Reluctant MBTA Communities start to buckle

February 12, 2026

By Jennifer Smith

In the wake of a lawsuit filed last month by Attorney General Andrea Campbell against nine communities for failing to comply with a controversial new housing law, some leaders of the holdout towns are starting to openly acknowledge that this may be the end of the road for resistance to the law.

The municipalities have fought back for about two years against the MBTA Communities Act, a 2021 law that requires the 177 cities and towns with or near MBTA service to create a district that allows multifamily housing to be built as of right. But some are losing the will to keep up the fight.

Holden residents are scheduled to vote later this month on a plan that would “do the bare minimum” – but nonetheless bring the town into compliance with the housing law.

The Winthrop Town Council, in a tie vote, rejected a motion to join a lawsuit against the state attacking the law. Even two new members who ran for seats last fall on promises to oppose the law voted against joining the suit.

In Marblehead, leaders are expected to present voters who rejected an earlier plan with another proposal that would bring the community into compliance at their town meeting in May.

Campbell sued the three towns – along with Dracut, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Middleton, Tewksbury, and Wilmington – on January 29 for blowing past a July 2025 deadline to approve compliant zoning plans. Several, including Holden and Marblehead, were already heading toward new attempts to rezone before the lawsuit landed.

Meanwhile, the law will be before the Supreme Judicial Court next month, when the justices hear arguments in a case brought by Marshfield that claims the zoning law should be struck down as an “unfunded mandate” being imposed on communities. Oral arguments are scheduled for March 4.

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