Needham is set to vote on the controversial MBTA housing plan

By Olivia Peters 

Needham residents force a referendum on the new MBTA housing plan. 

Residents of Needham, a western Massachusetts suburb of 32,000, will soon vote on a new housing plan. This new plan will satisfy the new MBTA Communities law.

Last month, a town meeting approved a plan to build taller and denser housing closer to Commuter Rail stations. This week opponents of the new plan gathered enough signatures to force a referendum, expected to take place in January.

This will mark the second referendum over a town plan to meet the standards of the MBTA Communities law. The MBTA Communities law was created with the goal of bettering the state’s worsening housing crisis by requiring communities with access to the MBTA to make it easier to build multifamily houses.

There has been a significant amount of pushback by Massachusetts residents who expect to be affected by the new law. Earlier this year, voters in Milton were the first to reject the town’s plan to meet the requirements of the MBTA Communities law. Their rejection of the plan has started a legal battle with Attorney General Andrea Campbell that remains unresolved.

The Needham Town Clerk Louise Miller said her office has certified over the 3,750 signatures the opponents of the plan needed to force a referendum which is tentatively scheduled to take place on January 14.

The town is required by the new law to have a plan in place by the end of the year. If they fail to do so they could be found out of compliance with the law and risk their access to state grants and possibly legal action.