It sounds like the issue was that the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), which developed the guidelines, should have filed certain public notices with the secretary of the commonwealth as required by the Administrative Procedure Act because the 'guidelines' were effectively regulations. The law is just "presently unenforceable" until they do that, but sounds like they are going to file emergency regulations by the end of the week.
Could they change the guidelines, sure, but it didn't seem like the SJC had any issue with the guidelines themselves that would indicate that they needed to (but also, not the issue in the case). I wouldn't necessarily characterize that as 'back to the drawing board', but I'll let others make their own judgement on that. Otherwise, the ruling appears to side mostly with the State in terms of the constitutionality of the law, the ability to delegate to the HLC for guidelines, and the ability for the AG to sue for compliance as well as not limit the consequences to the 4 grants specified. - Andy On Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 12:03 AM Robert Domnitz <[email protected]> wrote: > The SJC released its decision today on Attorney General v. Town of > Milton. The decision may impact many communities served by the MBTA. The > decision vacates and renders unenforceable the complex regulations adopted > by the state's housing agency, EOHLC. The SJC stated that the agency > failed to follow the procedures laid out in the state's Administrative > Procedures Act. So it's back to the drawing board for EOHLC. If the > regulations EOHLC ultimately adopts differ meaningfully from the present > (now vacated) regulations, MBTA communities may find that they need to, or > wish to, amend their recent zoning actions. > > Here's the summary paragraph at the end of the decision: > > Conclusion. For the foregoing reasons, we declare that the act creates an > affirmative duty for each MBTA community to have a zoning bylaw that allows > for at least one district of reasonable size where multifamily housing is > permitted as of right, as dictated by G. L. c. 40A, § 3A, and that the > act's delegation of authority to HLC to promulgate guidelines does not > violate art. 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. We further > declare that the Attorney General has the power to bring suit for > declaratory and injunctive relief to enforce § 3A and its corresponding > guidelines. However, because HLC's current guidelines were not promulgated > in accordance with the APA, we declare them ineffective and, as such, > presently unenforceable. > > The full decision is here: > https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2025/01/08/h13580.pdf > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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