Voters in Holden overwhelmingly rejected compliance with the state’s MBTA Communities Act on Monday night, killing a proposal to allow by-right zoning for multi-family housing.
The vote shut down the proposal by a more than a two-to-one margin, and the town now faces a lawsuit by the state attorney general.
“This was the second time that we’ve put a proposal before our town meeting and it’s the second that it’s been rejected. So I think they’re ideologically opposed to the concept no matter what,” Holden Town Manager Peter Lukes said.
In May, the town voted down a rezoning proposal that would have satisfied the requirements of the 2021 law, intended to spur transit-friendly housing in the state. At the time, Lukes warned residents of expected penalties of non-compliance.
Holden is among a handful of towns that have sought to defy the law. The town of Milton initially resisted the state rezoning law, but acquiesced after a lawsuit by the Attorney General. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled in January 2025 in that case that the MBTA Communities Act is constitutional and mandatory for communities.
“Massachusetts has an urgent housing crisis and every municipality must do their part to help solve it,” Attorney General Campbell said in a statement to GBH News. “I will continue working to ensure all MBTA Communities, including Holden, meet their legal responsibility, and my office remains ready to assist any town working to come into compliance with the law.”
In late January, Campbell filed a lawsuit against nine municipalities, including Holden, for non-compliance with the law. Her office was waiting for the town’s vote to play out before moving forward against Holden.
The law requires 177 municipalities in the state that are served by or adjacent to transit to change their zoning to allow construction of multi-family housing by-right, and mandating a minimum density of housing.
Jacob Love with the housing advocacy organization Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association said he wasn’t surprised by Holden’s vote.
“Holden will ultimately have to achieve zoning compliance one way or another,” he said. “The only thing that remains to be seen is whether the town does so voluntarily or as the result of a court order.”
But Love underscored the success of the law in creating housing. To date, 165 out of 177 MBTA Communities have come into compliance, and recent data shows that the law has already spurred projects to create nearly 7,000 more homes across 34 communities.
“For the commonwealth to dig itself out of its current affordable housing shortage, it’s incumbent on all MBTA communities to do their part and rezone. The sooner that happens, the better the housing market will be for all Bay State residents,” Love said.
In addition to lawsuits, noncompliant communities face the loss of some state funding, specifically grants for infrastructure projects.
Still, Lukes acknowledges that Holden residents may never be persuaded to vote for compliance.
“At this point, it really doesn’t look like something would pass no matter how appealing it might be to some, or how much we think it would be effective,” said Lukes. “With a margin of loss that great as it was last night I don’t know if we can pass anything.”
