Foxboro officials launch MBTA Communities Act information tour | Local News

City officials have begun a hearing to drum up support for the MBTA Communities Act, which requires affected cities and towns to create high-density development areas, preferably within a half-mile of commuter rail or rapid transit stations.

Catherine Feerick, Foxboro's director of land use and economic development, said this week she plans to hold a series of five public forums to gather city residents' views on the controversial state mandate.

Feerick said she hopes the upcoming hearings, which will be held every other Wednesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall through October, will help develop a development plan that will be adopted at the fall town meeting now scheduled for Nov. 18.

The first of these five meetings took place on Wednesday evening.

Feerick was hired last spring to fill the position vacated by City Manager Paige Duncan and is now leading Foxboro's second attempt to adopt the state's housing program, which requires the city to approve the construction of 1,152 family units.

“We're trying to take an approach that involves the citizens in the hopes that we get a district that complies with state regulations and also works for the city,” Feerick said during a press conference Tuesday night for select board members.

At the annual town hall meeting last May, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would have complied with the law by creating a new zoning district on a 20-acre parcel owned by the Kraft Group across from Gillette Stadium.

While that proposal would have consolidated all 1,152 needed units onto a single parcel of land on Route 1, other municipalities have chosen to split the proposed district into several scattered sites—which is permitted under certain circumstances.

“Personally, I am open to discussing other options,” Feerick said.

Such options would likely include the former Foxboro Terminals property or other Kraft-owned properties north of the commuter rail station.

Feerick indicated that the existing plans could be changed based on feedback from the hearings and said she intends to present two alternative plans to voters for consideration.

The law was signed by then-Governor Charlie Baker in 2021 to address the housing shortage that has contributed to some of the highest real estate prices and rents in the country. It specifically targets 177 communities that have either commuter rail and/or MBTA public transit, or border cities that do.

Most of these communities, including Foxboro, have until Dec. 31 to adopt zoning regulations that meet state expectations. Those that do not adopt compliant zoning regulations by year's end face the loss of grants and possible legal penalties.

This has already happened in Milton, where Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing Milton after voters rejected a rezoning plan that would have met its obligations under state law.

The state Supreme Court has taken up the Milton case and, depending on its findings, could require the city to cooperate or possibly send the law back to the Legislature for amendment or modification.

Although many of those attending the Foxboro town hall meeting objected in principle to the rezoning measure, others advocated a wait-and-see approach in the expectation that a decision in the Milton case would set a precedent.

However, according to Duncan, a final court decision is not expected before the fall meeting in Foxboro on November 18.

Others urged their fellow voters to approve the zoning, arguing that it was unlikely that housing would ever be created on land that would have greater potential value in future commercial development.

In such a scenario, the city could technically comply with the MBTA Communities Act while avoiding or at least minimizing its impacts.

On Tuesday evening, elected board member William Yukna contradicted this portrayal.

“I'm saying it officially now and I don't really agree that we put it somewhere and then think it's not going to happen,” he said. “I think you have to plan that no matter where you put it, it's going to happen at some point.”

Yukna also said the city's residents have a right to know more precisely how much Foxboro would lose in state grants and other funding if the rezoning is rejected again next November.

“This needs to be explained extremely well so that everyone understands the requirements and rules,” he said.

Given that at least part of any potential rezoning would have to occur within a half-mile of the stadium's commuter rail station, Feerick suggested sending targeted circulars to area residents on the issue.

“They are the ones most affected by this process,” she said. “I think it is necessary that we reach out to them as a group.”

Feerick said that in addition to the five official hearings, she plans to speak informally with city residents about the issue at additional events in the coming weeks.

Residents who wish to comment on this issue are welcome to contact the Foxboro Land Use Office at 508-543-1250 or email them directly at [email protected].