Petition Prompts Special Election

November 25, 2024
• A group of residents successfully gathered the required signatures to hold a referendum, where advocates hope to overturn the zoning articles passed at the October Town Meeting.

Needham Residents for Thoughtful Zoning submitted a petition to bring Needham’s rezoning plan to a townwide vote, which may compromise the town’s ability to receive millions of dollars in state funds. The Select Board will meet tonight to set a date for the election, which will likely be held Jan. 14.

The NRTZ, a citizen advocacy organization, opposes the Neighborhood Housing Plan, which exceeded the minimum housing unit requirement issued by the state and passed at Town Meeting 118-90. NRTZ prefers the Base Plan, which complies with the minimum requirement with 1,870 zoned units.

In order to repeal the Neighborhood Housing Plan, 20% of registered voters — about 5,019 people — must vote to do so, and as with any election, those votes must outnumber the votes to preserve the plan. More than 4,000 people signed the NRTZ’s petition.

For context, about 20% of voters cast their ballots in the April town election.

Overturning the NHP, however, also overturns the Base Plan — at Town Meeting, the NHP passed in the form of two amendments to the Base Plan, meaning the two plans are inseparably linked.

If voters choose to repeal the zoning, Town Counsel Chris Heep told the Planning Board that “you’ve got to start over from scratch.” That would involve referrals to and from the Select Board, a public hearing process and a report before the next Town Meeting, which would occur in February, March or later into the spring. A tentative draft timeline shared by the Select Board slates a potential Special Town Meeting for Feb. 24.

The MBTA Communities Act requires municipalities serviced by the public transit agency to zone for a specific number of multi-family housing units, most of which must reside within half a mile of the MBTA station or stop.

Communities must comply with the mandate by Dec. 31, and now with a referendum to be scheduled, Needham will fall out of compliance Jan. 1. The approved NHP is not on file with the state and cannot be finalized until 20 days pass without a petition or until an election is held, Heep said.

The state sued the town of Milton for defying the requirement. It’s unclear when or if the state might bring a similar lawsuit to Needham. More than 100 municipalities have approved zoning dictated by the MBTA Communities Act as of Nov. 21, according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

The state also enforces the law by suspending funding sources. For Needham, that could result in the loss of more than $20 million, much of which would go toward the reconstruction of part of Highland Avenue. Deputy Town Manager Katie King said the state considers that funding between January and March, adding that the project has been “a longstanding town priority.”

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss also pledged he would withhold funding requests from communities in his district that fail to meet the MBTA compliance. Those requests are typically due in March. Other funding may also be in jeopardy, as the recently passed economic development bill includes some grant programs that require community compliance.

Funding for the Pollard Middle School renovation does not appear to be compromised due to non-compliance, King said, but that could change.

The ballot question will likely read: “Shall the Town vote to amend the Needham Zoning By-Law as set forth in Articles 8 and 9 of the October 21, 2024 Special Town Meeting Warrant, including the amendments set forth in Articles 10 and 11?” A “yes” vote would preserve the Town Meeting vote, while a “no” vote would overturn it.

The NRTZ is encouraging voters to vote “no.” After the vote, the group said that Town Meeting “can be scheduled quickly” to reinstate the Base Plan.

“We trust the residents of Needham to understand the zoning proposals and to decide what is best for our town,” the group wrote in a statement. “We encourage everyone to get the facts.”

The last time Needham held a referendum was in 1979, when citizens petitioned to repeal zoning for the North Hill property that passed at Town Meeting. In that town vote, 35% of residents showed up to the polls, and while the “no” votes succeeded, they failed to garner the 20% threshold required, meaning the Town Meeting vote stood.