By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — A new state law that will force towns with MBTA service, including Wakefield, to designate a district where multifamily housing is allowed by right is getting some pushback from local residents.
The Planning Board got a taste of that resistance when it held its first informational meeting just before the holidays to discuss the law and its implications.
At the December meeting, Planning Board member Jim Hogan took the lead in explaining the law and its implications for Wakefield.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has passed a law that requires communities with MBTA service to have at least one multifamily zoning district of reasonable size near the MBTA station in which multi-family housing is permitted by right, Hogan explained. In Wakefield’s case, that district must be within half a mile from a commuter rail station. Zoning is required to be in place but the multifamily zoning District does not guarantee additional development, he added. Existing regulations, for example setbacks, would still be enforced.
Allowing multifamily housing “by right” means that anyone proposing such a project would not need to obtain a Special Permit or other relief from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
An MBTA community that does not comply with these new provisions by the end of 2024 would not be not eligible for state funding from: • The Housing Choice Initiative • The Local Capital Projects Fund • Thee MassWorks Infrastructure Program. • Other Discretionary grants Wakefield has received $3.6M from these programs over the past 3 years.
Hogan explained that the state believes it has a shortage of about 200,000 housing units. It sees mandating multifamily housing near MBTA stations as a way to achieve its climate goals by promoting utilization of public transit and reducing reliance on single occupancy motor vehicles.
MBTA communities have until the end of 2024 to show compliance, but Hogan said that Wakefield is already ahead of most communities in this process.
But the new state law is not sitting well with some local residents, many of whom feel that the town is becoming overdeveloped as it is. Others object to the fact that the town would not get credit for creating its own incentives years ago to encourage transit-oriented housing.
In 2014, Town Meeting passed an amendment to the town’s Zoning Bylaws that encouraged mixed-use, multifamily development near public transit.
John Sofia of Whittemore Terrace raised the latter point to the Planning Board.
“What we’ve done since 2014 is ignored,” he said, calling the mandate “heavy-handed and coercive,” under the threat of losing state funding.
Central Street resident Julie Scott said that she also had a problem with the mandate from the state.
She noted that no senior housing was required under the law. There is also no state support for the added infrastructure that towns will need to handle this additional residential density, she added, which will result in more police and fire calls.
“This has huge budgetary and safety implications, Scott said. “I don’t see how this is such a win for Wakefield.”
She maintained that one reason Wakefield is ahead of other communities is because other communities are pushing back against the state mandate.
Wakefield’s Economic Development Director Erin Kokinda insisted that the town has been giving the state some pushback on the new law.
“The state doesn’t have all the answers,” she said.
Scott agreed.
“The goal posts just keep moving,” she said, adding that the town will need more firefighters and more schools as a result of the state mandate.
“If the state is not backing us up, we need to be asking for more,” Scott insisted.
The Planning Board will hold two more informational sessions via Zoom to discuss the new state law, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 28.