Town Meeting Monday night voted to adopt an expansive approach to compliance with the state’s MBTA Communities Act. The decision will create zoning that allows — but does not require — substantial building of multifamily housing near the town’s MBTA stations. The vote was 118-90.
“I think it’s a great gesture of confidence in Needham’s future, and I believe it will benefit the town socially and economically,” said Select Board Vice Chair Heidi Frail, who did the rhetorical heavy lifting on behalf of the plan during the lengthy deliberation of the zoning article.
“I congratulate Town Meeting on their decision,” she said.
The vote came after more than two-and-a-half hours of debate in which proponents offered a vision of a Needham revitalized by the strategic addition of multifamily housing units in targeted areas.
It prevailed over arguments from opponents who feared developers could overwhelm the town with more housing units and new residents than it could manage, crowding schools and putting stress on the town’s infrastructure.
Planning Board Chair Natasha Espada, who presented the 19-page article to Town Meeting, began with an overview of the two-part compliance approach devised over nine months by the ad hoc Needham Housing Advisory Group and finalized in September by the Planning Board.
The strategy required a lengthy explanation by Moderator Michael Fee on the parliamentary process to first pass the base plan and subsequently amend it to pass the more extensive neighborhood plan.
Discussion began with a review of the base plan to create a 100-acre zoning district along the town’s commercial spine that added just enough density to the existing zoning to satisfy the MBTA Act’s requirements.
The district is currently home to 775 built units and has a zoning capacity for 1,019 units. The base plan increases that capacity to 1,870 units by allowing greater density, as does the MBTA law’s stipulation that construction needs to be allowed by right, without the need for a special permit process.
Both the Select Board and the Finance Committee endorsed the base plan, and although some Town Meeting members and residents voiced opposition, Town Meeting overwhelmingly passed the article.
The opposition grew stiffer once the neighborhood plan and its potential for 3,296 units (2,521 new) on essentially the same acreage was introduced. The Finance Committee strenuously opposed the additional capacity and withdrew support for the second plan.
John Connelly, who spoke on behalf of FinCom, advocated sticking with the just-passed base plan and waiting to see what it produced before doing more. “We have more than enough on our hands in dealing with the many challenges that the passage of the base compliance plan brings to us,” he said.
Several Town Meeting members and residents joined FinCom in opposition. Those who spoke expressed concern about negative impacts on a school system they described as currently over capacity. They also voiced worries about increased traffic on similarly constrained streets and fears that Needham’s suburban character would be altered.
School Committee Chair Liz Lee expressed confidence in the school system’s ability to absorb new students, adding it was the committee’s expectation the new zoning was not likely to produce nearly as many new students as some were projecting.
Frail also countered opposition by noting the plan’s potential to bring a greater variety of housing choice to Needham as well as greatly increased economic vitality. She contended that adding more multifamily units would benefit current residents, especially seniors who currently lack in-town options for downsizing.
“In just six years, almost a quarter — 25% — of Needham residents will be seniors,” Frail said. “Think of a quarter of Needham’s population aging in their single-family homes. This may prevent our seniors from living active and social lives, and for sure it will lock up our housing inventory.”
“Needham does not have enough housing, and we don’t have enough housing choices to allow our residents to be healthy and socially thriving.”
The plan finally came to a vote around 11:15 p.m. An initial voice vote to approve the neighborhood plan was inconclusive, so Moderator Fee called for a show of hands vote that produced the 57% to 43% outcome to adopt the neighborhood plan.
The plan will now be sent to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and to the attorney general for final compliance review.
There is one last option for those who oppose the plan, but it is a daunting challenge. Town Charter (page 75) provides residents with the opportunity “after the expiration of 20 days, not including Sundays and legal holidays, from the dissolution of the town meeting” to petition for a referendum to repeal a Town Meeting vote.
Opponents would have roughly three weeks to gather signatures from 15% of the town’s 25,000 registered voters — or 3,750 signatures — to force a townwide election to reconsider the decision.
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