Gov. Maura Healey is working a tricky balancing act, leaning on holdout cities and towns to adopt MBTA-area zoning while also trying to reassure local fire departments that she is not about to jeopardize the state equipment money they say they need. That tension has municipal officials, volunteer firefighters and state housing enforcers on a collision course as the administration pushes to speed up housing construction near transit. For many smaller departments, the core worry is whether following a statewide housing mandate should ever be linked to funding they view as essential for life-and-death safety.
Last month Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed a legal enforcement action against nine municipalities still out of step with the MBTA Communities Act, saying her office wants to compel compliance after most communities updated their zoning. According to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, 165 of the 177 communities covered by the law have now adopted compliant districts, and the lawsuit targets Dracut, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Holden, Marblehead, Middleton, Tewksbury, Wilmington and Winthrop.
Fire chiefs bristled after learning that language tying eligibility for a firefighter safety equipment grant program to MBTA Communities compliance was added to the program's Notice of Funding Opportunity only after applications had already closed, a late change that many departments say blindsided them. FireRescue1 reported that the new requirement appeared in an amendment and immediately set off alarm bells among local chiefs, even as state officials stressed they remain committed to supporting local departments. The Healey administration, for its part, has said no community has been denied a firefighter safety grant "for noncompliance at this time," according to The Boston Globe.
Fire Departments Push Back
Volunteer and on-call departments say that tying a zoning law to the equipment program crosses a line and politicizes what has typically been a straightforward reimbursement pipeline for turnout gear and rescue tools. Wrentham Fire Chief Antonio Marino told reporters the move feels like the state is squeezing first responders instead of local decision makers, calling it "kind of a bullying tactic," according to FireRescue1. Chiefs argue that departments do not control town zoning votes but do depend on competitive state grants to swap out equipment that has been in service for decades.
State Response and Safety Concerns
State officials counter that the housing law and basic public safety obligations can coexist, and the Department of Fire Services has been flagging technical concerns about how certain building designs intersect with fire risk. As reported by the Boston Herald, State Fire Marshal Jon Davine warned in a Department of Fire Services newsletter that eliminating secondary means of egress and allowing single-stair residential buildings can be a "serious life safety hazard." At the same time, the administration is still putting money on the table: earlier this month the Department of Fire Services announced nearly $6.8 million in grant opportunities for departments, according to the Department of Fire Services.
Legal Stakes
The enforcement push from the attorney general comes on the heels of a ruling from the state's highest court that upheld the MBTA Communities Act as constitutional while also ordering the administration to reissue its regulations, adding a layer of procedural complexity. WBUR reported that the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the attorney general's authority to sue to enforce the law but also required additional regulatory steps. Courts have already turned aside some towns' claims that the law amounts to an unfunded mandate in related cases, which further narrows the legal options for communities holding out, according to reporting by Boston.com.
That mix of litigation, regulatory rewrites and grant conditions has tangible consequences for local budgets, since state officials have at times denied or pulled back discretionary funding for towns that do not comply, a stick that has helped push some communities toward adopting MBTA-area zoning. The current dispute leaves local fire chiefs worried they could be caught between local ballot fights and the safety needs of their crews and neighbors, while state leaders continue to argue that tighter zoning near transit is essential if Massachusetts is going to build more housing close to jobs and trains.
