to order. Welcome to town meeting. If everyone can please find their seats. Thank you. Having been advised by the town clerk, Susan Galvin, that a majority of the town meeting members are present, I hereby declare that a quorum
is present for the transaction of business and the meeting is now open. The meeting will now come to order. I have been advised that pursuant to the law, the warrant was returned upon the town clerk honor before the second day of June by Constable William J. Neville.
And now, in keeping with our tradition, we'll start our meeting with the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Will those that are able please rise, stand, and join with me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And if you can please remain standing if you are able. We have some singers from the Milton High School Chorus who will lead us in our national anthem.
Twilight [Music] [Applause] [Music] still spangled. for the home of the Thank you.
And if everyone if everyone can briefly remain standing. Actually, I would like to acknowledge Miss Elaine Kushman Carol who is retiring from her role as a journalist and staff writer for the Milton Times after many years of dedicated and
awardwinning service. So, thank you, Miss Kushman Carroll, for your wonderful service to the town. and now you may be seated. Thank you. So before proceeding with the business of the meeting, there are certain preliminary matters to be taken up.
Permission has been requested for certain members and personnel of the school committee, planning board, board of health, and other boards, committees, and departments who are not town meeting members to sit on the floor with other members of their respective boards, committees, and departments with the understanding of course that they will
not vote. Hearing no objection from the body, such permission will be and hereby is afforded. Permission is also hereby granted to Milton Access Television to televise these proceedings. Please note that as is the custom, there
are two side aisle microphones, each with three seats in the first in the front row, excuse me, reserved for those waiting to be recognized to speak. And finally, please note that the warrant indicates that the high school has been reserved for Wednesday, June 18th. Due
to unforeseen circumstances, that date is no longer available. Accordingly, should town meeting not conclude either tonight or tomorrow, Tuesday, June 17th, town meeting will not continue on this Wednesday, but instead will continue on Monday, June 23rd, 2025.
So, I know as set forth in rule seven of the warrant, the Massachusetts general laws, the bylaws of the town of Milton, town meeting time, fourth edition shall be the official rules of this meeting. And again, those of you that are interested
in the procedural rules are advised to purchase or check out from the library a copy of town meeting time. Again, the rules have changed from the fourth from the 3rd to the fourth editions, not greatly, but there's an appendex at the end for those of us that are wanting to
keep track. Um and again the rules of procedure of this meeting have been summarized in the annual warrant which everyone received if you were a town meeting member prior to the annual town meeting and which was available at town hall and also is on the website and I will not read out the rules.
This meeting shall use the electronic voting system established by the prior town moderator and town meeting. And so no voice vote will be held. Rather, the vote shall be displayed as recorded by the electronic voting system. And as is usual, in the event that seven members
stand in their place, I will display the results of the vote by town meeting members names. I will give time for members to stand. When we get towards the end of the meeting, please remember not to leave prior to vote being taken
and then having an opportunity for people to stand. If people leave, it makes it difficult to determine if people are standing. Individuals who are not town meeting members who wish to speak should inform me, the moderator, and I will grant
permission to the registered voters of the town. Please do not use the podium microphone up there without advanced permission. Typically, that's reserved for people who have presentations. Pursuant to rule 14 of our warrant, speakers are strictly limited in time to
10 minutes without prior consent by me for additional time, which is largely reserved for town employees, members of the boards and committees, and other people providing presentations. I will keep time, and any questions should be directed to me. We have six articles this evening and as I noted in the
warrant, I will be recusing myself from articles five and six. The process for electing a temporary town moderator is as set forth in town meeting time volume 4. Essentially, the rules set forth that the town meeting will elect a temporary moderator
when I, the town moderator, recuse myself or amwise unavailable. Any town meeting member may nominate an individual to serve as temporary moderator at the appropriate time and provided that the nominee accepts. There's a motion that's seconded, we
will have an electronic vote and a majority vote is required. It is my understanding that as a courtesy, the town administrator, Nick Milano, has reached out to both of our former town moderators, Mr. Bob H and Mr. Brian Walsh to determine their
availability and willingness to serve if nominated as temporary moderator. Mr. H is unfortunately unavailable. Mr. Walsh has indicated that he is available and willing to serve if nominated. Again, town meeting decides and I will explain this process again at the appropriate
time prior to the discussion surrounding articles five and six. And this this decision rests entirely with town meeting. So, as I mentioned, we have in place electronic voting. Mr. Mr. Mallet, the town's IT director, will operate the electronic voting system. At the
conclusion of an article's discussion, I will call for an electronic vote. All those in favor of the motion shall press yes, which is one or a. All those opposed shall press no, which is two or B. And those abstaining can either press nothing, or press the abstain button,
which is three or C. Do not press any buttons other than yes, no, or abstain. You will have 60 seconds to vote. You can change your time. Excuse me. You can change your vote at any time during the 607 60 seconds that are given. Now, a
question was asked regarding the necessity of the full 60 seconds, and this is something that we are actively evaluating. However, at this time, we're going to keep it the customary 60 seconds to afford time for individuals who may be having trouble with their clicker to address the issue with Mr.
