Littleton Boards Vote Unanimously to Seek MBTA Housing Waiver From Governor Healey

LITTLETON — December 4, 2023 — Littleton's Select Board and Planning Board voted unanimously to send a joint letter to Governor Maura Healey requesting a waiver from the MBTA Communities multifamily zoning requirement, arguing the town's roughly 1,065 permitted units at King Street Common — approximately 142 percent of the state's 750-unit threshold — should satisfy the law without a mandatory near-station rezoning. Select Board Chair Gary Wilson and Planning Board Chair Mark Montanari will sign the letter on behalf of both boards, with copies to Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. After an hour of debate, the boards stripped language that could have been read as a commitment to eventually rezone near the Foster Street commuter rail station under state density parameters, settling instead on a clean ask for full relief. In a companion vote, both boards authorized a request to the Finance Committee for a reserve fund transfer not to exceed $30,000 to retain MBTA Communities planning consultant Emily Ennis of Ennis Associates, covering community outreach and a town-wide survey as the town prepares for a May 7, 2024 Annual Town Meeting warrant deadline of February 12.