Vote On MBTA Law On Rezoning

There is an upcoming town meeting on Tuesday, June 2 that seriously affects our rural town. The residents voted 241 to 186 at the last town meeting in November 2025 to not adopt the state's MBTA Communities Act which would require us to change our zoning to allow for multi-family housing "as of right." "As of right" means multi-family housing would be allowed to go up in rezoned areas without special permits or other discretionary processes.

According to Jay Taleman - the town's legal counsel, "There was no requirement for affordable housing in the MBTA law", although other sources said 10% of units are income restricted. He also said that "it couldn't be all wetlands, but nothing about this statute protects or exempts compliance with local wetland laws, title 5 rules, or natural heritage which are endangered species.

Rehoboth is required to put up at least 250 units with a density of 15 units per acre. These units could be three stories high, minimum open space 20%, maximum lot coverage 80%. Even though the residents voted no in November, the town is putting it on the warrant to vote again on June 2. The previous overlay was on Spring St. This one is proposed for Barney Ave. near Route 6. The MBTA has been a hot topic in many communities, with residents and officials worried about the impact on town services - fire, police, traffic, budgets (including schools), community character and quality of life. There are some bills at the state level to revise or repeal the law, but nothing is guaranteed.

My biggest concern is once we change our zoning laws to allow multi-family housing, there is no turning back. If they are not built now, the change in zoning will allow developers to build in the future.

In regards to the Barney Ave. site, it is near the corner of Barney Ave and Route 6 where there have been many serious auto accidents. Another serious concern is the environmental impacts especially on our aquifer. Our source of water are wells. We don't have a reservoir. We don't know how much water we have recharged from snow, rain and underground sources. Recently we have been in an extended drought. Such high density could affect our resources of water.

Now to address the article in the April 2025 Rehoboth Reporter titled "Rehoboth Weighs Local Zoning Plan to Meet State Housing Law and Preserve Community Control - Unknown Author. There was a mention of the State's coming in to enforce compliance potentially selecting a location for the zoning district without local input. In my opinion, this is a scare tactic and to my knowledge hasn't been done in any city or town.

The author states that "Rehoboth risks losing access to certain state grants and funding programs". Yes, we would lose money in the short term, but if the rezoning law passes the town will lose much more - the strain and extra cost on town resources - the fire department, police, schools, water, traffic etc. and change the character of our "right to farm" community. Also the author states "the law is already in effect, meaning a local vote cannot overturn it, but we can vote NO to not comply along with about nine other towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Please come out to vote on June 2.

Joan Caouette