Local News

Needham rejects MBTA zoning compliance after town-wide vote

6,904 people voted down the zoning changes, while 4,914 people voted to keep in compliance with the law.

Needham voters headed to the polls Tuesday, Jan. 14. (Jonathan Wiggs Globe/Staff)

January 14, 2025

2 minutes to read

In a closely watched special election Tuesday night, Needham voted to repeal new zoning that would have made the town compliant with a controversial Massachusetts law that aims to create more housing in communities served by the MBTA.

In a previous Special Town Meeting in October, the Town of Needham had adopted new zoning by-laws to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, which requires 177 communities near T and Commuter Rail stations to rezone to accommodate for multi-family housing.

However, a petition effort led to a town-wide referendum attempting to repeal the adopted zoning, which was successful in Tuesday’s Special Election.

According to the town clerk, 6,904 people voted down the zoning changes, while 4,914 people voted to keep in compliance with the law.

The zoning changes that were rejected would have rezoned some of Needham’s commercial downtown area to potentially accommodate nearly 3,300 units. The plan goes beyond the base compliance for the law by nearly 1,500 units, according to the town.

Needham Residents for Thoughtful Zoning, who led the “no” campaign, support the Base Plan, which would rezone for more than 1,800 units in compliance with the law, according to the Needham Observer.

“Granted, there is a need for new housing, but we should do the Base Plan, see what happens, have the option to expand it or change it,” Nate Levin, of Needham Residents for Thoughtful Zoning, told the Observer. “But to do something so much greater is probably not the prudent thing to do in my view and the view of many others.”

Needham, a town of 32,000, isn’t the first to challenge the law. Last year, Milton, near the Mattapan Trolley, also petitioned for a town-wide referendum and voted down zoning changes that made the community compliant with the law. Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed suit against the town, and in February of last year, Milton began to miss out on state grants.

Then, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the MBTA Communities Act can be legally enforced by Campbell’s office with newly filed guidelines that give some municipalities extra time to comply.

Needham’s deadline previously to comply with the MBTA Communities Act was Dec. 31. The town will have until July 14 to resubmit zoning.