Residents Seek Answers at MBTA Communities Hearing

September 9, 2024
• The Planning Board gathered input on the two proposed zoning plans to be heard at Town Meeting, resulting in lingering questions and a quest for clarity.

As Needham prepares to vote on compliance with the MBTA Communities Act — the state-wide zoning mandate intended, in part, to address the commonwealth’s housing shortage — some suggested the need to move slowly, while others emphatically support more robust change.

The Housing Needham Advisory Group, or HONE, drafted the rezoning proposals and passed their two plans onto the Planning Board, which held a public hearing on the matter Thursday.

At Town Meeting this October, residents will consider the two plans: the Base Plan, which covers the minimum requirements issued by the state, and the Neighborhood Housing Plan, which allows for greater density and thereby more housing units. The Base Plan has a capacity for 1,924 units and the NHP has a capacity for 3,350 units.

Current zoning includes 775 existing units with a unit capacity of 1,019 units and, with special permitting, a capacity for 1,636 units.

The MBTA Communities Act requires communities with or near public transit access to zone for multi-family housing, a portion of which must be within half a mile of a Commuter Rail station or other transit station, like a bus stop. For Needham, 1,784 units must be zoned within that station area. The deadline to comply with the state is Dec. 31.

While a majority of residents voiced their support for some action on zoning, others expressed apprehension, arguing the town is moving too quickly on compliance, especially as some municipalities are fighting the constitutionality of the law.

Town Meeting Member Gary Ajamian said the town should “move carefully,” as he feels the legal challenges to the law “could have strong merit.” The effort to meet compliance by the end of the year, he said, feels like a “race towards an artificially imposed deadline.”

Resident Kevin Albert understands the mandate in place, but said he feels there’s “no need to rush” and doesn’t approve of overcompliance. Albert proposed revisiting the project in several years to observe the accuracy of the projections and possibly take action then.

Fred Sewall, of Central Avenue, echoed those sentiments, to ample applause.

“Why don’t we wait to approve this if we have to, otherwise we can do the zoning that we want to do as Needhamites without state interference, without a state mandate, without being told what we have to do in Needham, our town,” Sewall said. “Once it’s done, it’s done. There’s no going back on that. There’s no reason to rush, is what I’m saying.”

But members of Needham High School’s Social and Political Activism Club offered a counterpoint, advocating for drastic rezoning in an attempt to provide housing for younger people, local workers and others who otherwise couldn’t afford Needham.

Zoning for more housing would enable the town to grow and welcome future residents, NHS student Matt Shusterman said.

“Just think about how much we love Needham, how much we love the people around you and how much the community supports us,” Shusterman said, “and we can just bring that to so many other people who don’t have that.”

Under the Base Plan’s 1,924 possible units, 465 of them would likely be built, according to a propensity for change model HONE used. For the NHP, 1,342 units of the zoned 3,350 would likely be built.

Henry Ragin, a Town Meeting member and vocal supporter of the NHP, said people may be thrown off by those numbers, but the process would be slow, and he believes more diversity is a positive.

“People have talked about, ‘This will change Needham.’ My answer is: Good,” Ragin said. “It’s a good town, it’s a good place to live. I bought two houses here. I’m glad to live here, raise kids here, all the same stuff. But there’s nothing wrong with changing it either.”

Recent updates to the proposed school enrollment projections — should the zoning result in actual housing — seemed to concern some residents. After updating the formula to calculate school enrollment, the number of possible students at Needham Public Schools increased. About 62 students would likely enter NPS under the likely Base Plan build out, versus 171 with the NHP.

Deputy Town Manager Katie King indicated the schools would still have capacity for those students in the NPS preferred master plan. However, under the NHP likely scenario, the capacity of 1,800 students would be exceeded by 11 students, King said.

Lifelong Needhamite Ann Fox expressed concern over a perceived lack of transparency regarding those estimates, and resident Christine Urban called the possible enrollment numbers “a little shaky.”

For Urban, enrollment might be the biggest impact out of this zoning, as it comes with increased costs for students and stress on existing issues like outdated school facilities. Urban said she thinks the enrollment predictions — which estimate there to be .13 students for every two-bedroom unit — are too low.

“The bottom line on this is that the new numbers at 13 per 100 make sense, but if they’re off by six kids, at 19 students per 100, those numbers go negative,” Urban said of the town finances. “The fiscal impact of six kids switches over all that positive, rosy glow into a negative that we’re going to be paying taxes for.”

The town said there will be a positive fiscal impact under all the plans and their likely build-outs.

Affordable housing developer Geoff Engler, also a Needham resident, said he feels single-family homes generate significantly more students than one to two-bedroom units. As a proponent of the NHP, Engler said he’d prefer to see a “far more aggressive” plan that would rezone for even more units, given the urgent need for housing. Currently, nearly 50% of Needham households contribute students.

Still, Engler said he feels it’s still unlikely that the 3,000-some units under the NHP would ever materialize.

James Goldstein, a member of Progressive Needham’s steering committee, said he, too, believes the actual housing production would be significantly less than what is proposed, but he stressed the need to pass the NHP.

“We are well aware of the housing crisis in town and throughout the region. We believe it is critical for Needham to create opportunities for the development of a range of multi-family housing in Needham at a variety of price points and sizes that will be more attainable for more people,” Goldstein said. “More housing choices are critical to help serve seniors, young people and families, and our regional workforce.”

Under the MBTA Communities Act, the Planning Board would be unable to deny a developer’s application if it complies with the zoning, since multi-family housing would be allowed by right. The board could, however, apply conditions to the project, and it must meet codes and other requirements, but they would be unable to obstruct the project in any way.

Needham’s plans also indicate that 12.5% of new units in buildings containing six or more units be restricted for affordable housing, exceeding the state’s 10% threshold.

While more housing is a good thing, Ken Buckley, of Warren Street, took issue with the MBTA Communities Law itself, saying it’s “invented” by the state and that the guidelines don’t seem to offer real affordability. Buckley believes the town should delay the vote this fall.

“Why aren’t we taking the heart and the spirit of Needham, which produces all the affordable developments we have now, and actually do that instead of trying to comply with a law that really is a developer’s dream,” Buckley said, “because we’re going to make all these things large so that we can produce a lot of units that they can develop a lot of rent from [which] will keep going up over time.”

With the hearing closed, the Planning Board will return to make a recommendation on the zoning before finalizing the warrant Sept. 24.

Come October, Town Meeting members will consider four articles related to the rezoning effort. The first article, dedicated to creating a multi-family overlay district, must pass in order for the town to consider the NHP. The first night of Town Meeting is Oct. 21, after which the state will hold a final review — if Needham passes at least one of the proposed plans.