Housing and Research

Multi-Family Zoning Requirement for MBTA Communities (Section 3A)

Section 3A of M.G.L. c. 40A (the Zoning Act) requires that an MBTA community shall have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and that meets other criteria set forth in the statute.

Enacted as part of the economic development bill in January 2021, new Section 3A of M.G.L. c. 40A (the Zoning Act) requires that an MBTA community shall have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right and that meets other criteria set forth in the statute.

SRPEDD is working with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) and Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) to provide technical assistance and resources to its member communities affected by Section 3A.

Key Dates and Deadlines

By January 31, 2023, all MBTA Communities must submit a timeline and an Action Plan to EOHLC to achieve interim compliance.

By December 31, 2024, all Commuter Rail and Adjacent (non-Small Town) Communities must submit an application for district compliance, "which is achieved when EOHLC determines that an MBTA community has a multi-family zoning district that complies with Section 3A."

By July 14, 2025, all Commuter Rail and Adjacent (non-Small Town) Communities that had not previously submitted for district compliance by the 12/31/24 deadline must submit an application to EOHLC.

By December 31, 2025, all Adjacent Small Town Communities must submit an application for district compliance.

Have a question about the new law or technical assistance (TA) to achieve compliance?

Please email one of our staff contacts with your question and we will be in touch. You may also explore "3A-TA" opportunities from EOHLC, MHP, and other sources by clicking here.

Important Links

Final Regulations

The final regulations (760 CMR 72.00) were released on April 11th, 2025.

District Compliance Application

Apply for District Compliance with EOHLC.

Milton Decision

Read the Supreme Judicial Court's decision on Attorney General v. Town of Milton.

MGL c.40A sec. 3A

Read the statute "Multi-family zoning as-of-right in MBTA communities."

SRPEDD Section 3A Resources

Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) Webinar Series

SRPEDD is proud to have presented two webinars in MHP's webinar series "More Than Compliance: Multifamily Districts That Work in Your Community." Our presentations and accompanying StoryMaps for our two webinars, "Exploring Housing at Different Densities" and "Siting Your District for Adjacent Communities," are linked below.

For more information or to inquire about the webinar series, please contact Grant King or Taylor Perez.

Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities' Presentation to SRPEDD MBTA Communities

On November 14th, 2022, EOHLC's Chris Kluchman and Nathan Carlucci presented and facilitated a Q&A session with SRPEDD MBTA communities on Section 3A. To review the slides click here.

Exploring Densities Storymap

Siting Districts Storymap

What communities are affected?

Currently, 17 of SRPEDD's 27 member communities are subject to the requirements set forth in Section 3A. While several communities in the SRPEDD region are affected by the construction of new commuter rail stations under the South Coast Rail project, only communities identified as an “MBTA community” in Section 1A of the Zoning Act and Section 1 of Chapter 161A of the General Laws are subject to the requirements set forth in Section 3A. Of those communities, transit categories were assigned to reflect certain MBTA service changes that will result from new infrastructure projects now under construction (i.e. South Coast Rail), as well as the elimination of regular commuter rail service at the existing Lakeville station. These changes are scheduled to take effect in all cases a year or more before any municipal district compliance deadline.

On January 1st, 2023, SRPEDD member communities Fall River and New Bedford were added to the legislation as MBTA Communities per the results of their local referendums to join the MBTA service district.

Project Spotlight

District Siting Tool for Rural MBTA Communities

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Ongoing Technical Assistance

SRPEDD has provided technical assistance to a number of its member communities. Below is a list of ongoing work:

Berkley: Bylaw Development

List of Previous work:

Carver: Pathways to Compliance
Freetown: Bylaw Development
Lakeville: Bylaw Review
Middleborough: Bylaw Review
Norton: Bylaw Development
Plympton: Bylaw Development
Raynham: Bylaw Development
Rochester: Bylaw Review
Seekonk: Bylaw Review
Taunton: Ordinance Review
Wareham: Bylaw Review

Please contact Taylor Perez if you have questions about technical assistance.

Statewide Compliance Statuses

Use the map below to view MBTA Communities compliance status of municipalities throughout the Commonwealth. Compliance data is publicly available from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

This map is current as of July 11th, 2025. Click on a community to learn more about its compliance status.