For those who continue to follow statewide developments about the Housing Choice Act (now known as the MBTA Communities Act), you can watch a live stream on Monday morning 10/7 at 9 AM when the Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments in Attorney General v. Town of Milton. https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/index.php.
For background, here's an excerpt from the beginning of defendant Milton's brief filed in response to the suit: Under the MBTA Communities Act (“MCA”), G.L. c. 40A, § 3A, each municipality in the MBTA’s service area is required to zone “1 district of reasonable size” in which multi-family buildings are permitted as of right. This is not a toothless mandate: the MCA provides that a non-complaint municipality will lose funding under four state programs. The Legislature might have selected an even more forceful enforcement mechanism, such as an action by the Attorney General (“AG”) to require compliance, but it did not. Many municipalities have responded to the MCA by amending their zoning bylaws. Others, including Milton, have not. Under the MCA, non-compliant municipalities will lose access to the specified state funding unless and until they change course. Looking to speed compliance along, the AG now asks this Court for an injunction compelling Milton to comply with the MCA—or for the appointment of a special master to rewrite Milton’s zoning bylaws for it. But nothing in the MCA contemplates such remedies; the Legislature opted to apply calibrated financial pressure only. The AG claims she has authority under other statutes and the common law to compel compliance with any statute as she deems it necessary. But nothing the AG cites holds that. This Court instead has explained that when a statute specifies a particular remedy for non-compliance, as the MCA does, that remedy is exclusive. This is a separation of powers issue. In enacting a new statute, the Legislature is entitled to decide that the statutory goal is best advanced through financial penalties and not injunctive relief. Allowing the AG to always pursue injunctive relief, even if the Legislature specified only some lesser remedy, will make it impossible for the Legislature to balance competing policies and interests when establishing new statutory regimes.
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