Select Board Tables MBTA Zoning Vote, Pushes Decision to Fall Town Meeting

WEST BRIDGEWATER -- May 7, 2025, West Bridgewater tables MBTA zoning vote, deferring all four contested articles to fall town meeting. The Select Board and Finance Committee each voted unanimously Wednesday at a joint session to pull the MBTA Communities Act compliance article and three related zoning measures from the May 12 Annual Town Meeting warrant, citing a lack of data on what non-compliance would actually cost the town. Town Administrator David told the two boards that all three major advisory bodies, the Select Board (at its April 16 meeting), the Finance Committee (in a 3-2 split), and the Planning Board (on April 30), had declined to recommend the MBTA article, making passage unlikely and a failed vote legally dangerous: a defeated zoning bylaw cannot return for 18 to 24 months. He said the Attorney General is permitted under the Supreme Judicial Court's Milton decision to begin civil enforcement against non-compliant communities after July 1, and watching the state's actions toward larger non-compliant towns like Marshfield and Hanson this summer will give West Bridgewater concrete cost figures, potentially ranging from $100,000 to $800,000 annually in lost grants and penalties, before residents are asked to vote. The town's MBTA compliance deadline is December 31, 2025.