law does nothing to address affordability in any form.'
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A Feb. 21 letter from the state's Division of Local Mandates and state Auditor Diana DiZoglio declared that the state's multi-family housing law is an 'unfunded mandate.'
The written statement from Middleboro on Friday makes reference to that letter, saying "despite the Auditor's determination, the state has made no effort to quantify the costs associated with complying with the Act, and the Attorney General has maligned the Auditor simply for doing her job.'
Germain and other Middleboro officials have argued compliance with the mandate will increase housing production to an unsustainable level for the town. Middleboro officials previously said that it would result in a drastic increase in population — 18.5% over a few years – and that in turn would increase the cost of providing services such as schools, utilities, water and sewer infrastructure, and public safety.
'The state is not offering to pay for these upgrades,' said Germain.
The state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has told officials in municipalities that non-compliance with the multi-family housing law can result in legal action by the attorney general, as well as financial consequences, such as not being eligible for state grants.
Middleboro Town Planner Leann Bradley told officials at a September Planning Board meeting prior to the October Town Meeting that the town received close to $2 million in state grants over the last four years.
McGrail said at Friday's press conference the attorney general and governor have already committed 'a gross misuse of power' by withholding several state grants previously approved for the town, including $73,000 for the Middleboro School District to launch and continue initiatives addressing mental health, as well as $2.8 million from MassWorks for infrastructural projects.
The written statement from the town also said, 'State agencies, including the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, informed Middleborough that it would no longer be receiving millions of dollars in state aid, which was promised to reimburse Middleborough for money it spent in reliance on those grants.'
Numerous communities in the Commonwealth have refused to comply with the multi-family housing law.
In February 2024, the state attorney general's office sued Milton for rejecting the zoning requirement.
In September, Middleboro selectmen voted unanimously to submit an amicus brief supporting Milton in its legal battle with the attorney general.
In January of this year, Massachusetts' highest court ruled the multi-family housing law is indeed constitutional and enforceable by the Attorney General. However, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court also ruled that regulations passed to determine compliance did not go through the correct public process and were thus ineffective. This resulted in the state redoing the guidelines in order to make the law enforceable.
Recently, the Marshfield select board announced it would seek a court order to exempt it from compliance with the multi-family housing law until state funding is provided.
Marshfield voters previously twice rejected proposed zoning rules to comply with the state law at town meetings in 2024.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Mass. multi-family-housing law: Middleboro sues over 'unfunded mandate'