Franklin Matters: Boston Globe: "Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law"

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Boston Globe: "Towns lose their latest challenge to controversial state housing law"

"A Superior Court judge Friday dismissed a group of lawsuits from nine Eastern Massachusetts communities over a controversial state housing law that mandates cities and towns with access to the MBTA make it easier to build multifamily housing.

The lawsuits — filed by the towns of Duxbury, Hamilton, Hanson, Holden, Marshfield, Middleton, Wenham, Weston, and Wrentham — sought relief from the MBTA Communities Act on the grounds that it constitutes an “unfunded mandate,” and that more multifamily development would strain their local infrastructure like roads and sewer systems.

Judge Mark Gildea rejected the towns’ argument as “speculative,” saying they did not provide concrete examples of the costs multifamily housing would inflict on them.

“The Municipalities have neither pled specific costs for anticipated infrastructure costs, nor provided any specific timeline for anticipated construction projects,” Gildea wrote in the ruling. “Instead, the only allegations and averments before the court are generalized comments about large-scale issues they foresee, which are insufficient to sustain the Municipalities’ claims.”