West Newbury town officials say the town isn’t fighting a state housing requirement and will return to the drawing board after Town Meeting voters rejected a new multifamily zoning district to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.
The vote on April 28 was 227 in favor with 302 against, according to Town Manager Angus Jennings. West Newbury has a population of 4,500 and 3,800 registered voters.
“West Newbury is totally committed to remaining in compliance with the requirement,” Jennings said, noting that the town has until the end of this year to accept the act’s provisions.
The MBTA Communities Act requires communities that have, or are adjacent to communities with, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service to have at least one special housing district. Such zones must be of reasonable size, without age restrictions and where families are permitted by right. “Reasonable size” has been defined as at least 15 units per acre. Setting aside such districts, according to state guidelines, is “not a mandate to construct a specified number of housing units, nor is it a housing production target.”
As WHAV reported in 2022, West Newbury was awarded a $67,500 state grant to study suitable sites.
Communities that do not comply risk losing state funding for infrastructure projects, schools and other discretionary state aid. The act is intended to increase multifamily housing production in the state by siting new housing close to MBTA transit lines.
West Newbury is considered an “Adjacent Small Town” and must create a zoning district that would allow 87 units of multifamily housing, Jennings said. Groveland is also considered an “Adjacent Small Town” and must create a district for up to 130 units of multifamily housing.
Jennings said West Newbury considered three sites and advanced the 19-acre parcel once home to Knapp’s Greenhouse at 187 Main St. Jennings noted that any site chosen for multifamily development would have to meet the state’s Title 5 wastewater treatment requirements and very likely would require an expensive “package” sewage treatment system as West Newbury operates entirely on septic tanks.
Jennings said most likely the Select Board will schedule a special town meeting in early fall to present another option to voters. West Newbury generally holds a special town meeting in late October but Jennings said that waiting until October would push the vote dangerously close to the holidays, especially if the zoning measure was voted down a second time.
He said the Knapp’s site is not necessarily off the table.