Supreme Court to Rule on MBTA Communities Act Lawsuit

The attorney general's lawsuit seeking to force the town of Milton to comply with the 2021 MBTA Communities Act which is intended to stimulate badly needed housing production in the state will go before the Supreme Court in fall 2024.

Justice Serge Georges ruled that the case raises important questions that ought to be settled or else they will keep popping up and ordered both sides to prepare for oral arguments before all seven justices of the Supreme Court in October 2024.

Milton Town Meeting approved a plan that would have complied with the law, but opponents of the changes worried about excess development pursued a referendum, and a majority of Milton voters last month chose to defeat the compliance plan. As a result, the state immediately revoked a $140,8000 grant and said that the town would be ineligible to receive future MassWorks and HousingWorks grants, and will be at a competitive disadvantage for other state funding.