Medway Finds its Voice in MBTA Resistance

So far, according to Medway Select Board member Dennis Crowley, it’s been nothing but silence from the state in regard to a letter the town sent back in July.

The letter was written by the Select Board to Governor Maura Healey, prompted by a referendum question on the May town election ballot, which asked voters whether the Board should write, asking for a repeal of the MBTA Zoning Law. The decision to send the letter was supported by an overwhelming vote of 405-105.

So far, nothing but crickets.

But pushback by one town may be encouraging others. This month, it has been reported that citizens in Winthrop, a suburb that lives cheek-by-jowl with Logan Airport, are also trying to red light mandates that they accept even more growth on their densely packed, traffic-ridden peninsula.

The cheekiest act of resistance to the law, so far, came in February, when Milton citizens voted narrowly to disobey the MBTA zoning law, which mandates that 177 communities nominally served by the transit agency, take steps to allow or encourage increased, denser, housing development, regardless of local laws or preferences. The stick used by the state to force change has been to cut scofflaws from some state funding and, it turns out for Milton, also drawing the ire of Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who promptly took legal action against the town.

Medway’s letter, almost courtly in tone, was addressed to Healey as well as Senate President Karen Spilka, AG Andrea Campbell, and State Reps, Jeff Roy and Mike Soter.

It reads as follows:

In April of this year, due to the significant debate that has surrounded the implementation of the guidelines for the MBTA Communities Act, the Town of Medway Select Board voted to place a non-binding referendum question on Medway’s 2024 Annual Election ballot as follows:

Shall the Select Board be directed to send a letter of community opposition to the so-called MBTA Communities Zoning Act to Senator Karen Spilka, Representative Jeffrey Roy, Representative Michael Soter, Governor Maura Healey, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and request their collective efforts in repealing the legislation and regulations imposed upon Medway and other affected communities?

Meanwhile, in Franklin, town government largely embraced the state mandate and has taken steps to stay in compliance. But there, and in many other communities, steps are being taken to form citizen groups that aim to join a consolidated Class Action Lawsuit.

In the lead has been Chelmsford, a community that initially seemed poised to say no to the state, but then reluctantly went along for the ride. Now, a north shore lawyer, working on a pro bono basis, is rallying groups there and in several other communities, to fight the measure legally, arguing that it actually violates the state’s own constitution with regard to rights and powers reserved to towns.

When or if these efforts will bear fruit, remains to be seen. For now, Medway at least, has spoken.