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Milton Neighbors respond to “No” vote on MBTA Communities Act Zoning

Residents of Milton voted on February 14, 2024 on Question 1, related to approving zoning to include the MBTA Communities Multi-family Overlay District (see: Article 1 of the MBTA Communities Act Zoning)

Voter turnout was an extremely high 45%.

We asked Milton Neighbors what their thoughts are on the “No” vote.

Here were some of the responses:

“I am excited to see a new Planning Board plan!”

“I think this is an unfortunate mistake for Milton and that most voting NO don’t have any idea as to how it will affect them.”

“I have enough faith in Milton voters to believe that they made educated decisions on their own… I think both sides did a great job getting their message out to the Town. The voters spoke, that’s our system and I think it works.”

“Maybe the NOs can foot the legal bills while the yeses are exempt?”

“As a resident of Granite ave I have an exact idea how this will affect my family!”

“After almost 40 years here, having been involved in many town committees, fundraising, public schools, grass roots efforts, town meeting, warrant committee, etc, I am yet again disappointed by an important decision in Milton. Having been subjected, on many occasions, to the Townie mindset that if you aren’t from here you should shut your face. Despite all of the involvement and all of the work/time that I’ve poured into this town over those years, it is still surprising to see the Never Changers appear, lots of names that I’ve never heard or seen involved in any aspect of volunteering in this town, who make any excuse that might float with the goal of stymying change. Any change. Not a central playground, not a cafe/market on the west side, not inclusive zoning, not ADUs, not nothing. But underneath all of the same trite excuses and rationalizations is a deeper reason, particularly in East Milton. A quick look at a diversity map of the town will give some clarity. Exclusionary zoning for the win. As a friend of mine is wont to say, I grow tired. If your soul is happy with the travesty of your heart, go forth and prosper.” – Ruth Baltopoulous

“I’m very discouraged by all the negative comments on social media.. I love debating with people in person.. but I am very disillusioned with the things people post on social media.. if I was considering moving to Milton and I read the comments I would run! I know people are passionate about “preserving the town” which I feel strongly about but I feel it’s morphed into a different kind of preservation based on comments.”

“So unfortunate. looks like maybe it’s east vs west milton, maybe we can subdivide and west can be compliant while east battles lawsuits”

“I’m sure all the no voters will be the first to line up, checkbooks in hand for the override vote to pay for their decision.”

“Democracy at work. The No votes prevailed by a substantial margin. It is time for you and the Yes people to support the people’s decision. They will come to a solution that better benefits Milton. The MBTA, which I use on occasion, is decrepit, and we should not be responding to dictates that make it seem that it serves our community as a Rapid Transit.

We are not Brookline with coffee shops, pharmacies, restaurants at every stop on the way into Boston. Milton and Mattapan are owners of the worst trolley cars in the entire system and that is saying something.”

“Milton you really made a mistake.”

“I think when they raise our taxes to pay the bill to defend this then the NO people should pay up. You KNOW it is going to cost the town.”

“The meetings of the (Un)Planning Board are suddenly must see TV.”

“When is the meet and greet going to happen with Wells and Healy?”

“Milton will eat their children.”

“My thoughts posted during the day on election day when it was clear there was a large turnout: Whatever wins Yes or No, it will be good to have a strong turnout so that many Miltonians will feel heard. I sincerely hope much of the angst and hard feelings that have surfaced over this will dissipate. We live in a great town small enough to interact a lot with each other. Let’s get back to appreciating and respecting each other! Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“It is disappointing to me. It didn’t have to be this way. I fear many people are underestimating what the consequences of this will be, both in terms of penalties and lawsuits, but also how difficult it will be to develop an alternative plan in a reasonable amount of time – all the while setting our town back, perhaps by years, in development we desperately need for housing affordability, commercial investment, and economic growth…

But now we have to choose to work together to navigate the situation from here and I want to be part of solutions rather than fighting for fighting’s sake.”

“So here’s my message to the No and Yes campaigns: Let’s put away all the lawn signs and rhetoric and get to work. Let’s design a new zoning plan that doesn’t concentrate the new housing near East Milton, which is far away from transit… This process shouldn’t take months, maybe weeks at best. We are not starting from scratch.” – Shirley Leung, Boston Globe

“Looking forward to our taxes going up to pay for attorneys to fight a losing battle, and to make up for the loss state grants. Oh well.”

“Hopefully the Planning Board gets a better plan in place ASAP – one that complies with the law and makes everyone happy.” – Kate Middleton

“I am not feeling confident in [the Milton Planning Board putting a better plan in place] since they had 2 years to do their job, washed their hands of it forcing the [Select Board] to do a hail Mary for the town to stay compliant. They sat idly by while the [Select Board] got thrown under the bus and happily watched them get torn apart.”

“I’m praying the attorney fees and state financial retaliation won’t negatively impact school funding and the value of our properties.”

“And so it begins. Vote No is *already* ducking responsibility for the fist punch about to hit Milton.” – Michael Chinman

“The vote has been cast. Whether we voted yes or no, we just need to move forward and come up with a plan – yes, even the yes voters. Plenty of smart people in this town, plenty of lawyers. Please don’t say we already had a plan – obviously it wasn’t a plan that worked for everyone who lives in this town. Let’s collectively come up with a plan that works for Milton and everyone who lives here.”

“The plan is the state committee that designated Milton a rapid transit community needs to be confronted ASAP with a lawsuit from the town of Milton. I’m a house painter. Not a lawyer. So lawyers, guns and money are needed. The guns being Milton residents picketing up on Bacon Hill. We can all take the T in together. Going to be anonymous so not going to debate. This is my opinion and yes I know about opinions.

