By Adam Swift
The state does not look as if it will take action to reclassify Winthrop’s standing under the new MBTA Communities Act, which calls for zoning allowing for increased multi-family housing in communities with or near MBTA transportation.
Under the zoning guidelines, Winthrop would need to create multi-family zoning districts that could create 882 new housing units. That plan would need to be approved by the state by the end of the year.
In a letter the Town Council sent to Governor Maura Healey in early February, the council requested the state reclassify Winthrop as an adjacent small town. That classification would reduce the number of units that would need to be created in half.
The council also asked for a one-year extension of approval and implementation of the new MBTA zoning guidelines.
“Winthrop’s need to maintain its identity as a welcoming small community of 1.6 square miles on the shores of Boston Harbor and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ demand to build more housing via the MBTA Communities/3A zoning mandate are at odds with one another,” stated the letter from the council “While we agree that we could add some housing in a planned and organized manner, 882 units are beyond our capacity.”
Communities that do not enact the MBTA Communities zoning mandate are at risk of losing state grants and other funding opportunities.
In the response to the council, Ed Augustus, the secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, stated that Winthrop does not meet the definition of adjacent small town which would lower the housing creation requirement in the guidelines.
“In choosing this definition, EOHLC used the same criteria as the Executive Office of Economic Development uses to identify the communities eligible for its ‘Rural Development Fund’ competitive grant program,” Augustus stated.
To qualify as an Adjacent small town, an Adjacent community must have a population of 7,000 or fewer year-round residents, or a population density of less than 500 persons per square mile. Winthrop has a population of 19,316 residents and a population density of 9,702 persons per square mile according to the 2020 US Census.
“It is not the kind of community that the Adjacent small town category is intended or designed to include,” Augustus stated. “For this reason, EOHLC cannot reclassify Winthrop as an Adjacent small town.”
In the letter, Augustus also noted that the state has already significantly revised its MBTA Communities requirements between the Draft Guidelines of December 2021 and the Guidelines that are in place now, in part because of the factors the town council identified in its letter. He said the changes substantially reduced the minimum multi-family unit capacity that “Winthrop’s reasonably sized multi-family zoning district must accommodate, and also provided
Winthrop with greater flexibility in determining where to locate its multi-family zoning district.”
Augustus said the EOHLC recognizes that densely populated neighborhoods may have a limited ability to accommodate new housing.
“It is important to note that the minimum unit capacity requirements for MBTA Communities refer to zoning capacity, and not to production of new housing units,” Augustus stated. “Under the Guidelines, zoning capacity means the number of units that the zoning would allow if all of the land was undeveloped.”
Augustus continued that adopting compliant multi-family zoning would not require Winthrop to add 882 new housing units.
“Indeed, given Winthrop’s relatively high existing density, the number of ‘net new’ units that could be created under compliant zoning would likely be much less than the minimum unit capacity,” stated Augustus.
In the communication with the state, and at several council meetings this year, a number of councilors and residents have spoken out against the burden the MBTA zoning would place on the resources of an already densely populated town.
“Winthrop is a small sliver of land threatened by pollution, rising tides, aging infrastructure, high density and limited commercial tax base,” the council stated in the letter to Healey. “Please consider our request for reclassification and a reduction in the MBTA district acreage requirement, as we are truly a unique community with challenges that do not fit the one-size-fits-all that the MBTA Communities/3A law/guidelines offered by the Commonwealth.”
State Representative Jeff Turco said the zoning is a bad, one-size fits all policy, and that he hopes the council and the town continues to stand against it.
“I read the secretary’s letter and I have a lot of respect for him, but I think this one-size fits all state policy to basically take over the zoning in Winthrop and other communities is wrong,” said Turco. “I hope the town council takes a stand for the future of the town and says no, we don’t want your grants, you can keep your grants and if you want to sue us, sue us. I think it is dangerous the idea that we are going to make the possibility of building an extra almost 900 units in this town coupled with some of the changes in the upcoming housing bond bill.”
Turco said he is frustrated that the MBTA zoning puts an undue burden on Winthrop and other working class communities, while more affluent suburbs that still benefit from the commuter rail do not have to pay as steep a price.
The representative noted that there has already been a healthy amount of residential development in Winthrop over the past several years, and that those units should count toward the MBTA zoning guidelines.
“For the state to come in and say none of that counts against your number, for me, that is just wrong,” said Turco.
In the next several months, Turco said he intends to file an amendment to try to change Winthrop’s designation under the zoning.
“I’m not overly optimistic, the Speaker of the House came out just last week and sort of said every community that is still fighting this is going to comply,” said Turco. “But I do think that we have a compelling argument of why Winthrop is mis-designated. If we can get them to reevaluate our designation, and give us credit for some of the stuff that has already come on the line in the last year or two or three, I think it is certainly a lot more palatable for the town, so that is the angle that I am going to be pushing.”