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Boston's Morning Newsletter
What to know about Milton's high-stakes housing vote today
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Remember, today is Valentine’s Day. (If you don’t have a card yet, these Boston-themed ones will show anyone they’re “sweeter than Caroline.”)
Now, to the news:
A high-stakes housing vote: Following a one-day weather delay, it’s decision time for Milton residents. The 28,000-person Boston suburb is holding a vote today on whether to keep the town’s new zoning law to ease the construction of more housing — or run afoul of the state’s MBTA Communities Act and risk both legal and financial consequences. Radio Boston had a great segment yesterday on the stakes for both Milton and all of Greater Boston, as the region continues to grapple with its dire shortage of housing.
- What do the new zoning changes do? The new bylaw — which was approved by town meeting voters by a two-to-one margin in December — would rezone several slices of Milton along the MBTA’s Mattapan trolley route and I-93 to make it easier to build forms of multifamily housing, from three-deckers to apartments. (Scroll to page 12 here for the map.) In theory, the zoning changes would allow a total of 2,461 new units of housing to be built, though the real number is expected to be a lot lower.
- The case against the changes: Opponents — who gathered enough signatures to trigger the referendum on the law — argue the zoning shifts would unfairly crowd too much housing into particular areas and increase the town’s traffic congestion.
- What happens if the “yes” side wins? The new zoning law is here to stay. That doesn’t mean new apartments would automatically be built, but landowners would be able to build multi-family housing in the rezoned area “as of right.” In other words, they wouldn’t have to go through the often long and unpredictable process of getting special permits.
- What happens if the “no” side wins? Milton goes back to the town’s zoning status quo, which virtually prohibits anything but single-family housing without a special permit. It would also officially put Milton in “noncompliance” with the MBTA Communities Act as soon as the results are certified.
- What does noncompliance mean? For starters, Milton will be ineligible (or at a big disadvantage) for 13 different state grant programs. Milton officials recently estimated they got $1.7 million from those programs for things like streets, schools and other infrastructure projects since mid-2020. Attorney General Andrea Campbell also warned in a letter last month that her office is prepared to sue Milton to compel compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. “When a municipality and a select group of residents choose to be a part of the problem rather than part of the solution, especially in the face of a statutory mandate, my office will do its job by enforcing the law,” Campbell said in a statement.
No relief from the rain: FEMA is denying a request for a major disaster declaration for three Massachusetts counties hit by severe flooding last September. In a letter to Gov. Maura Healey, FEMA said the damage in Bristol, Hampden and Worcester counties “was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state, affected local governments and voluntary agencies.”
- What’s next: Healey’s press secretary Karissa Hand says the administration plans to appeal FEMA’s decision. They’re also distributing $5 million in flood relief funding that was set aside for the three counties in last fall’s supplemental budget.
Under the dome: The Massachusetts Senate is unveiling its new bust of legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass this afternoon at 1 p.m. According to Senate President Karen Spilka’s office, the statue is the first state-commissioned bust of a Black person in the State House and the first bust to be added to the Senate Chamber since 1898.
- The local angle: Douglass spent much of his early years in the Bay State — settling down in New Bedford after escaping slavery and giving his first big speech to a mostly white audience in Nantucket.
Get in line: Summer ferry reservations for Martha’s Vineyard go on sale today at 8 a.m. Be prepared for a wait, based on last week’s 10,000-person online queue for Nantucket ferry tickets.
P.S.— Yesterday’s snow storm wasn’t a big bust for all of Massachusetts. While the Boston area saw barely anything stick, Dudley and Martha’s Vineyard did end up getting over 9 inches (and as WBUR’s Simón Rios reports, there was still fun to be had in Blue Hills). Check out this map for a statewide look at the snowfall totals.
