Massachusetts Attorney General sues nine MBTA-area towns, seeking court orders to enforce multifamily zoning mandates

Lawsuit targets communities still out of compliance after state deadline

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed suit on Thursday, January 29, 2026, against nine municipalities that the state says have not met the requirements of the MBTA Communities Law, a 2021 mandate intended to increase housing opportunities near public transit.

The complaint names Dracut, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Holden, Marblehead, Middleton, Tewksbury, Wilmington, and Winthrop. The attorney general’s office is asking the court to declare that each community must adopt a compliant zoning district and submit a district compliance application to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

What the MBTA Communities Law requires

The MBTA Communities Law, signed in January 2021, applies to municipalities served by the MBTA. It requires each covered city or town to create at least one zoning district of a reasonable size where multifamily housing is permitted “as of right,” meaning projects that meet zoning rules can proceed without needing special permits.

State officials have emphasized that the law provides local discretion in how communities design their district, including where it is located and how it is configured, so long as it meets the statutory and regulatory requirements.

Deadlines, compliance numbers, and the state’s enforcement push

The attorney general’s office said the nine towns were required to have compliant zoning districts in place by July 14, 2025, and did not do so. The state has framed the lawsuit as an enforcement step after years of implementation and recent warnings that legal action could follow if municipalities continued to miss required milestones.

State officials reported that 165 of 177 communities subject to the law have come into compliance, and that implementation has already been associated with projects that would add nearly 7,000 homes across 34 communities.

Legal backdrop: courts have upheld mandatory compliance

The litigation arrives after multiple legal challenges to the MBTA Communities Law. In earlier cases brought by several municipalities, a Superior Court judge rejected arguments that the statute constituted an “unfunded mandate,” describing the claimed financial impacts as speculative based on the evidence presented in that litigation.

Separately, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the law’s constitutionality in a case involving the town of Milton, a decision that state officials have cited as confirming that compliance is mandatory.

What happens next

The lawsuit seeks a court order compelling the nine municipalities to establish compliant multifamily zoning districts and complete the required submission to state housing officials. The case will proceed in court, where the towns will have an opportunity to respond and the judge will determine next steps, including any deadlines or remedies ordered.

• Towns named in the lawsuit: Dracut, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Holden, Marblehead, Middleton, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Winthrop

• Key compliance date cited by the state: July 14, 2025

• Filing date: January 29, 2026

The MBTA Communities Law requires at least one zoning district where multifamily housing is allowed without special permits, within municipalities served by the MBTA.