Mallet. At the end of the 60 seconds, I will announce that the vote has been closed and the results will be displayed. I will read the percent and the numerical vote so that town clerk may record them for the record. And I will include only the yes and no votes for the vote total. And now we will run
a test vote for the electronic voting system. So again, I don't make these up. Should socks and sandals ever be worn together? A yes. B no. C abstain. If anyone's clicker does not light up or
you have any other issue with the technology, please come to the front and Mr. Mallet will assist you. 146 people said no. 60 people said yes, 26 people abstained. And Mr. Mallet, if you'll go through the responses, please look at your name. If
you have any questions, please come to the front to see Mr. Mallet. You're welcome. Perfect. It looks like nobody had any issues. If you do, please come up and see Mr. Mallet. And with that, we will recognize Mr.
Benzol, chair of the select board, for a brief remark. Thank you, Mr. Zol. Thank you, madam moderator. I in the spirit of trying to get this done in one night, my brief remarks are just these. Thank you, everyone, for being here.
Let's keep it civil and polite and uh let's get her done in one night. Thank you very much. I forgot to introduce myself. Benzald down meeting member precinct 5 chair of your select board. Thank you. And if the chair of the
warrant committee, Mr. Tom Caldwell has any remarks. Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. Thank you, madam moderator. Good evening, everyone. Tom Caldwell, town member, precinct 6 and chair of your warrant committee. I will not be as brief as Mr. Zo, but I'll try.
Thank you, select board chair. Um, uh, I'd just like to take the opportunity before I just make some very brief remarks about the warrant just to offer some thanks. Um, the warrant committee is closing its calendar year in a couple of weeks. We we still have
more work to do uh with the school uh department and committee uh after uh this meeting uh concludes. But I just want to offer I I I can't thank everybody, but I I'd like to mention a couple of people. I I really want to send uh thanks uh to Mr. Nicholas
Milano, our town administrator. Um for those who don't know, he spends an inordinate amount of time with us, advising us, discussing issues, providing us with information. So I just want to say thank you, Mr. Milano uh very much from the chair of the warrant committee. Um I'd also like to thank the
select board. Um I'd like to thank them for their construction of the warrant and the articles in which they sent to the warrant committee on the heels of a very large annual town meeting and annual warrant that we worked on for several months. So I'd like to thank the
select board uh in your consideration and the brevity in the warrant that we're seeing here this evening. It was very helpful to the warrant committee and I' I'd share also with you members of the town meeting. Um I want to as the chair of the warrant committee I'd like to thank the warrant committee um 15
members who I've asked a lot of the town has asked a lot of and spent a lot of time in the basement uh of town hall discussing all these matters uh which you've seen in one shape or another uh sitting here in this room. So thank you very much Warren committee. I I really
appreciate you and all the work you did uh and helping me. Um and lastly, thank you. Well, not lastly, I would like to give a big thanks to Miss Karen Bosworth, our warrant committee uh administrator. Uh
uh she who helps us at every town meeting uh puts up with my last minute requests and keeps our minutes. Uh thank you so much Karen. It's a pleasure working with you. And lastly, I'd like to thank you town meeting. I'd like to thank you all for
your care for the town, your diligence in reading the warrant and educating yourselves on every matter that comes before us. Uh it's a uh it's a great system and uh I just want to thank you as chair of the warrant committee. The warrant committee will also like to
thank you as its advisory board. Um we have our town meeting um warrant chair I just like to get into. As our moderator said we have six articles um for your consideration this town meeting. Um the first concern uh concerns a typical uh
an article we see frequently is a town's reserve uh funds transfer. Uh there's uh some amendments to our flood plane overlay district. Um, in addition, there's a other article to adopt a new property tax exemption. We saw a couple
of those in our annual meeting for those who qualify under Mass General Law 59 section five. And obviously, as we all know, there are two significant uh additional articles, articles five and six before us. Article five brought forward by the planning board concerning
our MBTA communities and also article six which was brought forward by 10 citizens of our town concerning uh the MBTA communities bylaw also. So I would like to uh thank you all and looking forward to the meeting. Let's get to
work. Thank you Mr. Caldwell. Before we move into article one, I wanted to note that article one and several of the other articles have green sheets. So there was some confusion about green sheets in the last meeting.
