THE VOTE IS COMING!

The MBTA Communities Act, aka 3A, is a state law that requires towns served by the MBTA to create new zoning to allow for more housing to be built. It’s not a law that requires that housing to be built—but it does require Greater Boston towns to contribute to solving our area’s housing crisis. On November 18th (with possible sessions over the next two days), Belmont Town Meeting will be voting to approve the Planning Board’s proposed map; and on an amendment that would swap one part of that map for another area. We favor the amendment (Map Two) because we think it will lead to more housing and clean up an industrial site that is unlikely to be replaced by another commercial use any time soon unless housing is included. But most of all, we favor approval of either one of the maps and compliance with the law. See our (More!) Homes front page to get to some basic links; the town’s epic repository of 3A information can be found here.

We’re housing advocates: if we’d drawn these maps ourselves, they would have had… more housing! But we were glad to take part in a process that involved many folks, including people who had lots of concerns about new housing, and combined many opinions and interests into the final map. We think the map represents a reasonable compromise between many points of view, while complying with the law, and we think it deserves your support—and your Town Meeting Member’s support. If you agree that we need more housing in Belmont, contact Town Meeting Members from your precinct to let them know.