Yogi Berra famously said, it’s like “deja vu all over again”. Yes, I’m a Yankee fan but even diehard Red Sox fans can agree that deja vu all over again befits the situation in Milton perfectly.

It has been eighteen months to the day since Milton’s town clerk certified signatures to place a question on the ballot seeking to overturn a town meeting vote for the first time in over 50 years. That effort succeeded after a brutal campaign featuring outrageous claims by the forces of “no”. Those claims –from the state won’t sue Milton to we won’t lose any state grants – have proven to be false.

Our intrepid band of NIMBYs kept battling against the odds. Like a gambler at a casino who keeps thinking the next hand will turn the tide, they keep losing and losing big. Today, they lost again…big. Sixteen residents filed suit challenging Milton’s designation as a rapid transit community and, by extension, our requirement to zone for 2,461 units. Just a week ago, they said this was their big chance. A favorable judge, they said. A first chance at “adjudicating” the trolley as rapid transit argument, they said.

“Nope” said the court. The courts have said no all along the way. The legislature has refused to consider amendments to water down the law. The state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has been steadfast. A local attorney that wanted the town to file a similar claim declined to take on the case after realizing the Select Board intended to follow the law and the lead of town meeting and submit the newly passed zoning plan to the state for approval.

Milton’s new zoning amendment fully complies with state law. And leaves East Milton, the neighborhood which voted in large majorities to reject the 2023 zoning, largely out of the plan. It is, in many respects, a better plan. A better plan from a planning perspective and a better plan politically.

But Denny Swenson and her acolytes began gathering signatures in earnest on Monday in another attempt to repeal the latest compliant zoning plan passed by town meeting. Deja vu. They can’t win in a forum made up of 279 elected town meeting representatives dominated by well-informed residents. But they proved last February they can win with a well-funded campaign featuring lies, fear and exaggeration. So they attempted to try again.

But you can never exactly recreate the same political environment. Many voters move on. Anger subsides. And towns do face real consequences for ignoring a state law.

Today’s 5pm deadline for signatures came and went and no signatures were filed. Organizers haven’t made a public statement yet but they undoubtedly struggled to reach the required 1,100 signatures need to put this before voters. They definitely had less volunteers this time around. There is anecdotal evidence of better-informed voters declining to sign the petition.

Whatever the reason, the outcome is good for Milton. Inclusivity won. Milton becomes community #139 to comply with a state upzoning law that will not solve our housing crisis, but will become part of a long-term strategy to make our all of our communities a bit more welcoming.

Yogi might say, “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Last ditch legal strategies will continue. Political posturing will continue.

But, it is over.