By Adam Swift
The latest deadline from the state has passed for communities to be in compliance with the MBTA 3A Communities Act.
Earlier this spring, the town council failed to pass a compliance plan for 3A recommended by the planning board.
Thanks to a State Supreme Judicial Court ruling earlier this year, the town council had additional time to reconsider a compliance plan, with the town being in compliance until the middle of July.
That deadline passed on July 14, meaning the town is now not in compliance with the state law.
The 3A act requires communities to establish zones for multi-family housing in communities with or adjacent to MBTA transportation.
In January the state court ruled that communities act is constitutional, but that the previous housing guidelines were unenforceable. The new state ruling establishes that 3A is now a state regulation, rather than guidelines.
The plan recommended by the planning board in the spring called for the creation of overlay districts at Seal Harbor and Governor’s Park that the planning board stated would create no new units in the town, as well as acceptance by the state of 221 units in the Central Business District as credit for off-site units.
In a letter to the editor this week, members of the Winthrop Working Together Committee raised concerns about the town being exposed to a lawsuit from the state, as well as the town being ineligible for a number of state grants that could help the town combat climate change, improve infrastructure, and develop housing.
“We are potentially losing millions of dollars in support, even though residents have already dug deep into their pockets and voted for the override to support our schools and the new fire station,” the letter states.
Opponents of 3A have stated that the law is a legal overreach by the state to control local zoning, and that there is not a guarantee that the compliance plans would not lead to additional housing units in the town.
“As of now, we are noncompliant with the state law,” said Council President Jim Letterie. “We are just going on as usual, we are just plugging ahead. We haven’t seen any repercussions from that, I’m sure we expect some in the future, we don’t know when or if there might be any or not.”
Letterie said he has heard some rumblings about the state potentially doing another extension, or the possibility of some legislators taking action to include exclusions for certain communities.
“I don’t think 3A is dead … I don’t think we are going to stop hearing about 3A for a while still, but there is nothing new to report,” said Letterie.