July 11, 2024 - In 2021, the Massachusetts Legislature adopted the MBTA Communities Multifamily Zoning Requirement that requires 177 cities and towns, many located within the MAPC region, to allow multifamily housing by-right in their zoning bylaws or ordinances near transit stations or smart growth locations (find out more about the new law). Upzoning holds the potential to unlock the development of new housing units by removing one of the many barriers to alleviating the region’s housing shortage.
Fast forward three years and 71 communities have adopted zoning intended for compliance with the law. This means that 50% of the municipalities that are required to comply by the end of 2024 have already made significant progress in doing so. This widespread participation highlights the collective effort across the region to meet the new zoning requirements.
MAPC's Technical Assistance Approach to Section 3A Compliance in Acton and Maynard
MAPC is working with several communities in our region to plan for Section 3A compliance. Critical to our approach is aligning compliance with broader planning goals already identified through public engagement processes. This integration ensures that the new zoning requirements support objectives of existing community plans, such as comprehensive plans, housing production plans, climate action plans, and more. Combined with meaningful community engagement, communities can integrate zoning changes needed to comply seamlessly with their communities' need.
Highlighted here are recent, successful planning efforts in the Towns of Acton and Maynard. Acton, designated a Commuter Rail Community, and Maynard, designated an Adjacent Community, are both required to comply with 3A by the end of 2024. Through effective community engagement and a holistic approach to planning, the two towns not only adopted zoning necessary to achieve Section 3A compliance, but also implemented zoning recommendations identified through robust visioning processes.
Town of Acton
The Town of Acton built on two existing community planning efforts as part of their approach to complying with Section 3A. The Town’s Planning Department, led by Kristen Guichard, had already begun working with MAPC on an area plan for South Acton Village and the Powder Mill Road corridor initiative when the Section 3A guidelines were released. Given that there is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in South Acton Village, the Town asked MAPC to incorporate Section 3A compliance into the area planning project early in the process. This enabled the project team to take a holistic approach to developing by-right multifamily zoning that would not only comply with the law, but also advance the community’s vision for the South Acton area. You can find out more about this work here.
The Town also worked with MAPC to consider the appropriateness of properties along the Powder Mill Road corridor for compliance with 3A. Between 2020-2022, MAPC collaborated with the Towns of Acton and Maynard to develop a comprehensive, community-oriented strategy to guide future growth along the Powder Mill Road corridor. This strategy advocated for the creation of new zoning that would foster walkable, mixed-use developments, improving transportation options through complete streets, and enhancing access to the Assabet River. As Acton continued this work with MAPC through 2024, it became clear that Section 3A-compliant zoning could be used as a tool to promote growth along Powder Mill Road.
The Town ultimately developed three separate zoning amendments to bring to its Spring 2024 Annual Town Meeting. One of the amendments established two MBTA Communities Overlay Districts: MBTA-1 allows for smaller-scale multifamily homes at a scale of 10 units per acre, primarily within the half-mile radius of the South Acton Commuter Rail Station, while MBTA-2 allows for larger-scale development at a scale of 25 units per acre on a large site just outside the half-mile radius and along a portion of Powder Mill Road. Another amendment modified zoning requirements in the base zoning for the South Acton Village District to incentivize more residential and commercial development in the neighborhood. The third amendment established a new overlay district encompassing the bulk of Powder Mill Road outside the 3A district called the Assabet River Overlay District.
The above illustrations were developed to help residents visualize and better understand the type of development that might be possible under the new zoning standards. The diagrams visualize a potential result of the new zoning standards on hypothetical parcels, ranging from 0.25 acres to three acres in lot size for MBTA-1 at 10 dwelling units per acre: (A) 0.25 Acres = approximately 2 units; (B) 1 Acre = approx. 10 units; (C) 3 Acres = approx. 45 units; and (D) a hypothetical 5-acre parcel at 25 dwelling units per acre (approx. 125 units) for MBTA-2.
