Supreme Judicial Court Rules MBTA Communities Act Is Mandatory.
Civil Rights Groups Applaud Ruling, Which Will Increase Affordable Housing And Decrease Segregation
The Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has upheld the MBTA Communities Act and ruled that it imposes mandatory duties on all 177 cities and towns covered by the law.
The ruling adopts arguments first made by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) in its case on behalf of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance against the Town of Holden, one of the recalcitrant jurisdictions that has refused to comply with the zoning law.
The Law seeks to address the affordable housing crisis by requiring 177 communities with or near MBTA service (“MBTA Communities”) to include zoning districts in their communities where multi-family housing can be built more freely. As LCR has long argued and the SJC has now ruled, all MBTA Communities must comply with the Law’s multi-family zoning mandate.
“Today’s ruling is a great victory for communities of color and low-income communities,” said Jacob Love, Senior Staff Attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights. “As our brief to the SJC outlined, Massachusetts is mired in an affordable housing crisis, which disproportionately harms communities of color. Exclusionary zoning policies that inhibit multi-family housing production suppress the Commonwealth’s housing supply and ensure that low-income residents and people of color have few affordable options. Today’s ruling will help break down those barriers.”
In the Milton case, LCR filed an amicus brief in the SJC on behalf of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, the Greater Boston Latino Network, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Haitian-Americans United, and Immigrant Family Services Institute. The favorable SJC ruling reflects the input and perspective of all these anchor organizations actively working to address the housing crisis and to protect diverse communities.
Following the SJC victory, LCR will swiftly move to ensure compliance in Holden and other recalcitrant jurisdictions to ensure compliance with the law. Click here and here for more information about the lawsuit against Holden.
LCR has been joined in its efforts to enforce the MBTA Communities Act by the law firm of Brown Rudnick LLP on a pro bono basis.