Shrewsbury, MASS--Next month, voters at large in Shrewsbury are set to affirm or overturn a zoning bylaw decision that puts the town in compliance with the MBTA Communities law. 

“First and foremost, it’s a constitutional law, “ town manager, Kevin Mizikar said. “It’s a valid law and the attorney general’s office has the ability to enforce it.”

The law requires cities and town in Massachusetts, with or near train stations, offer zoning for multi-family housing. A zoning bylaw, compliant with the MBTA Communities law, passed the town meeting in November. However, town voters filed a referendum to pause the decision. This marks the second referendum in town history. 

“It doesn’t happen often and its only available in communities where there is a representative town meeting, so in Shrewsbury we have 240 representatives who take on action of the legislative body,” Mizikar said. 

Mizikar said the designated zoning area achieves what he calls minimal compliance. It would provide zoning for a little more than 1,500 units located between Route 9 and Route 20. 

“We feel we were strategic in our approach because there was already interest there. So, while there would be additional housing, that housing is coming anyway in our opinion,” he said. “We’ve done our due diligence and put this zoning in an area where we believe our infrastructure can handle it.”

The Executive Office of Housing and Urban Development filed emergency regulations after the state’s highest court ruled the law is constitutional, but new guidelines must be published to make the law enforceable. Mizikar said these regulations offer more clarity for towns like Shrewsbury.

“One of the reasons we’ve always advocated for compliance is that we can control the outcome versus having the state come in and impose things that we think may not be in the best interest,” he said. “So, while it is a state mandate, it is better to take as much control over the process if we can.”

Cities and towns that don’t comply can lose out on money from several different state grant programs. In the last 5 years, Shrewsbury received nearly $7 million from those grant programs.

“We received a letter from the state letting us know that we are not able to receive a $25,000 grant that we use every year to replace turnout gear for the fire department,” Mizikar said. 

If the zoning does fail on February 4, Mizikar said the town will most likely try again at compliance at their annual town meeting in May.