At the May 7, 2024, Annual Town Meeting, Acton residents approved the three proposed zoning amendments with large majorities. The MBTA Communities Overlay Districts passed with 69% of voters in favor. Residents also approved the proposed zoning updates for the South Acton Village District with 82% in favor and the creation of the Assabet River Overlay District with 78% in favor. This strong support for three distinct, yet related rezoning efforts shows the value of grounding the development of new zoning in a community process.
Town of Maynard
Working with the Town of Maynard’s Planning Division, led by Bill Nemser, MAPC also developed 3A-compliant zoning as part of a larger planning process. Over the past two years, MAPC has continued working with the Town to write zoning that implements the vision for the Powder Mill corridor and complies with Section 3A. The final proposal, the Powder Mill Overlay District (PMOD), includes five subdistricts with use and dimensional standards tailored to each area's unique conditions. One of the subdistricts, PMOD-A, fully complies with Section 3A, and all subdistricts allow multifamily housing by-right. You can find out more about this work here.
At the May 20, 2024 Annual Town Meeting, Maynard residents approved the proposed zoning for the 3A-compliant subdistrict of the Powder Mill Overlay District, with 96% of votes in favor. This overwhelming success demonstrates how integrating 3A compliance into a broader community planning process is a win-win. The Maynard Planning Board is now developing the remaining draft zoning for their Powder Mill Overlay District.
Lessons Learned
The successes in Acton and Maynard reveal three key lessons for other communities that are working towards complying with Section 3A:
- Treat 3A compliance as the means, not the end. In both towns, the focus of these planning processes was defining and implementing a community vision, not simply complying with 3A. This allowed the project teams to transcend the technical aspects of compliance when engaging with residents and key stakeholders, which helped keep the conversation positive and visionary. Town staff highlighted connections between complying with the law and other community priorities, such as economic development, environmental resilience, and safe transportation. Coordinating across towns also helped to build support from residents who wanted to know that they weren’t alone in tackling big issues.
- Prioritize community outreach early on. A successful community outreach process to enable local compliance with the MBTA Communities Law involves two primary stages. First, it's crucial to connect with community stakeholders, ensuring they are well-informed about your municipality’s proposal for compliance and are empowered to participate actively in the local adoption process. Second, holding effective community meetings and conversations is vital. These gatherings serve to empower stakeholders through comprehensive information and knowledge-sharing, allowing them to voice concerns and questions. By responding effectively to resident feedback and concerns, these meetings pave the way for a successful local adoption process, fostering collaboration and consensus-building among all involved parties.
- Support the work through local adoption. While it’s hard to predict how Town Meeting will go in advance, municipal staff and housing advocates can take proactive steps to enable the successful adoption of zoning that complies with 3A. One is to keep residents and key stakeholders informed throughout the process, so they don't feel blindsided by the result. For both projects in Acton and Maynard, MAPC maintained a webpage that detailed the goals and timeline of the project, listed contact information for members of the project team, and included relevant documents, presentations, and even meeting recordings. People could also subscribe to project newsletters to receive emails with regular process updates and information about how to provide feedback. Another strategy is to put together informational materials about how the zoning works and what goals it's meant to achieve. For example, Town staff in Acton put together a short explanatory video that was posted on the Town website.
3A Resources Available
If your community has not yet adopted Section 3A-compliant zoning, MAPC has prepared resources to help you in your district selection process and to prepare for local adoption.
- MAPC’s Section 3A District Suitability Analysis Tool is a decision-support tool that uses data to help municipalities identify or assess locations for 3A zoning districts that advance regional and local goals. The tool evaluates locations based on a set of criteria related to transportation, accessibility, development feasibility, residential capacity, and climate vulnerability, scoring each land parcel from 0 (least suitable) to 100 (most suitable).
- MAPC’s MBTA Communities Show Your Support Toolkit: Tools for a Successful Adoption aims to empower municipal stakeholders and housing advocates as they educate community members about the MBTA Communities Law and its role in helping to solve Massachusetts’ housing crisis.
- Visit http://www.mapc.org/mbta-multifamily-zoning to learn more about these resources and ways MAPC can support your community in moving towards Section 3A compliance.