State officials told town leaders Tuesday they view Needham’s zoning passed at Town Meeting to be “not in effect” and therefore will consider the town to be out of compliance with the MBTA Communities Law at the end of the calendar year.
This places Needham and possibly the Needham Housing Authority in jeopardy of losing out on several state funding opportunities, some worth many millions of dollars, should the town remain out of compliance for an extended period of time.
Town officials said that during a 45-minute phone meeting with senior staff from the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the attorney general’s office they offered multiple arguments to keep Needham in its “interim compliance” status at least until the result of the Jan. 14 special election to repeal Town Meeting’s compliance vote is known.
Senior staff from EOHLC’s Livable Communities Division and the A.G’s Housing Affordability and Municipal Law units participated in Tuesday’s call. “We have been staying in close communication with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the attorney general’s office,” Deputy Town Manager Katie King told the Select Board at its Dec. 3 meeting.
“We wanted to dig in on the question about Needham’s compliance status between Jan. 1 and 14. It’s been hard, really, to get clarity,” she said.
At present, Needham is one of dozens of MBTA communities with “interim compliance” status. Most have submitted plans that are undergoing state review. Only two communities, Milton and Holden, were listed as “non-compliant” as of Nov. 29.
King reported that, during Tuesday’s phone conversation with the state officials, “They said the EOHLC will consider the town out of compliance for those two weeks based on the fact our zoning is not in effect. In their words, (Needham’s) zoning has been suspended pending the outcome of the election.”
Contacted last week about Needham’s status, EOHLC spokesperson Kevin Connor said Needham was considered at that time to be in interim compliance “because the town has so far hit all of its deadlines under the MBTA Communities Law.”
Contacted after Tuesday’s telephone meeting, Connor said via email that, “Needham will not meet their (Dec. 31) deadline because the Town’s referendum ‘suspends’ the multifamily zoning until the ballot vote on Jan. 14, 2025, thus leading to a determination of non-compliance once the deadline passes.
“EOHLC officials made this determination based on the Guidelines because zoning will not be in effect by the deadline.”
Select Board member Joshua Levy asked King if Needham could request an extension and remain in interim compliance until the results of the Jan. 14 repeal are known. “They are not granting any communities an extension,” King replied.
King added that Town Counsel Chris Heep asked state officials to consider the fact Needham was simply adhering to its own town charter. Heep asked state officials to take that into consideration by doing a review of state law and Needham’s charter.
Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick said the state officials’ response was that “it was a novel argument and they would look at it,” but they did not indicate how soon they would offer a more definitive response.
King said the town also asked the state officials what the implications would be for the town if the repeal election overturned the Town Meeting-approved compliance plan. She said state officials suggested checking back after the election to discuss that scenario.
Board doubles down on support for Neighborhood Plan
The Select Board then moved on to a lengthy discussion on whether it should take a position on the upcoming recall election. Prior to Town Meeting, the Select Board had voted unanimously to support the minimally compliant base plan and 4-1 in favor of endorsing the more expansive neighborhood plan. The neighborhood plan eventually passed, but is at risk due to the Jan. 14 repeal election.
Levy was the lone dissenter to endorsing the neighborhood plan back in October. On Wednesday, he argued the board should not take a position at this time because a possible state Supreme Judicial Court ruling on Milton’s challenge to the MBTA law could produce a dramatic change in circumstances, not just for Needham but for all 187 communities covered under the law.
Levy also said the fact the petition effort received more than 4,000 signatures should be respected. “I prefer the base plan,” he said. “I think that it allows us more flexibility to do additional things in the future.”
Once again, Levy found himself without allies as the board voted 4-1 to endorse a “yes” vote on Jan. 14 to uphold the Town Meeting vote in favor of the neighborhood plan.
“We have all of the reasons that we had before Town Meeting,” said member Cathy Dowd. “Plus we have the compliance reasons now. So, to me, it’s very clear that we should take a position here to maintain what Town Meeting did.”
The other three members, Kevin Keane, Heidi Frail and Marianne Cooley, all renewed their support for the neighborhood plan as the preferred roadmap toward compliance.
“Many towns have passed zoning that is compliant but is known to produce no housing,” said Cooley. “I think that’s the way that we all understand our base plan. It really matches zoning that’s already in place and that hasn’t produced housing.”
Frail noted Needham would likely begin its early voting on the repeal before any SJC decision is announced. “There is the potential that voting will start before our next meeting,” she said. “I think residents deserve to understand where we stand on this issue.”
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