By 69 percent to 31 percent, the 239 representative voters at Milton’s special Town Meeting passed zoning language that would lay the groundwork for potentially 2,461 new units in the town, complying with the controversial state multi-family housing law.
Milton
Posted inHousing
Town Meeting vote on MBTA Communities looms for a divided Milton
The clock is ticking on Milton’s chance for compliance with MBTA Communities. The planning board and residents are still divided heading into a special town meeting on Monday.
Posted inHousing
Milton complies with the MBTA Communities law, with an asterisk
More intra-government disagreement and possible litigation over the MBTA Communities housing law are again on the table in Milton as a special Town Meeting creeps closer.
Posted inHousing
Milton struggles to chart a path forward after MBTA Communities ruling
Noncompliant communities are grappling with next steps after the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the MBTA Communities Act and the state housing office issued new deadlines for previously uncooperative communities.
Posted inThe Codcast
Milton’s dilemma in the face of housing reform
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by state Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn, along with zoning expert and consultant Amy Dain. They discuss the MBTA Communities Act in light of recent arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Milton’s failure to comply. This episode examines the necessity of multi-family zoning to tackle the growing housing crisis, how the bill was designed, and understanding its role in a larger economic development package.
Posted inHousing
Milton developing contingency MBTA rezoning plans
According to scenarios outlined in the slides, the primary goal of the new rezoning effort is to reduce the impact on East Milton and an adjacent area bordering Granite Avenue and increase the number of housing units that could be built in the area of Eliot Street, which borders the trolley line.
Posted inHousing
Milton makes interesting case on MBTA Communities Act
“This is a case about the separation of powers and the rule of law—about who sets the rules that govern the Commonwealth and how they do so,” says the Milton brief.
Posted inPolitics
Milton ousts Select Board chair who backed rezoning plan
Keohane’s election to the Select Board suggests opposition to the MBTA Communities Act in Milton is not dissipating in the community just south of Boston. The vote would appear to give opponents of the state’s rezoning law narrow control of the Select Board as the town prepares for a court fight with Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who is asking the Supreme Judicial Court to force the town to come into compliance.
Posted inHousing
Milton asking state to restore its grant funding
The Milton Select Board voted 3-2 Tuesday night to send letters to Gov. Maura Healey and other officials asking them to reverse course and restore state grants that were cut off because of the municipality’s noncompliance.
Posted inHousing
In Milton dispute, AG Campbell will work with the town, but ‘the state trumps’
Only two towns – Milton and Holden – are considered “non-compliant” by the state, with Milton the only town to deliberately blow past its deadline to submit a zoning plan earlier this year.
Posted inHousing
Milton says Campbell overstepping on MBTA Communities Act
In a filing with the SJC, Milton argues that it should not have to take any further action because the law’s guidelines were not promulgated properly and, even if that issue was rectified, the Legislature didn’t grant the attorney general the power to enforce the law.
Posted inPolitics
Sen. Edwards apologizes for Milton comments
“The measure of our character and professionalism is not in the fervor with which we hold our positions, but in the respect and civility with which we express them. In this instance, I failed to uphold these standards.”
Posted inCourts
Full SJC to hear Milton rezoning case
Justice Serge Georges Jr. said the case against Milton, which centers around how to enforce the MBTA Communities Act, “raises novel questions of law which are of public importance and which are time sensitive and likely to recur.”
Posted inHousing
Milton special counsel steps down; MBTA alleged conflict
Tad Heuer, a partner at Foley Hoag, joined Milton’s legal team as a special counsel on Tuesday night and appeared at a hearing before a single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday. But later that day state officials apparently raised concerns that Heuer had a conflict of interest because Foley Hoag in other capacities represents the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the MBTA.
Posted inHousing
A divided Milton heads into court
Milton seems unprepared, partly because of the fast-moving pace of legal action and mostly because town officials are as divided as the town they represent.
Posted inHousing
Milton Planning Board eyes two zoning plans
Town officials haven’t said how they will deal with the attorney general’s lawsuit, but the debate at the Planning Board meeting suggested the town will seek to be reclassified as an adjacent community rather than a rapid transit community and in the meantime develop zoning plans to comply with both contingencies.
Posted inTransportation
Mattapan trolley is a unicorn, says Milton official in letter
The Mattapan Trolley Line is a unicorn that is separate from the MBTA Red Line, Green Line, Orange Line, or Blue Line, is treated as such by the MBTA, and is not addressed in the Guidelines.
Posted inHousing
Milton Select Board divided on next steps
Milton officials now find themselves in the awkward position of trying to comply with the law in an angry community that soundly rejected their earlier effort at compliance.
Posted inHousing
AG Campbell sues Milton over MBTA Communities law
Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed suit on Tuesday, asking the court to order that Milton has to comply with a sweeping state law requiring that communities within a certain distance of public transit rezone to allow for minimum amounts of multifamily construction as-of-right.
Posted inOpinion
Public flogging of Milton is unnecessary
Balance is struck when we pass laws that are punitive (or expensive) towards undesirable behavior. From laws restricting pollution, to taxes on tobacco, we guide society in the direction we desire. Society becomes off kilter when the restrictions become too onerous and begin to impede the rights we possess.
Posted inTransportation
Here is why state feels Milton is a rapid transit community
The Guidelines do not – and cannot – take into consideration the quality of the service or the type of equipment used on any given line.
Posted inHousing
Milton Planning Board deciphers vote against zoning plan
“We shouldn’t assume we know why people voted no. And we shouldn’t assume we know why people voted yes,” said board member Cheryl Tougias. “We shouldn’t assume everyone supports reclassification.”
Posted inHousing
Milton thumbs its nose at MBTA zoning law
According to unofficial results posted by the town clerk shortly after 10 p.m., the vote was 5,115 to 4,356 – or 54-46 percent — to reject the zoning plan.