So with respect to certain articles, you have been provided with a green sheet which is published when and only when the warrant committee updates its recommendation to a warrant article. As set forth in the warrant, the warrant committee did not have an opportunity to
vote on recommendations with respect to certain articles prior to the printing of the warrant. So accordingly, the warrant committee's recommendation for those articles was set forth on a green sheet which is provided at the front of the room and was published on the town's website. So please note that amendments
made by individuals, boards, and committees are not printed on the green sheet. These are reserved only for recommendations whether new or altered by the warrant committee. Again, as clarified by Sue Galvan, our town clerk, in her introductory email,
there are not green sheets printed for amendments. Again, only for new or altered warrant committee recommendations. There are green sheets available with respect to articles 1, 2, 5, and six, and none for articles three or four. And with that, we'll move into
article one, which is to see if the town will vote to amend the appropriations voted for the fiscal year 2025 reserve fund by appropriating $300,000 for the fiscal year 2025 reserve fund from from funds
from from funds certified by the Department of Revenue as free cash and to act on anything relating there too. Mr. Zul, would you like to be heard on this article? Thank you, madam moderator Benzole, town member, precinct 5 and chair of the
select board. Uh the uh select board voted unanimously to uh approve this. Um we just wrapped up uh almost wrapped up our numbers for FY25 and uh there has been no substantive change since this was put together. So uh we're fine with it as is. Thank you,
Madam Moderator. Thank you. And Mr. Caldwell, chair of the warrant committee, would you like to speak on article one? Hello again. Tom Caldwell, town member precinct chair of your warrant committee. Uh this was also a unanimous vote for approval by the warrant committee. This res reserve fund
transfer of monies that were held outside requested by the select board. Um, in my opening remarks, I insinuated some additional work we're going to be doing at the school committee and the school department in regards to this budget. Uh, the warrant committee in its evaluation of the fiscal 25 budget uh
believes these are monies that potentially will be earmarked for um the schools to close out their 25 books. Uh the warrant committee will be addressing that with the school committee in a future meeting after this meeting. But these monies we would represent are central to um to closing out uh the
school department budget fiscal year 2025. Um and they are funds that are uh most definitely needed by the schools. So I would ask that uh the town consider a yes vote on this article. Thank you. Thank you. And if anyone else would like to be heard on this article, if you
could come to the front. I see no one moving. So, the motion before the body is as printed on the green sheet, which is that the town vote to amend the appropriations voted for the fiscal year 2025 reserve fund by appropriating $300,000
for the fiscal year 2025 reserve fund from funds certified by the Department of Revenue as free cash and to act on anything relating there too. And we will now open up the vote. Please indicate your vote using your electronic clicker. Again, yes is one or A, no is two or B,
abstain is three, C, or simply do not click anything. And a majority vote is required to pass article one. The motion passes 98% to 2% 231 yes 5 no and now we will move on to article Who
article two is whether to accept the provisions of mass general laws chapter 59 section 5 clauses 17F 22I and 41D and this also requires a majority. Mr. Zul as chair of the select board, would you
like to be heard on this article? Thank you, madam moderator. Uh the select board unanimously uh supports the uh passage of this article um for the benefit of tying u restrictions for seniors um surviving spouses and children's and vet veterans to CPI
rather than having the flat rate. It's just fair. It's not a new tax. Uh just helps uh folks that uh that need the help. It was unanimous vote. Thank you, Madam Moorator. Thank you. and Mr. Caldwell as chair of the warrant committee if you'd like to be heard.
