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Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said her office will take enforcement action by the end of January against municipalities that remain noncompliant with the state’s MBTA Communities law .
“I appreciate the question — we are on top of this right now. I think it’s about 165 municipalities out of 177 that have come in to compliance or that have adopted compliant zoning,” Campbell said during an appearance on GBH Radio Jan. 13. “And so there are a small number of municipalities that have not, as of yet, we gave folks to the end of January based on our guidance last year to come into compliance, and those that do not, we will take action as appropriate by the end of the month.”
He added, “And so just stay tuned. We’re evaluating those options, and we’ll have something certainly by the end of this month.”
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Campbell did not specify what enforcement mechanisms her office is considering or name which municipalities remain out of compliance. The attorney general’s statement comes nearly five years after former Gov. Charlie Baker signed the MBTA Communities Act into law as part of a larger economic bond package in 2021.
The 2021 law requires 177 cities and towns that host or are adjacent to MBTA service to zone for multifamily housing by right in at least one reasonably sized district. The legislation aims to spur housing development across eastern Massachusetts by eliminating special permit requirements and discretionary review processes that have historically limited multifamily construction.
As of Jan. 8, 165 of the 177 communities have either achieved compliance or secured interim or conditional compliance status from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. That leaves approximately 12 communities facing potential enforcement action if they remain noncompliant after the January deadline.
The noncompliant towns are Carver, Dracut, East Bridgewater, Freetown, Halifax, Holden, Marblehead, Middleton, Rehoboth, Tewksbury, Wilmington and Winthrop. All faced compliance deadlines of either July 14, 2025 or Dec. 31, 2025.
Campbell’s office issued guidance to cities and towns in July 2025 warning that lawsuits could begin in January 2026. The guidance emphasized that five years provided “ample time — and considerable state support — to establish the legally mandated zoning.”
“By that point, every MBTA Community will have had ample time — and considerable state support — to establish the legally mandated zoning,” the Attorney General‘s Office wrote in July. “Because facilitating additional residential housing development is a foremost state priority — in the interests of those who reside in the Commonwealth and those who hope to, and essential to the success of our state economy — five years is more than sufficient time for each community to have achieved compliance.”
The guidance noted that rezoning represents only an initial step toward building needed housing, with construction and permitting processes requiring additional time. “The remaining steps will take time before additional housing is built, and we have no time to waste in addressing the Commonwealth’s continued housing shortage; nor in addressing impediments to that important work,” the office wrote.
Campbell has previously demonstrated willingness to use litigation to enforce the law. Nearly two years ago, the attorney general sued the town of Milton after voters rejected an MBTA Communities zoning plan. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court later upheld the law’s constitutionality while ordering the Healey administration to redo the regulatory process.
A Superior Court judge ruled in June 2025 that the MBTA Communities Act is not an unfunded mandate, turning aside a lawsuit brought by nine municipalities including two that remain noncompliant.
Marblehead stands among the 12 communities facing potential enforcement action after a turbulent year of zoning debates. Town Meeting voters approved an initial MBTA overlay May 6, 2025 by a vote of 951-759, after rejecting a similar plan 410-377 in May 2024. Two months later, a citizen-initiated referendum overturned the bylaw 3,642-3,297, leaving Marblehead ineligible for certain competitive state grant programs.
Town officials submitted a revised proposal to the state Dec. 2 for preliminary review. The new plan centers the required multifamily housing district on the 32 acres of Tedesco Country Club located in Marblehead rather than residential neighborhoods that generated opposition to the previous plan. The district pairs the country club acreage with a small portion of the nearby Glover smart-growth district on the Swampscott line.
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities sent Marblehead a three-page letter Jan. 8 identifying six technical issues that must be addressed before the town can achieve compliance. Housing officials flagged conflicts between existing town bylaws and MBTA Communities requirements, including an equipment noise provision requiring special permits that violates the law’s as-of-right development mandate.
State officials also questioned whether a key property on Tedesco Street has sufficient frontage and access on a public way in Marblehead, which could affect the district’s unit capacity calculations if the parcel cannot be developed as of right. Additional concerns involve unit size restrictions that conflict with state regulations, discretionary parking requirements for visitor spaces and inconsistencies between dimensional standards and the compliance model.
Planning Board member Marc Liebman said initial feedback suggests the plan has merit. “We received initial feedback that shows our plan has merit,” Liebman said. “We have a couple details to work out, but nothing we can’t handle.”
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said in fall 2025 the goal is placing an MBTA zoning article on the warrant for the May 2026 annual Town Meeting. Marblehead is designated as an adjacent community with 8,965 existing housing units according to the 2020 census and must create a district with capacity for at least 897 multifamily units on a minimum of 27 acres.
