Milton special town meeting votes on request to delay MBTA Communities multifamily zoning

MILTON − Special town meeting voters rejected a proposal to further study a package of zoning changes to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.

The 159-91 vote came after more than 3½ hours of discussion at Monday night's opening session of a special town meeting. Consideration of the zoning changes will resume next Monday night. Town Moderator Robert Hiss said several amendments have already been submitted.

Under the state law, Milton must approve zoning changes that would allow the development of 2,471 units of multifamily housing, most within a half-mile of stations on the Mattapan trolley line. The designated areas in Milton would be along the trolley line, in a section of Blue Hill Parkway, and at East Milton Square and the northern end of Granite Avenue.

Members of the planning board and the warrant committee said more work is needed on the zoning changes, which could be done in time for the annual town meeting in May.

"This article has had insufficient review and should be sent back," said planning board Chair Meredith Hall. "This is the largest zoning initiative in nearly 100 years."

Planning board member Margaret Oldfield said the board "wants to finish the job we started."

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Warrant committee Chair David Humphreys said the zoning package was rushed to meet a Dec. 31 state deadline. Failure to meet the deadline would make the town ineligible for some state grants and leave it open to legal action.

"We shouldn't act out of fear of retaliation by the government," Humphreys said.

Select board Chair Michael Zullas said the law requires the town to zone for the multifamily housing, but doesn't require that it be built.

"You have one plan before you to comply with the law," Zullas said.

Milton, along with Braintree and Quincy, are among the 12 communities designated by the state as rapid transit communities that must meet the year-end deadline.

Peter Jackson, a former member of the planning board, said the zoning changes can always be amended if problems are found.

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"Massachusetts and Milton desperately need more housing," he said.

Some of the speakers at Monday's town meeting said the select board should have done more to change its classification to an adjacent community, pointing out that a trolley seats a 10th of the passengers as a Red Line train. The MBTA and the state Department of Housing and Livable Communities denied the select board's request for the change.

Other speakers at the meeting said the zoning changes unfairly affect one area of town, with 700 units at the northern end of Granite Avenue and more in East Milton Square.

Critics said there is a lack of information on the impact the zoning changes would have on town finances, the schools, municipal departments and traffic in the Granite Street corridor.

Town meeting will resume at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, in the Milton High School auditorium.

Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Milton town meeting says no to delay of MBTA Communities zoning plan