Milton vote could harm efforts to expand affordable housing across state, says UMass Boston prof.

The town of Milton is facing a potential lawsuit from the state and the loss of some state grant money.

That's after residents there voted Wednesday to not comply with a state law that's meant to increase housing.

The MBTA Communities Act requires cities and towns served by the subway, trolleys and commuter rail to create zones for multi-family housing near transit stops.

Milton Town Meeting had passed a plan in December to create those zones, as the town was required to do by the end of 2023, but yesterday's special election quashed the plan.

Michael Johnson is a professor of public policy at UMass Boston who's been following the situation in Milton. Johnson told WBUR's All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins he's concerned the rebuke from Milton will embolden other communities to also defy the housing law — a statute he thinks has the potential to increase the supply of affordable housing in Massachusetts.