“ALL NIMBY ALL THE TIME FOR DECADES!!!😞”

“The community spoke very loudly yesterday about what it wanted. I happen to disagree with that choice, but so be it. Now it’s time to figure out what to do next… This will end up in court if the PB does not commit to crafting a zoning article that is “substantially different” (so we get around the 2 year ban) and which complies with existing guidelines. I don’t believe they will come up with such a plan, because I don’t believe that 4/5 of the PB will adhere to existing EOHLC guidelines.

As such, we should sue the Commonwealth in a declaratory relief action, seeking to deviate from those guidelines as they have been applied to Milton. And do it sooner rather than later…. Otherwise we are just waiting around to be sued for god knows what by god knows who, but like ya civil rights action. The Governor has expenses significant political capital on this issue and she risks looking completely impotent if she does nothing. She’s smart – and am excellent attorney. I can’t imagine pleadings aren’t being drafted already.”

“I’m saddened by the outcome but I’m also not surprised. We’re seeing the same sentiments play out locally that we do on the national stage. People no longer trust the government, trust their elected leaders, trust experts and researchers, and trust each other.

It is the culmination of years and years of fear, uncertainty and doubt being seeded in national, regional and local media + social networks that leads to a mindset of “I need to lock my doors, not trust my neighbor and be suspicious of anyone peddling change”. On top of it, a lot of it is rooted in unconscious racial bias (for some not so unconscious as we’ve now been witness to)…”

“Welp, the “no” voters basically played themselves. “Let’s preserve Milton the way it has always been!” Yeah, you could’ve had something much closer to that, but now, the State will impose whatever zoning they want, while we lose critical state funding. Can anyone say “tax override”? Yay! That was definitely on my 2024 bingo card!…

I hope the NIMBY Townies are happy with themselves. Milton goes ahead and breaks the law because people are scared of affordable housing. 🙄”

“Was really pulling for Milton to vote in favor or more inclusive zoning and be part of the solution to the Housing Crisis. Instead we closed our doors once again. I am also quite confident the No side has no intention of creating a substantially different plan or complying at all. I hope they prove me wrong.”

“When the people speak in America that is enough to bring government to the table. The YES position did not suit the majority of people…”

“The people of Milton spoke out on both sides, had the conversations, then they voted. That’s democracy. My opinion on the “no”vote is that Milton wants to regroup and come up with a better zoning plan that pleases everyone. I think that’s prudent provided a lawsuit is kept at bay and financial stability is kept in tact for Milton… Young people can’t find living spaces they can afford like I did when I was younger. Buying a home is just not an option for many. Change needs to happen and history proves many times that change happens at a “snails pace.”- Kathleen Crogan-Camara for State Senate

“What housing crisis? Isn’t it more of ” I don’t want to pay that amount” crisis?”

“I was very unsettled by having neighbors and elected officials insinuating that because someone has expertise in something as dense and complicated as land use and zoning, they were “on the take” or otherwise untrustworthy. So instead, we are going to listen to people with no expertise? It does not make sense to me. Ethos, logos, pathos – except screw ethos because that guy who knows something sounds like he knows too much! It is embarrassing and definitely keeps us from improving our town.”

“Everyone is now accused of having an agenda, which is very troubling and accusations stand without proof.”

“…East Milton Square business and homes on other side of Granite will be totally cut off from the other parts of town. That the traffic alone coming out of the neighborhood (courtland) near the on ramp will be impossible to enter and exit and the fact that a neighboring area of Boston has asked for a No vote because of the impact on traffic it will have on them. never mind that if just 1 child in each of the proposed units enters Milton Public Schools would be an additional 450+ students to the Milton Public Schools at a rate of $16,500 per pupil expenditure would be an additional 7.4 million dollars to the budget, which I doubt the town would collect in taxes. all for people to access a so call train station that is out date and barely functional. ”

“As I read so many of the YES voter comments (I voted Yes by the way), I am struck with how many of them insinuate that Milton is racist and that the “NO” vote stems from some residents’ desire to “keep Milton as it was”.

I think NO voters were quite clear that they were extremely resistant to the prospect of very large developments being built near already congested E. Milton and not close enough to our antique rail line. But the idea that Milton is inherently racist really rankles me because the numbers show otherwise. For instance, Milton has the fifth highest percentage of Black residents of any town of city in Massachusetts…”

“Screwed if you do and screwed if you don’t. Say no.. you’re a racist. Say yes… you don’t care about the town. No one wins.
But I’ve lived in this town for 60 years and have watched it change and bloom with the addition of different ethnicities and religions.
But one thing is for sure… it doesn’t matter what race, creed or color you are because when Milton gets over built, traffic is hazardous and walking in the streets is taking your life in your hands… it will effect everyone!!”

“…This will end up in court if the PB does not commit to crafting a zoning article that is “substantially different” (so we get around the 2 year ban) and which complies with existing guidelines. I don’t believe they will come up with such a plan, because I don’t believe that 4/5 of the PB will adhere to existing EOHLC guidelines. As such, we should sue the Commonwealth in a declaratory relief action, seeking to deviate from those guidelines as they have been applied to Milton. And do it sooner rather than later…

Otherwise we are just waiting around to be sued for god knows what by god knows who, but likely some kind of civil rights action. The Governor has expended significant political capital on this issue and she risks looking completely impotent if she does nothing. She’s smart – and an excellent attorney. I can’t imagine pleadings aren’t being drafted already.”

“Whatever the result, what happens to Milton will be in the hands of Attorney General Campbell.”