FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham City Council voted on Tuesday, December 17, to table the conversation surrounding the MBTA Communities Act until February.

The state law mandates that cities and towns with MBTA service have to create at least one multi-family housing district in its zoning by right. The law does not require that anything be build; it only accounts for zoning. Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky and other local officials have noted that Framingham could fall out of compliance with the act by the end of 2024, which could potentially result in a loss of state funding for local projects.

Members of Sisitsky’s administration have advocated for a resolution that satisfies the state law and works towards alleviating housing issues in the city, but the months-long process has yet to result in an overwhelming consensus from the City Council.

On November 25, councilors submitted eight overlay districts for consideration after previously rejecting an alternative proposal from the mayoral administration. These districts will be subject to approval, rejection, or alteration by local legislators. The idea behind that November 25 meeting was for City Council members to submit any parcels that could potentially satisfy the law’s requirements before discussing and voting on their inclusion in Framingham’s final proposal to the state.

The City Council’s proposals from November feature versions of previously mentioned patches of land in the downtown area, Saxonville, Nobscot, at Shoppers World, at 9-90, and along Speen Street. An eighth overlay district at The Buckley apartment complex on the corner of Mount Wayne Avenue and Franklin Street was approved for consideration as well. The latest City Council proposal includes zoning for 4,932 units; Framingham is required to zone for 4,355 units in order to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.

At the start of the MBTA Act discussion during Tuesday’s City Council joint meeting with the Planning Board at the Memorial Building, Sisitsky lamented the fallout that this topic has created locally; City Councilors like At-Large member Janet Leombruno and Leslie White Harvey of District 8 later went on to cite conduct from some residents amid the process that they described as unacceptable.

“For the past several months, we have witnessed vitriolic attacks on myself, members of my administrations, members of the Planning Board and the City Council, along with some of their family members,” Sisitsky said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

“These behaviors have been tearing apart the fabric of the city, creating a divide that we haven’t seen in many years.”

As the meeting continued, District 4 City Councilor Michael Cannon mentioned that the December 31 deadline for compliance with the state law was not a detail signed into law by former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker when the legislation was enacted, nor was the deadline codified in the guidelines for communities with MBTA service to follow.

The law was enacted in January of 2021. The text of that legislation signed by Baker does reiterate that cities and towns out of compliance will not be eligible for state funding through the Housing Choice Initiative, the Local Capital Projects Fund, or the MassWorks infrastructure program. The text then read that, “the department, in consultation with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall promulgate guidelines to determine if an MBTA community is in compliance” with the MBTA Communities Act.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ (EOHLC) compliance guidelines for Section 3A of the state’s zoning act—which is the MBTA Communities Act—notes a December 31, 2024 deadline for commuter rail communities to submit an application for district compliance. Those guidelines were issued in August of 2022 before being revised twice through August of 2023.

During Thursday’s meeting, Cannon said that he would prefer to hear what the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decides in the case between the state and the town of Milton regarding this law before committing to any new, permanent zoning in Framingham. He expressed a desire to take more time in 2025 to consider the city’s options, especially if the high court eventually rules that communities like Framingham did not have to comply by the end-of-2024 deadline.

“Until we know if the state is going to make us do this and make other communities do this—and I don’t think anybody knows—it is unwise for us to start making lifelong decisions,” Cannon continued, “because once we adopt the zoning, people are going to take advantage of it and the cat’s out of the bag.”

City Solicitor Kathryn Fallon Manupelli did issue her belief that the EOHLC guidelines are enough to enforce the December 31 deadline, though she added that the Milton case might have an impact on those guidelines.

A motion to table the MBTA Communities Act discussion until the SJC rules in the Milton case—a non-specific date at the time of this article’s publication—initially failed by a 6-5 vote. Eventually, the City Council voted to table the matter to their meeting on February 4 by a 6-4-1 vote. Councilors Cannon and Leombruno, along with George King, Christine Long, Phil Ottaviani, and Brandon Ward voted in favor of tabling. White Harvey was joined by City Council members Tracey Bryant, Leora Mallach, and Adam Steiner in voting against the tabling. Noval Alexander of District 5 abstained from the vote.

In the meantime, members of Sisitsky’s administration were asked to provide the City Council with additional information on the proposed parcels. Those details are slated to relate to factors like economic development and infrastructure. Ottaviani asked his colleagues to proceed “in good faith,” while mentioning his opinion that Framingham should work towards compliance with the state legislation.

Tuesday’s meeting was adjourned without any public comment period on the MBTA Communities Act being held. The agenda had initially called for the public hearing to continue. The follow-up meeting that was originally scheduled for Thursday, December 19 was also cancelled.

Long, Disitrct 1’s City Councilor, went on to provide an update on Facebook regarding what she described as the “MBTA fiasco” on Wednesday, December 18. In the post, Long wrote that she is planning to hold a series of meetings with the City Council’s Planning and Zoning Subcommittee to work towards a consensus agreement on an “informed recommendation to the Council.”