MBTA Multi-family Zoning Change
"Article 34" in the 2023 Annual Town Meeting, which has become Zoning Bylaw Section 7.5
Snapshots
What the Planning Board presented to the 4/2023 Town Meeting:
Source: slide 14 of the 3/14/2023 presentation.
What the Planning Board/staff submitted to the state in 6/2023:
Source: Letter from EOHLC (Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities).
Unit Capacity (estimated # of multi-family units) submitted by MBTA communities
2024-12-01 Town Compliance Spreadsheet.pdfList of submitted proposals under Lexington's MBTA Zoning (Section 7.5)
Overview
A recent zoning change has put the Town of Lexington at risk of potentially doubling the number of housing units, which could result in overcrowding in schools, budget shortfalls, and property tax override.
In response to the State's MBTA Multi-family Zoning requirement, the Planning Board proposed Article 34 to the 2023 Annual Town Meeting to commit 5 times the required acreage and 11 times the required unit capacity, and estimated 400-800 units to be built in 4-10 years. The Town Meeting was rushed to vote 20 months before the state imposed deadline.
22 months after the zoning article was approved by Town Meeting in April 2023, 1,103 units have already been proposed or approved on just 9% of the rezoned area of 253 acres (including Lexington Town Center). Over 1/3 of the 2,800 new units among the 177 MBTA communities are being proposed in one town: Lexington.
While the town has recently (12/9/2024) planned to hire a consultant to evaluate the financial impact of Article 34, a citizen-developed model estimates that the deficit on school cost alone from the additional dwelling units can range from $12 million to $138 million annually, depending how many acres will be developed with what density.
A group of Lexington citizens have called a Special Town Meeting and proposed Article 2 "Amend Section 7.5 of the Zoning Bylaw to Reduce Multi-Family Dwelling Unit Capacity (Citizen Petition)" to put a pause on the development.
Brief Background
Due to a severe housing shortage in greater Boston area, the state's "Section 3A" MBTA Communities Multi-family Zonining Act requires 177 of Massachusetts's 351 cities and towns to rezone a certain amount of land for “by-right/as-of-right developments” (see "Explanations of Terminologies" below) for multi-family units.
This rezoning needed to be distributed in various areas around town so as not to burden any single section of town, within 0.5 miles to MBTA stops, and the rezoning plan needed to be completed by Dec 2024. Roughly 10% (up to 15% if proven economically feasible) of units need to be "affordable/inclusionary units" (see "Explanations of Terminologies" below).
1 1/2 years ahead of the deadline, Lexington’s Planning Board proposed Article 34 to the 2023 Annual Town Meeting:
(In slide 14 of its presentation to the Annual Town Meeting and its FAQ page before the vote, the Planning Board estimated that 400-800 units would be built in 4 to 10 years across 253 acres.)
Several amendments to Article 34 brought by Town Meeting members failed. These amendments were written to reduce some of the most dramatic changes to the town's zoning including the setback reductions, height bonuses (therefore addressing the number of units created), and number of dedicated acres.
Article 34 was approved with 63% votes by Town Meeting. See voting record here.
(Traditionally, zoning changes, due to their impact and permanency, need more than 2/3 votes to pass. A recent state law reduced it to simple majority, 50%+1, for zoning amendments allowing multi-family. Rolling back any multi-family zoning still requires 2/3 votes.)
In June 2023, two months after the vote, the Town submitted its compliance application to the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Community (EOHLC) stating that the "multi-family unit capacity" of the Article 34 rezoning is 13,421 units (55.54 units per acre).
(See the table below from the 11/25/2023 EOHLC acceptance letter.)
Lexington Planning Department letter to DHCD dated 6/7/2023:
Planning Cover Letter.pdfEOHLC compliance determination letter to Lexington dated 11/25/2023:
What Happened So Far?
As of February 2025, at 22 months after the Town Meeting vote, there have been 1,103 proposed or approved units (final number to be verified) on 9% of the total 253 acres of rezoned area, average 49.5 units/acre.
According to the 12/3/2024 Boston Globe article, about 1,000, or 36% of the 2,800 new units among the 177 MBTA communities are being proposed in one town: Lexington. (The number of units proposed/approved in Lexington has risen since the article.)
The town has not done pre-planning nor developed any financial forecasts for budget needs for spending on new schools, roads, municipal and emergency services, nor realized that some of the rezoned lots have serious problems like flooding.
According to the analysis by Appropriation Committee, the annual deficit for schools alone from every 1,000 new units can range from $4 million to $12 million.
Explanations of Terminologies
By-right (or As-of-Right) development: This means that applicants have a lot of decision-making control in how they want to develop a parcel of land, and the town has limited discretion to alter their plans. The town cannot reject an application which has met the minimum requirements stated in zoning bylaws and regulations. If there are issues of wetlands or flooding then it’s possible that there will be Conservation Commission hearings in addition to Planning Board hearings.
Affordable (Inclusionary) housing units: Dwelling units that are limited to households whose income is below 80% of the area median income and eligible for inclusion on the EOHLC's Subsidized Housing Inventory.