By Bob Katzen

The Bay State’s Supreme Judicial Court upheld the decision of a lower court which ruled that the town of Marshfield’s claim that the current law, known as the MBTA Communities Act, is an unfunded state mandate, is invalid.

Current law requires that an MBTA community must have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as a right and meets other criteria including minimum gross density of 15 units per acre; and a location not more than 1/2 mile from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station. No age restrictions can be applied and the district must be suitable for families with children. Cities or towns that do not comply with the MBTA law are in danger of losing various state grants.

Supporters of the act said it is intended to spur development of housing in more than 170 cities and towns that host or are adjacent to MBTA service by requiring those communities to adopt at least one zone where multi-family housing is allowed by right.

Marshfield had sued Gov. Healey’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, arguing that adopting the zoning mandated by the law forced it to absorb significant “incurred costs and expenses in evaluating and drafting proposed zoning bylaws and presenting them to Town Meeting.” A Superior Court judge concluded in June that the possible costs Marshfield did or could face were “indirect,” and that the law is therefore not an unfunded mandate. The SJC last week upheld the lower court’s ruling.

“The complaint does not identify the future costs or include facts showing how the act itself will impose them rather than the town voluntarily assuming them because of local policy choices or other reasons,” said the SJC in its decision. “If the alleged future costs concern another effort to amend the zoning bylaw, the complaint does not allege facts suggesting that those costs would differ in character from the alleged costs already incurred,” Justice Serge Georges wrote. “If instead the costs concern future municipal services associated with later housing development, the alleged costs are indirect and speculative.”

“Massachusetts has a housing crisis, and it’s impacting everything from our ability to grow our workforce to the everyday cost of living,” said Attorney General Andrea Campbell. “Today’s decision by the SJC rejects Marshfield’s claim that the MBTA Communities Law is an unfunded mandate and reaffirms that the law is constitutional and compliance is mandatory.”