Rockport residents challenge town’s plan to comply with MBTA zoning law

A group of residents is challenging Rockport’s attempt to comply with a state law requiring commuting communities to rezone near transit stops to allow for more housing, a federal suit shows.

Rockport is designated as a commuter rail community by the MBTA Communities Act, which was signed into law in 2021 by then-Gov. Charlie Baker. The seaside town has until the end of this year to formally comply with the law by rezoning at least one district within a half mile of public transit to allow for multi-family housing.

John Kolackovsky, along with other citizens and advocacy boards, filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of Rockport Sunday. It’s similar to another suit Kolackovsky filed in Essex Superior Court, the federal court documents say, against the town, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Attorney General Andrea Campbell.

The federal suit claims that when a Town Meeting vote approved a plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, it was with a simple majority, not a two-thirds majority. When that plan was found “insufficient to comply with the demands” from the state, the suit said Rockport’s additional zoning changes should be subject to a two-thirds vote under state law, not a simple majority.

The suit also says that Rockport’s plan creates zoning districts that are not uniform, which is not legal under state law. Kolackovsky and the other residents are claiming the original plan should comply with the state’s requirement.

“The Town deliberately opted to concentrate the high density housing in one narrow neighborhood strip,” the suit said, claiming all neighborhoods within a half mile of the train station weren’t all treated equally.

Milton, Marshfield won’t comply, and more communities are following suit

Three interested parties joined the suit — which was originally filed in Essex Superior Court in 2022 — on Friday. Residents representing advocacy groups from Hamilton, Wayland, and Wenham all filed motions to intervene, calling the MBTA Communities Act “unconstitutional” and “illegally enforced.”

Wayland Neighbors for Responsible Zoning said on their website that they’re joining with 20 other towns on the suit.

The MBTA Communities Act has already faced backlash from across the state. Milton is the only one of the 12 rapid transit communities to not comply with the law by the 2023 deadline. Campbell filed a suit against Milton, who will miss out on state dollars until they comply.

Last week, voters in Marshfield — categorized as an “adjacent community” — rejected a plan to comply with the law. 

“(The Attorney General’s Office) were also interested to know why people were opposed and I related what I heard,” Marshfield’s town counsel wrote in a statement after the vote. “I did offer the points of view espoused by many that the state was overbearing in acting to require this where the town has made significant progress towards affordable housing.”