Railroaded: to push through hastily without due consideration
- Merriam Webster
Dear ROAR Team
Thank you to everyone who came out to ROAR with us on April 4th. We had some really great discussions around the MBTA Communities Multi-Family Overlay District that the State is trying to “Railroad” us in to. The consensus of the evening was “Just Say No!” The State does not have the right to impose zoning on Towns due to “Home Rule” law of 1966 which states that all zoning is a local issue. Therefore, the State need US to vote on any zoning which is exactly why it was put back to the Cities and Towns to vote themselves into.
John Kolackovsky of Rockport spoke about his pending litigation with the State in a effort to push back followed up by Attorney Diana Viens of Winchester and Finally Attorney Michael Walsh of Lynnfield who is representing John in his efforts. All of which you can listen to the audio broadcast of their presentation Here.
There are 177 towns in MA that are going to be forever impacted by this dictate if it is not stopped. The impact to local infrastructure – schools – roads – police – fire – ect are all going to be strained at a cost 10x’s what any unguaranteed Grants would provide.
The Town of Milton said no and the Attorney General quickly stepped in to file suit. It is widely speculated that the litigation was already inked just waiting for the first town to be in NON compliance. Milton will have its day in court in Oct so we all should be waiting to see what becomes of that before anything else is done. Once you vote yourself into this you cannot vote yourself out. Kind of like Communism.
Pertinent Facts to remember as a lot of Town Meetings are coming up
Article 89 (the Home Rule Amendment) is a constitutional right in the state constitution and was adopted in November 1966 by a ballot vote of 1,186,608 to 270,087
It reaffirmed the customary and traditional liberties of the people and grants them the authority and right of self-government in local matters – the state cannot dictate as they do not have authority
Since the state cannot mandate, the proposed MBTA communities zoning ACT the Towns/Cities need to approve it via their electoral process
Once a Town/City approves this change and hands over authority to the state, it will be nearly impossible to get the authority back from the state
The MBTA re-zoning law was originally passed in 2021 by Charlie Baker. At the time it consisted of three paragraphs buried into a 180 page bill. Since passing, the parameters have expanded to over 40 pages of rules and regulations that we have already seen change and will continue to change in the future
The initial legislation had an affordability component, which has since been removed.
The current legislation does not have any language or plan to increase affordability.
The city of Boston is EXEMPT from the new state zoning laws
Massachusetts taxpaying population has been declining in recent years.
Previous requirements to pass such a law require a 2/3 majority vote, but this law was written to allow for a simple majority, which makes it easier for towns to forgo their zoning rights to the state.
Questions to Consider/Areas of Concerns
Why is the city of Boston exempt from the state mandate?
Boston is the HUB of the MBTA and Commuter rail system.
With a large portion of the population now working remote ridership is at an all time low on the MBTA. What a great way to increase ridership.
Approximately 20% of the office space in downtown Boston is vacant. Why is that space not being considered to address the “housing shortage” (commercial real-estate has a much higher tax rate than residential does.)
Given Massachusetts population has been declining, how does the state have a housing crisis? If there truly is a housing crisis, what is causing it and where are the people coming from? Is there really a housing crisis or an affordability crisis? If it is an affordability issue, why has the affordability provision been removed from the legislation?
Why is only half the state “required” to solve the housing crisis?
If this zoning law is passed, are you comfortable with your neighbor and or neighbors selling their homes and a developer building a 4+ unit multi family building on those plots of land? In some towns it can be as high as 50 units.
Abiding by this proposed zoning requirement gives up your Towns/Cities zoning rights and could cost you and your family a tremendous amount of money in regards to lowering your property value and increasing your taxes
State Pressure/Tactics to force compliance
State is threatening to withhold grant money for towns that do not abide by the new mandate.
Originally only grant money was to be withheld until the Town of Milton voted NO and the attorney General filed and unconstitutional lawsuit to force them into compliance– thus sending the message to any other town who does not tow the line that the state will come after you. The State can not force zoning. They are overstepping their authority.
The Town of Milton’s case is before the Mass Supreme Court in October. IF YOUR TOWN VOTES IN FAVOR OF ADOPTIONG THIS BEFORE THIS CASE IS HEARD YOU HAVE TO BE COMPLIANT WITH THE ZONING. VOTE NO! AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
Do you know much your town gets in grant money? Most Towns/Cities are being disingenuous on how much grant money you will lose. The town of Hamilton has received $25,000 in total the last couple of years – the City of Woburn does not get any Grant money.
Even if your town is awarded (remember it is not guaranteed) millions of dollars of grant money, WHEN the population of your town/city dramatically increases due to this measure, what will it cost to add additional police, firefighters, schools, public works and other services? Who is going to pay for these additional services? What will these new costs due in excess of any potential grant money?
The state of Massachusetts as of January 2024 had a one-billion-dollar deficit.
With such a large deficit, what is the likelihood that grants will eventually have to be minimized or cut back to offset the deficit?
How to Get Involved & Take Action
Petition your town residents to vote against the state MBTA communities Zoning Act
GO TO TOWN MEETING – Petition your City Council
Join the lawsuit brought by Attorney Michal C. Walsh. They are currently looking for an additional 30-40 participants in order to create a class action lawsuit.
o Contact Attorney Michael C. Walsh at cscs.llc@comcast.net
Class action lawsuits are protected as part of protected speech/first amendment rights as well as anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation)
o Understanding Anti-SLAPP laws - The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (rcfp.org)
There is strength in number – please join and get involved!
Special thanks to Brian Curry of Reading MA for his contribution to this post.
United We Stand
Sincerely,
The Rescue Team
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