Does Bourne need to comply with the MBTA's housing mandate? A look at how that would work.

BUZZARDS BAY – As local officials try to determine if Bourne is officially a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) community member or not, the Planning Department is working with the Cape Cod Commission to try and comply with the state agency's multi-family housing mandate.

The planning board has discussed the T directive to create more multi-family housing to spur the economy, accompanying zoning implications and the need for public comment to guide work on, and building in, a densely populated area of this village.

“We’re currently considered a ‘neighboring community,’ though I have issues with this designation, as ‘the T’ has not run into Plymouth for two years,” said planning board member Christopher Farrell on March 16. “Therefore, our neighboring community status is questionable."

Earlier coverage: Next Buzzards Bay project may be 170-unit complex along Cape Cod Canal

The transportation authority would likely require a housing zone that would increase the area's 12-unit-per acre limit to 15 units per acre, Farrell said.

The board has considered developing questions for a community survey about the state mandate, which newly-elected Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, in an advisory, said must be met by ‘T’ members.

Putting housing close to the Main Street train station could be tricky, Bourne officials said.

Board members agree, however, that locating multi-family housing so close to the Main Street train station would be difficult, given the area's geography. That includes the neighboring canal, Taylors Point Marina, village park, the Buzzards Bay Bypass and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Board chairman Dan Doucette in recent meetings said the town should determine if Bourne is an official MBTA member, not just a part of the ‘T’s’ advisory board, before his members can work on the housing mandate.

Select Board Chair Peter Meier, meanwhile, said the town is “following the process given to us by the ‘T’” to set up a housing zone. That would include working with the Cape Cod Commission to create adequate zoning, he said.

“We’ll make sure that we’ll adhere to all the components of the mandate sent to us,” Meier said.

Campbell’s advisory was straightforward, saying more housing would remove barriers to economic development.

Previous coverage:Bourne is the only Cape Cod town impacted by a state law mandating more multifamily zoning

MBTA Communities Zoning law is 'essential tool' for state to address housing crisis.

“Compliance with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is not only mandatory, it is an essential tool for the commonwealth to address its housing crisis along with our climate and transportation goals,” Campbell said. “While the housing crisis disproportionately affects communities of color and poor, working families, it threatens all of us along with our economy and thus requires all of us do our part including ensuring adequate development of affordable, transit-oriented housing for our residents and families.”

The Bourne planning board, select board, Cape Cod Commission and Canal Region Chamber of Commerce have long championed creating housing above first-floor businesses along Main Street. A housing district overlay on the village zoning map might satisfy the state.

“We’ve all been favoring that approach,” Meier acknowledged in a March 16 interview. “But it would have to include a proposed amendment to the growth incentive zone (GIZ) in place for Main Street. And that would have to go to town meeting for voter approval after a commission option to the planning board and public review.”

Earlier coverage:Study: Cape Rail would cut millions of vehicle miles, thousands of tons of CO2

Daily trains between Boston and Buzzards Bay would 'enhance' the Main Street business scene, one official said.

Meier remains optimistic about the return of commuter rail service between Boston and Buzzards Bay through Middleborough, which is set to host similar trains to and from New Bedford.

He says daily trains would enhance the Main Street business scene and lend itself to so-called “transit-oriented development.” That in turn would accommodate local residents, who could work in Boston but live in Bourne, he said.

Tracks between Middleborough and Buzzards Bay have been upgraded. The Taylors Point train trestle on the Buzzards Bay-Wareham line that was recently reconstructed. And the state Department of Transportation has awarded a $775,000 contract to repair the roof and repaint the old train station at Main Street which now serves as headquarters for the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Creating multi-family housing near transit hubs a spur to economy