The MBTA Communities Act meeting is this Wednesday at 7 pm. We hope you will attend (virtually or in person) and SPEAK UP. The train has left the (virtual) station and is now lumbering down the track, possibly inexorably.

More details on that, but first…

Why this Matters

Your home is quite possibly your biggest financial investment. And the MBTA Communities Act, a sweeping state mandate, has the potential to affect the value of your house and forever change the character of your neighborhood—not to mention the effects on schools, emergency services, traffic, infrastructure, and more.

Tomorrow’s meeting is to introduce concepts, with meetings in July to rapidly finalize concepts that likely are not acceptable to many of us.

What’s Happening?

Reading—unless it rejects the Act, as other towns have done—must re-zone for 1,493 new housing units. How that is implemented is the big question.

To date, we have been displeased with the Community Development Director Andrew MacNichols’ approach and characterization of citizens’ concerns and feedback.

He is, in fact, openly disdainful of many residents’ views, calling them ‘exclusionary’ and in service of ‘insidious goals.’

You can read his full memo here.

The Town’s approach to compliance has been much more expansive than the approaches already approved in Burlington and Winchester, with a similar proposal on the table in Woburn. [Paging Andrew: Are these towns havens of exclusionary people?]

If our neighbors are finding ways to slow down massive redevelopment or make it less likely, where will developers come? To Reading.

Think development will be concentrated by the train station and not in your neighborhood? Think again.

Per MacNichol, other areas being looked at are: “Salem St as a corridor and adjacent neighborhoods out towards REI; north Main St near Wood End School and Homegoods; near Calareso’s Market; and other school locations.”  [See page 4 of his memo.]

Our Commonsense Requests

Here is what Reading Votes has requested all along:

1. A minimally compliant approach that doesn’t allow for thousands more than 1,493 units.

Neighboring towns have accomplished this by various means, including zoning over existing housing complexes or light industrial zones to minimize the impact to their towns—but Andrew MacNichol characterizes requests to consider zoning outside his preferred zone to be towards the “insidious goal to ‘game the system’ of the law and zone in way to make any future housing improvements implausible.” [See page 3 of MacNichol’s memo.]

2. Require a certain percentage of affordable units.

If Reading overbuilds because of compliance with the MBTA Act—which does NOT require affordable housing—it runs the risk of having insufficient affordable housing stock in town. This opens the door for developers to swoop in, bypass red tape, and build big complexes using the 40B Act as justification.

What does MacNichol say in response? “While we have heard from some residents that they instead believe the creation of Affordable units should be prioritized above all else in the district, it remains unclear to staff if this is a widely held view, or just one being taken up by a few to protect Reading’s exclusionary single-family zoning.” [See page 6.]

MacNichol and town leadership have not been receptive to these commonsense requests, perhaps because they view single-family zoning and affordability as “exclusionary.” Go figure!

Action Requested!

We are concerned that the Town is not taking on board citizen feedback and is barreling towards its preferred solution. We’d also appreciate for the town planners, who are paid by our taxes, to respect various points of view and not impugn the character and motivations of those who disagree.

1) Please attend Wednesday’s meeting.

JUNE 12th, 7:00PM – Concept Introductions and Feedback 

Location: Reading High Memorial High School Library & Zoom
Zoom Meeting Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83970068739
Zoom Meeting ID: 839 7006 8739 

2) Please send written feedback to: readingmbtac@ci.reading.ma.us; selectboard@ci.reading.ma.us; and your Town Meeting reps.

For more information on the MBTA Act in Reading and future meetings: https://www.readingma.gov/826/MBTA-Communities-3A-Process

Our previous coverage of MBTA Communities is here.

Do you have any other suggestions, ideas, or concerns? Let us know.

Sincerely,

Reading Votes