Milton voters decide on MBTA Communities zoning plan. Here are the results
MILTON − In a result closely watched both on Beacon Hill and in communities around Eastern Massachusetts, the town's voters at a special election Wednesday rejected an MBTA Communities Act zoning plan adopted by town meeting in December.
Town Clerk Susan Galvin said the unofficial vote count was 5,115 votes against the zoning plan and 4,346 in favor, or 54% to 46%.
The voter turnout of 44.8% was the highest in a municipal election since a 2009 special election for a Proposition 2½ override, which was 47%.
The purpose of the MBTA Communities Act is to make it easier to develop multifamily housing in suburban communities, especially near transit stations, to help ease the state's housing crisis.
Under the law, the town had to approve zoning for the construction of up to 2,400 units of multifamily homes. The laws does not require that the units be built.
Milton is the only one of the 12 communities with rapid transit service not to adopt zoning that complies with the law. Milton is considered a rapid transit community because of the Mattapan trolley line, which opponents believe is a misclassification. The law does not include Boston.
Communities with commuter rail service, including many on the South Shore, needed to submit similar zoning plans to the state by the end of the year.
Milton residents who oppose the plan gathered 800 signatures in a week to put the question on the ballot. They said they want to comply with the law, but considered the plan adopted by town meeting unfair because the bulk of the potential units would be in East Milton, which already suffers from traffic congestion. They said the plan should be revised to spread the units out more evenly around town.
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Voter turnout was the heaviest in the East Milton precincts, with opponents prevailing by lopsided margins. In East Milton's Precinct 7, 81.6% voted no.
Proponents of the plan said the town risks losing out on some state grants and cited potential lawsuits to force compliance.
Select board member Benjamin Zoll said no one wants to see the town lose control of its zoning to the courts.
In a Jan. 9 letter to the town's select board and Town Administrator Nicholas Milano, state Attorney General Andrea Campbell wrote: "The law is crystal clear as to whether municipalities must comply: They must."
The election was postponed a day because of Tuesday's storm.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Milton voters reject multifamily zoning plan OK'd by town meeting
