FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham City Council began their public hearing regarding the city’s compliance with the MBTA Communities Act during a meeting at the Memorial Building on Tuesday, October 29.

The state law mandates that any municipality with MBTA service has to provide by-right zoning for at least one district of multi-family housing. The law only paves the way for zoning; it does not require that anything specifically be built.

Framingham officials have been working for months to ensure that the city does not fall out of line with the law by the end of the year; doing so could leave Framingham at risk of losing state funding for a variety of local projects. During Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Charlie Sisitsky mentioned that those discretionary funding sources are limited and that they are distributed through a competitive process, adding that a community in compliance with the act could possibly get “first choice” for similar grants over Framingham if the city does not develop a proper zoning plan.

The City Council’s public hearing began on Tuesday following the conclusion of the Framingham Planning Board’s own hearing with community members on October 17. During that session, the Planning Board voted to revise their zoning proposal, as zoning density within the Nobscot and Saxonville neighborhoods were scaled back from 30 units per acre to 15 units per acre. To compensate, their pitch now features expanded zoning within the 9-90 area to include the Staples, Inc. headquarters.

The Planning Board was able to make any recommendations that they wanted, but the City Council has the final authority to accept, reject, or amend any zoning plan for Framingham. Councilors are not able to add any overlay districts on their own.

Director of Planning and Community Development for the city Sarkis Sarkisian stressed the mayoral administration’s goal of complying with the law, citing efforts from the past two governors of Massachusetts—Charlie Baker and Maura Healey—to address housing concerns across the state.

“Right now, (Framingham’s) area median income, at 80% AMI, is someone making $92,000 a year. To afford a home in Framingham, you have to make almost $200,000 a year,” Sarkisian said Tuesday.

“It’s out of balance, and this takes leadership to get our housing straightened out.”

Over 100 people either listened or spoke in person or online during Tuesday’s meeting. Some spoke in favor of Framingham doing its part to combat housing troubles while spreading the zoning across the community, in areas like downtown Framingham, Shoppers World, Nobscot, Saxonville, and 9-90.

“I think we have to recognize that the world’s changing,” District 3 resident Susan Craighead said.

“There are a whole lot more people in the world, and whether in Framingham, the state, or the world, the people are already here and we need to deal with that. Frankly, it’s part of our thriving community. We need to rethink the way we think about zoning and about housing.”

Others advised local leaders to consider the potential impact of these proposed zoning measures, a common refrain during the most recent stages of the MBTA Communities Act planning process from both residents and elected officials. Traffic, infrastructure, education, community character, and affordability—especially in the proposed Nobscot zone—were a few of the spots of concern from some speakers.

Sarkisian reiterated to those in attendance at the Memorial Building that Framingham cannot apply for waivers or exceptions for housing units that have been developed within the city in recent years in order to fall in line with the MBTA Communities Act, adding that the administration is attempting to comply with the “spirit of the law.” However, some residents still continued to vouch for that action to be taken.

“All I keep hearing is that Framingham has to do its share—we’ve been doing our share every year,” Brian Sullivan of District 4 said.

“I still sit there and say: go back and respectfully say ‘no’ until we get a credit.”

The idea of rejecting the MBTA Communities Law and potentially challenging the stipulations in court, similar to the action taken by the town of Milton, was floated once again. During that October 17 Planning Board hearing, Chair Kristina Johnson did confirm that the mayor’s administration is actively trying to avoid litigation with the state. Some residents also continued to question why current recommendations feature zoning for more units within Framingham than the 4,355 units required by the law.

Following the initial round of public comments on Wednesday, the City Council addressed the next steps.

Members of the group debated whether or not to have additional overlay districts added, as doing so would mean that the matter would have to be re-advertised to the public. City officials would essentially have to start the MBTA Communities Act process again from scratch, which is worth noting considering that Framingham could be out of line with the law by the start of 2025. District 3 City Council member Adam Steiner—a resident of Nobscot—did call for re-advertising on Wednesday, calling the selection of parcels in the most recent zoning proposal “unacceptable.”

Considering that Tuesday’s meeting ended without everyone in attendance having the opportunity to provide all of their thoughts, the City Council voted to continue the public hearing prior to their deliberation. The hearing will continue at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 4 at the Memorial Building.