MBTA Communities Law
This article could be one of the most important you read in 2024, whether you currently own property in Massachusetts or if you’re thinking of buying property in Massachusetts.
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of this act or know very little about the specifics. So let’s get started!
Who wrote the MBTA Communities Law?
This law came out of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), which was established to create more homes and lower housing costs for MA residents. There was a period of public comment on the law and then on 8/10/2022, the EOHLC issued final guidelines.
What does the law say?
An MBTA community is a community located no more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail, subway station, ferry terminal or bus. The law requires these communities to have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted. Currently, many towns require special permits or variances to convert a single family into a multi-family, or a 2-family into a 3-family. This process can lead to massive time delays or rejected projects. This law aims to remove these barriers to make it easier to create more housing within certain districts close to public transportation.
Which communities are included?
You might be asking, is my community part of this? If you’re remotely close to Boston, the answer is likely yes. Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and most other towns within 60 minutes of Boston qualify. In total,177 MBTA communities are subject to the new requirements. Boston however is exempt from this zoning act.
Which communities will be MOST impacted?
These 177 MBTA communities are further broken down into 4 categories: rapid transit, commuter rail, adjacent community and adjacent small town. The “rapid transit” communities tend to have the largest obligations for new unit creation. See the list below for ALL the rapid transit communities along with estimates for the minimum multi-family unit capacity per community:
Braintree = 3,769
Brookline = 6,990
Cambridge = 13,477
Chelsea = 3,639
Everett = 4,552
Malden = 6,930
Medford = 6,443
Milton = 2,461
Newton = 8,330
Quincy = 11,752
Revere = 6,135
Somerville = 9,067
Note that these capacity numbers represent the number of units that are now allowed to be built, not necessarily what actually will be built. Rapid transit communities are targeting to build to 25% of their capacity. That’s still A LOT of new units to be built and a lot of change coming, but the precise number of units that will be impacted is still up in the air.
If you’re interested, you can read more about the implementation technicalities here.
What’s the current status for Cambridge, Somerville and Medford?
All rapid transit towns had to be in compliance with the communities act by the end of 2023. Cambridge, Somerville and Medford are all currently are under “interim compliance.” That means that these towns submitted their own action plans to the state, and the state has deemed them within compliance as long as they execute their plans.
Cambridge believes their current zoning strategy keeps them in compliance as-is and there’s a lot of good nuggets here on what zoning is in place to ensure compliance. (Feel free to Ctrl+F your town in that document to see details on your town’s specifics).
Medford also has interim compliance and it seems they may focus on the Wellington Orange Line Station, since it has a lot of land that could be ideal for building more multi-family properties. However, Medford also mentioned that they will review areas around all T stations and the West Medford commuter rail station to determine the best approach.
Somerville has floated a group of sites near the Assembly Square T as a potential area to build out an entirely new neighborhood on roughly 30 acres of land. Somerville has also discussed a number of other changes included: 1) Removing the 4-unrelated persons max occupancy rule for housing (the MBTA Communities law prohibits any # of occupancy restrictions) 2) Allow 3 units by right, which is also a requirement of the MBTA Communities law and 3) Remove the need for special permits for all zoning districts on a steep slope and move that oversight into the existing engineering review process.
Why should you care?
You should care if you own property or are thinking about buying a property.
If you own property, especially within 0.5 miles from a T stop, there is a chance your community could be impacted. If, for example you own a single family on a large lot close to a T stop, it may be very difficult to convert your property to a 3-family house. Depending on where things go over the next couple of years, it may become much easier to convert your home to a 3-family. Even though most home owners won’t convert their home, knowing that it’s possible helps you understand how to best position your property for maximum resale to would-be developers and investors. The same goes for those who own 2-families and are thinking about expansion.
If you are thinking of buying a property, this further enforces a basic principle I always push for - buy close to T stops. Now there is an additional potential upside that could result in your property having a higher and better use than when you purchased, which translates into increased value of your home.
Have questions? Contact me and we can talk 617-833-7457.