Massachusetts AG Can Enforce Zoning Law, State Justices Say (1)

Massachusetts’ attorney general can sue to enforce a transit-oriented zoning law, the state Supreme Judicial Court held Wednesday in a mixed ruling on a contentious battle over the future of affordable housing in the Bay State.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Communities Act, which requires towns near Boston’s public transit system to have a reasonably sized zoning district that permits multi-family housing, is constitutional, the justices unanimously ruled.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell (D) can also enforce it, the court ruled, shooting down arguments from the Boston suburb of Milton that the law violated the state’s separation-of-powers doctrine and that ...