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.