FRAMINGHAM - Following a public hearing at the Memorial Building on Thursday, October 17, the Framingham Planning Board revised its proposal for local zoning within Nobscot and Saxonville in order to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.

Passed in 2021, the MBTA Communities Act dictates that cities and towns with MBTA service must provide as of right zoning for at least one multi-family housing district. The state law does not mandate that anything specifically be built; it just paves the way for that zoning to be established within municipalities. Local leaders have been working to identify a solution to the MBTA Communities Act question for months, as Framingham could fall out of compliance with the law by the end of 2024. Communities out of line with the act could lose state funding for municipal projects.

The Planning Board is required to make a zoning recommendation to the City Council, who has the final authority to approve, reject, or amend the plan.

Before accepting public comments on Thursday, Planning Board Chair Kristina Johnson stressed that Mayor Charlie Sisitsky established an “imperative” goal of ensuring Framingham’s compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. She added that the law does not feature an avenue for the city to receive credit for housing that has been established in recent years, and that the mayoral administration does not want the matter to be brought to court, similar to the lawsuit brought forth by Milton against the state.

“The mayor’s positioning here is that we are not putting the city in jeopardy of losing critical money to do good projects…We’re not litigating this,” Johnson said on Thursday.

“The direction that we’ve received from the administration is that we’re not litigating.”

Prior to Thursday’s hearing, the Planning Board’s recommendation made in September featured zoning for about 4,500 units across the city—in the downtown area, Shoppers World, Saxonville, Nobscot, 9-90, and along Speen Street. Framingham has to provide zoning for at least 4,355 units in order to stay in line with the act.

That Planning Board proposal last month featured an increase in zoning density within Nobscot and Saxonville from 15 units per acre to 30 units per acre. The justification behind the idea, according to Director of Planning and Community Development for Framingham Sarkis Sarkisian, was to alleviate additional housing pressure from the downtown area while also making zoning more consistent across the city.

While a few residents did support that idea on Thursday, the pitch for increased Nobscot and Saxonville zoning had primarily sparked controversy among residents within those north side neighborhoods as well as elected officials; on October 1, District 3 City Council member Adam Steiner said the idea would “destroy” the Nobscot neighborhood where he lives. Similar sentiments were echoed during Thursday’s public hearing, as some comments issued worries about the implications of that zoning proposal. Concerned residents cited factors such as the potential for stark population increases, housing affordability, neighborhood character, and traffic.

“I would hope that the Planning Board does not recommend the proposal that has come out, and I think that the Planning Board needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with something that is a lot more right-sized for Framingham,” District 3 resident Gregory Brown said.

“What we are doing is not going to make Framingham a better city or a better place to live.”

Following the public hearing, the Planning Board recognized the array of spoken and written comments they had received prior to altering their recommendation to the City Council. By a 3-1 vote, the board changed the proposed Saxonville and Nobscot zoning density back to 15 units per acre. To compensate for the revision, zoning in the 9-90 area now includes the property that holds the headquarters for Staples, Inc., bringing that zone’s density up from 15 units per acre to 47 units per acre.

Board member Tom Buie explained that going back to the 15 units per acre plan in the two north side areas while maintaining the recent downtown zoning proposal could resolve a contentious topic in this saga. Vice Chair Joe Norton voted against that recommendation, contending that the September plan would best reflect the interests of Framingham as a whole in spite of imperfections. Member Jeff Johnson was not on hand to vote.

The Planning Board’s submission to the City Council will also feature notes on all of the public comments in addition to a summary of Norton’s dissenting view. Members of the group vouched for additional regional transportation options for those in Framingham in order to make the plan work for everyone in the city.

The MBTA Communities Act matter will now move on to the City Council, who will be holding their own public hearing at the Memorial Building on Tuesday, October 29. Residents are invited to provide their thoughts during the meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. that evening.