With just over two months left in the year, 15 towns in Massachusetts are not in compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, raising the possibility that they could face legal consequences. 

The law, designed to boost the stock of affordable housing, affects any community that has an MBTA stop. Communities with an MBTA station in a neighboring city or town are also impacted. The law requires communities to have zoning which allows for multi-family housing within a half-mile of public transit.

"Some towns that don't have a tradition of multifamily housing, we're talking 3-deckers, apartment buildings, things like that, they don't necessarily want to do that," said Mike Deehan of Axios Boston, who has been tracking the pushback. "They want to keep it more single-family."

Objections to MBTA Communities Law

But there are other objections. In Dracut, voters rejected the zones identified by town leaders. Opponents in Winthrop believe their town is crowded enough.

Middleboro objected at first because it would have to give up local control.

"Who knows better what makes sense in Middleboro? Middleboro residents, or the state?" said town manager James McGrail. 

His town challenged the act in court. Middleboro made a deal with the state after negotiations, brokered by the town's legislative representatives and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll. But the town faced consequences before that deal was struck.

"We were ineligible for a number of grants," McGrail said. "There was a million-dollar MassWorks grant that was rescinded."

Enforcing the law

Deehan says that's the state's first wave of enforcement.

"A lot of subsidies that flow into municipalities for, you know, for housing, for public housing, for affordable housing, things like that, that spigot can be turned off," he said. "That's the carrot and the stick of the MBTA Communities Act."

Towns that are already in compliance are starting to see benefits. Greg Reibman, the president and CEO of the Charles River Regional Chamber, points to a project underway in Needham.

"This building has been empty for years. They've tried in a long time to, do something there, and now it's moving forward, with will be almost 200 homes for people," he said.

The towns listed as not being compliant are Dracut, East Bridgewater, Freetown, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Holden, Marblehead, Marshfield, Middleton, Tewksbury, Weston, Wilmington, Winthrop and Wrentham. Click here to see your town's status with the MBTA Communities Act.