By MAUREEN DOHERTY

NORTH READING — The race to the Town Meeting finish line regarding discussions on whether the town should adopt the MBTA Communities Act began Monday night at a joint meeting of the Select Board and Community  Planning Commission (CPC).

They were joined by the town’s legislative delegation, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and  House Minority Leader Brad Jones, as well as Town Counsel Jonathan Eichman of KP Law.

The two boards also had three other agenda items to address. The CPC currently has a vacancy due to the recent resignation of longtime member Ryan Carroll as he and his family have moved from town.

The two boards will jointly appoint an interim member who will serve until the next Town Election in May, at which time a seat will become available for a candidate to fill the remainder of Carroll’s term. An advertisement is posted in today’s Transcript detailing how to apply for the position.

The two boards also jointly appointed a full member and two associate members to the Economic Development Committee (EDC). By 9-0 votes, the following appointments were made: Maria Freccero (full) for a term expiring Sept. 9, 2027; Vincenzo Stuto (associate) for a term expiring May 31, 2025; and Caitlyn Sullivan (associate) for a term expiring Sept. 9, 2027.

And it was also decided that there would not be enough time for a warrant article to be included for consideration at October Town Meeting on Accessory Dwelling Units, which the state has allowed by right following passage of the law on August 6 to go into effect Feb. 2, 2025. Local communities can add parameters to the law to provide guidance to the building inspector and homeowners. The matter will likely be the subject of a Special Town Meeting in either December or January.

3A/MBTA Communities Act

Both Sen. Tarr and Rep. Jones recalled how the new zoning law known as the MBTA Communities Act came into being in Jan. 2021 as part of a much larger financial relief package during Covid. Tarr said the multimillion dollar bond bill was “multifaceted” and required a two-thirds vote of both branches due to the bonding aspect. Tarr admitted that the other provisions of the bill were “tremendously beneficial” to communities, therefore, amendments he and Jones have proposed to make the MBTA bill more palatable have been rejected. “Our amendments have been overwhelming rejected so there isn’t much appetite to overturn it,” he said of the MBTA provisions.

For instance, both Jones and Tarr have proposed amendments that would allow communities to take their unique wastewater and drinking water issues into consideration when siting the high-density housing in 177 communities and reduce the 15-unit per acre statute “but those were sweepingly rejected,” according to Tarr, adding, “It is fair to say there will not be any legislative change in this session or the next legislative session” regarding the MBTA Communities Act.

CPC Chairman David Rudloff asked the town consider what is at stake. The state will take away grant privileges from towns that don’t comply. From his perspective, in the past nine years the town has received $3.2M in grants. When divided between nearly 6,000 taxable parcels in town that is an average of $57, Rudloff said. “I don’t want this vote sitting with us, a five-member board,” he said, adding “…we have a lot of respect for the voters of this town” and he wants it to go to Town Meeting floor.

Others mentioned that there would be future grants on the horizon for much larger projects that may be put at risk as they are competitive and awarded on a point system. Jones said he was worried that additional grants may get added to that list in the future for which a town not in compliance will become ineligible.

Stuto stated this was the beginning of town wide discussions on the matter and pointed out that a very important public hearing would be held by the CPC next Tuesday, Sept. 17 on this issue, followed by the Select Board’s public hearing on the warrant articles on Monday, Sept. 30 and the vote on town meeting floor. He advised the townspeople to get involved.

Click here for a list of FAQ’s addressed by Town Counsel Jonathan Eichman on the MBTA Communities Act.