Local News

What’s next for Needham after MBTA Communities vote?

Needham voters repealed a state-mandated MBTA Communities Act zoning plan Tuesday, but the town's not out of compliance just yet.

Needham residents rallied both in support of and against a vote on new MBTA zoning regulations. Taylor Coester for The Boston Globe

By Abby Patkin

January 16, 2025

2 minutes to read

Voters in Needham Tuesday repealed state-mandated zoning that would have paved the way for more housing, sending town leaders back to square one to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.

More than two years in the making, Needham’s plan was spurred by a Dec. 31 compliance deadline under the MBTA Communities law, a controversial mandate that requires cities and towns served by the T to zone for more multi-family housing.

Tuesday’s vote doesn’t leave Needham out of compliance just yet, though.

MBTA Communities Act:

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the MBTA Communities Act earlier this month, though the court also found the state’s guidelines “unenforceable.” The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities filed new emergency regulations Tuesday, granting an extension to communities that missed their previous deadlines.

Those cities and towns now have until Feb. 13 to tell the state their plan for achieving compliance, and they have until July 14 to get something on the books and submit a district compliance application. Needham Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said Wednesday she will recommend the Select Board and Planning Board advance new zoning to Town Meeting in May.

One option might be revisiting the two zoning plans adopted via Special Town Meeting in October and overturned in Tuesday’s referendum. The so-called “Base Compliance Plan” featured more modest changes intended to meet the minimum compliance requirements of the MBTA Communities Act. Passed simultaneously, the “Neighborhood Housing Plan” built on those base changes to encourage more housing production through increased height and density.

Voters on both sides have indicated they’re eager to get back to the drawing board.

“We believed that if the people understood this zoning they would see, as we did, that it was not thoughtful and could be so much better for Needham,” Needham Residents for Thoughtful Zoning, the “no” campaign, said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “Our work doesn’t stop here. The fight to be heard goes on. We need a seat at the table as we create better zoning TOGETHER.”

Meanwhile, the Yes for Needham campaign said it looks forward to seeing officials’ vision for the future of multi-family housing in Needham.

“We stand with the Town and are committed to ensuring a future where Needham seniors, workforce, and young people have access to flexible housing,” the group said in a statement.