At the City Council meeting on Thursday, Community Development Director Curt Bellavance proposed a plan for the city to comply with the Commonwealth’s MBTA Communities Act.
After a discussion among the 10 councilors present lasted for more than an hour, the council voted unanimously to keep the agenda item in committee, rather than moving forward on it and referring it to the planning office.
Section 3A of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, commonly referred to as the MBTA Communities Act, was adopted in January 2021 as part of legislation to strengthen the state’s economy.
The City Council’s discussion is amidst the court case between the Town of Milton and the Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell at the Commonwealth’s highest court. AG Campbell sued the Town of Milton after its residents voted down the town’s proposal for compliance. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments beginning Monday, Oct. 7 for the lawsuit.
Bellavance presented the draft of the proposed zoning changes to the Industrial and Community Development Committee on Thursday, prior to the City Council’s regular meeting, and answered questions from the councilors.
The drafted proposed change would zone a single district of approximately 53 acres to allow for multi-family housing, he said. Peabody is affected by the law because it is categorized as an MBTA-adjacent community and the city has until Dec. 31 to comply with the law. Much of the land in the proposed district is already developed, which would prevent it from being immediately built upon.
“If we don’t comply with this, we lose out on grant money,” Bellavance said.
“The law doesn’t require you to build the units, it just requires you to zone to allow for them to build the units,” he added.
“I think this is a good plan. It moves us forward,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said.
He acknowledged the court case between Milton and the AG and said it will impact how municipalities approach the MBTA Communities Act moving forward. He added Peabody should move forward with compliance because of the grant funding at stake.
“We would not be bringing this forward if it was not brought upon us by the state,” Bettencourt later added.
Councilor-at-Large Thomas Rossignoll firmly opposed the city’s compliance with the law and said the state is overstepping its authority.
“Each city and town knows their city or town much better than the state does,” he said. “It blows my mind that the state thinks that it has the ultimate authority of housing.”
“I’m not going to be voting for this in any way, shape, or form,” Rossignoll added.
Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin said she wants to wait until the Supreme Judicial Court provides its ruling because she does not want to change any zoning if the city is not required to.
Ward 3 City Councilor Stephanie Peach referred to the MBTA Communities Act as a “gross overstep by the state,” but added the city should move forward with compliance.
“I’m not willing to risk the amount of funding we receive from the state by not complying,” Peach said. “I would love to stick it to the state… I’m not willing to say, ‘Well, there goes all of the additional funding that we get.’”
