News out of Milton tonight is that a local elected official has filed public comments on the MBTA Communities Act regulations. Ok, that elected official is me! What else would one do on a Friday night in between snow events?

As a Milton resident and elected town meeting member for the past twenty-five years, I write to offer the following comments on MBTA Communities Act regulations.

The updated definition of “Subway station” to include any of the stops along the MBTA Red Line, Green Line, Orange Line, or Blue Line, including but not limited to the Mattapan High Speed Line and any extensions to such lines is a welcome clarification. Our Mattapan trolley fits any reasonable definition of rapid transit because it runs on a frequent and regular schedule and operates on an exclusive right-of-way. Nevertheless, it has been the target of many opponents of this law, drawing much scorn and ridicule as a broken down relic.

Most of those critics in our town don’t ride the trolley. As an occasional rider on the Mattapan trolley, I am able to commute from Milton to downtown Boston in less time than it takes embarking from some of the stops on the Green Line. This dedicated transit line is a valuable resource to Milton residents (as well as Mattapan and Dorchester residents) and clearly qualifies as a subway station for the purposes of this law which is designed to create multi-family housing opportunities close to jobs and transit. The trolley is old and occasionally cranky but it is notable that the MBTA has clear plans to upgrade the trolleys and the line in the coming years. According to the MBTA’s website, over the next eight to 10 years, they will modernize stations and improve infrastructure throughout the Mattapan Line. This includes introducing the next generation of vehicles to the line, the Type 9 light rail vehicles used on the Green Line. Milton is a rapid transit community now and will remain one in the future and should be treated as such under these regulations.

The requirement that Milton and other rapid transit communities create a zoning plan allowing for Multi-family unit capacity equal to or greater than 25% of total housing units is reasonable, especially when you consider that build-out will take many decades and towns may never reach the upper limit of that zoning capacity. Milton must do its part to create housing opportunities in a state where it is increasing hard to afford rents or home prices. Housing supply is vital to our economic health as a town, region and state.

I applaud the provision of the regulations that permits the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, in its discretion, to allow towns to approve a greater percentage of affordable units, or deeper affordability for some or all of the affordable units, if it meets certain conditions. Those conditions are necessary so that so that towns don’t attempt to “game” the system by requiring an affordability percentage that ensures no multi-family housing gets built. But it also allows towns like Milton, where the market is strong, to exceed the 10% affordability requirement and provide more opportunities to low- to moderate-income residents. In fact, this was one of the few areas of agreement between the “yes” and “no” campaigns during last year’s town-wide referendum on the zoning plan passed by Milton town meeting in December 2023. Thank you for providing this important flexibility in the regulations.

Additional flexibility is shown in the regulations by allowing certain communities, including Milton, to craft a Multi-family zoning district with at least 50 percent of the district’s minimum Multi-family unit capacity located within the Transit station area while the remaining capacity can be elsewhere in town. As you know, this was a crucial nod to the Town of Milton since our trolley line is adjacent to Boston and much of our zoning capacity would otherwise be in Boston and not eligible for rezoning by the Town of Milton. I appreciate the state listening to town officials and incorporating this flexibility into the regulations. One size does not fit all and this flexibility is a necessary and welcome relief to communities that have unique circumstances like a trolley line on the town’s border.

My final comment concerns the deadlines that apply to Milton. February 13, 2025 is Milton’s deadline to submit an action plan and July 14, 2025 is our deadline to submit a District Compliance Application. Our town has had several years to comply. Some of our elected officials have not used that time wisely. Certain elected officials in Milton have chosen to litigate instead of legislate. Other communities (117 as of this writing) have chosen to comply and the state should not allow Milton to further delay full compliance. Milton has had enough time to come up with a plan. Now Milton needs to be compelled to do so.