Town Meeting 2025 – A Special Town Meeting to adopt an MBTA Communities Multi-Family Overlay District will be the final order of business for this spring when members convene Monday

By Mark E. Vogler

Saugus will convene a Special Town Meeting Monday night – the third one of this spring – to consider a warrant article to amend the town’s Zoning By-Laws to add an MBTA Communities Multi-Family Overlay District (MCMOD). The MCMOD is an overlay district composed of three subdistricts, according to the warrant article. The dimensional requirements included a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet and a maximum height of three stories and a maximum height of 35 feet.

According to mass.gov, “The MBTA communities law, also known as Section 3A of the Zoning Act, creates zoning that encourages new missing middle housing in areas served by public transit. Housing enabled by the MBTA communities law provides opportunities for people to live, work and thrive in walkable neighborhoods closer to transit.”

Communities that fail to comply with the MBTA Communities Act automatically lose certain state funding, including funding: for local infrastructure generally, such as road, bridge, water and sewer improvements (known as MassWorks); for local infrastructure projects that support housing (known as HousingWorks); for Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) grants to communities with a “Housing Choice” designation; and for state funding under the Local Capital Projects Fund. In addition, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has notified communities that compliance with the MBTA Communities Act will be considered when dispensing certain discretionary local aid.

Also, intentional or persistent noncompliance may result in an enforcement action against the municipality by the Attorney General. Any such action would seek a court order requiring the community to comply with the law. Such a lawsuit is currently pending in the state supreme court against the Town of Milton.

“For the overall good of the town, it’s important that we create zoning that complies with state mandates,” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree said this week.

“Failure to adopt this could add up to millions of dollars. So, if we don’t approve this, there could be a problem,” Crabtree said.

“Milton alone has spent a million dollars in legal fees trying to fight it,” he said.

The Planning Board was expected to review that article at its meeting last night (May 29) and offer its recommendation to Town Meeting, which is scheduled to convene at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the second floor auditorium at Saugus Town Hall. Crabtree and a special consultant working on the town bylaw met Tuesday night in a private briefing with Town Meeting members at Town Hall to advise them on how to approve a zoning amendment that complies with state law.

“The lack of zoning for multi-family housing is a barrier for new housing development in Massachusetts,” according to EOHLC. “By allowing multifamily housing near transit, we can create new housing in walkable neighborhoods closer to transit. This is not just good housing policy, it is good climate and transportation policy, too.”

The MCMOD bylaw would become effective upon its approval by Saugus Town Meeting. But the election to develop property under the zoning created may not be made until the EOHLC has issued a determination that the bylaw complies with state law.

Here’s a look at the three subdistricts created by the Town Meeting article:

Subdistrict A

21 units per acre on the west side of Route 1: Avalon, two parcels (front and back), 855-857-863 Broadway, currently 214 units, new combined capacity is 232 units.

On the east side of Route 1: McDonalds, two parcels, 738-748 Broadway, currently 0 units, new combined capacity is 28 units. Walmart, 770 Broadway, currently 0 units, new capacity is 164 units. NOBO, two parcels, 860 R Broadway, currently 245 units, new combined capacity is 140 units.

Subdistrict B

On the west side of Route 1: Holiday Inn and Kavida Healthcare, 961-999 Broadway, currently 0 units, new capacity is 174 units, currently the subject of a Ch. 40B development proposal for 189 units.

Subdistrict C

On the east side of Route 1: Saugus Ridge, Rear Broadway, currently 300 units, new capacity is 309 units; Mobile Home Park, 846 Broadway, currently 71 units, new capacity is 96 units