Thank you madam mo. Thank you madam moderator Tom Caldwell town meeting member precinct six and chair of your warrant committee. Um appreciate the comments made by chair zol in terms of uh this article like to point out to the town the town already has this tax exemption in place. The difference
between this article and what we have now is we're tying it to cola. So, it's just a cost of living where we expect um uh if there are increases that uh the tax exemption will follow suit for our seniors, uh veterans and uh surviving spouses and
minor children. So, it expands it covers those three categories. Um the uh the general law itself um uh chapter 59 section 5 is rather lengthy and complex. It's rather scary to look at, but uh uh
be assured town meeting that as I indicated, this is already a tax exemption that's in place and we're simply now through this statute tying it to the cost of living. Uh this was a unanimous vote by the warrant committee. Uh we ask that you uh consider accepting
us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. If anyone else would like to be heard on this motion, if you could kindly come down. I see no no movement. So again, this is on the green sheet. The motion is the warrant committee's recommendation as
set forth on the green sheet, which is that the town vote to accept the provisions of Mass General Laws chapter 59, section 5, clause 17F, to allow exemptions granted to those qualified pursuant to clause 17 to be
increased annually as set forth in the warrant. to accept the provisions of Mass General Laws Chapter 59 section 5 clause 22nd, 22nd A, 22nd B, 22nd C, 22nd E, or 22nd F to be increased
annually as set forth in the warrant and to accept the provisions of Mass General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 41st, to authorize an annual increase in the income in parenthesis gross receipts and assets in parentheses these whole estate
limits as set forth in the warrant or to act on anything relating there too. And we will now open the vote. As I mentioned in the beginning of discussing this article, a majority vote is required to pass article two. article 2 passes 99% 233 yes one no and
one abstension moving on to article three I'd like to acknowledge and recognize Meredith Hall chair of the planning board to give a present presentation. Miss Hall, good evening. Um, there actually is not a presentation for this particular article, but I did want to just um
highlight what a flood plane district is um and what the uh new language would state. The flood plane district is here and established as an overlay district. The district includes all special flood ha flood hazard areas designated within
the town of Milton designated as zone A or AE on the Norfolk County Flood Insurance Rate Map firm issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the administration of the National Flood Insurance Program dated July 8th, 2025.
These maps indicate the 1% change chance regulatory flood plane. The exact boundaries of the district shall be defined by the 1% chance base flood evaluation shown on the firm and on the firm and further defined by the flood
insurance study FIS dated July 8th 2025. The effective firm FBFM FM and FIS report are incorporated herein by reference and all are on file with the planning board and inspectional
services. This um this article is simply to update our um our current flood plane maps and um it is required by law in accordance with FEMA and it also just gives um some slight language changes which were recommended um as well. Um so
it's very simple and straightforward and it's required by law. Thank you. Thank you Miss Hall. Mr. Zel, would the select board like to be heard on article three? Thank you madam moderator Benzel town meeting member precinct 5 chair of the
select board. The select board has unanimously voted uh to accept this and and encourages the body to vote for it. Anthropogenic climate change is real and we need to make sure that we continue to address it and I would add that FEMA requires us to have this done by July
8th. So there is a time sensitivity to it and this is why it's on the warrant today. Thank you madam moderator. Thank you and Mr. Caldwell. The warrant committee would like to be heard on article three. Thank you, madam moderator. Tom Caldwell, Tommy, precinct 6 and chair of
the warrant committee. We ask that you accept the recommendation as printed in the article and also recommended by the select board. Thank you. Thank you. And if anyone else would like to be heard on article 3, if you could kindly come down to the front.
I see no one moving. So we will open a vote. A twothirds vote is required to pass article 3 as this is a zoning matter. So we have 97% yes, 1% no, 225 yes, three no. The article passes.
Moving rapidly on to article four. Oh, excuse me. I'm not great at math, but even I know that that's a twothirds vote. Now, moving rapidly on to article four. Again, I'd like to acknowledge Meredith
Hall as the chair of the planning board to speak regarding article 4 concerning the East Milton Overlay district. Thank you, Miss Hall. Thank you. And we do have a presentation. If we could bring that up, please. Just a minute and I should introduce myself. Meredith
Hall uh serving as chair of the Milton Planning Board and uh town meeting member precinct 3. Uh we are excited to um bring you this article. We had wanted to bring this to the annual town meeting, but because it was so so much going on, we decided to put this off.
But this is something that the planning department has worked on for years and has been um really embraced by the community and a lot of this um article really came from the feedback and listening to the residents, particularly East Milton Square, um but but the
residents at large. And um it's it's been widely uh endorsed by all those who have heard it. So with that we can begin the East Milton Square mixeduse overlay district. The overlay goals strengthen walkability
and safe and convenient circulation for all travel in East Milton Square. Proactively and intentionally guide commercial district investment. Enhance the sense of place district identity. Leverage private investments to add
community amenities while reducing impacts. Encourage mixeduse redevelopment and an increased variety of housing options. Improve environmental sustainability and resilience in the district and preserve and enhance the charact historic
character of East Milton. Next, here we have the map outlining the boundaries um primarily all in commercial areas. Um there is one area that is is split the the Milton marketplace which is partially
residential partially commercial but that is um we voted to include that. Next East Milton zoning background um the planning efforts behind this. In 2019, the Urban Land Institute, ULI, provided a technical assistance panel
and report on building community census, refining a vision for East Milton Square, and providing regulatory and design tools needed to realize that vision, developing a predictable predictable approvals approval process
to facilitate private investment. In 2021, the Barrett Planning Group and Dodson and Flinker developed a report based on the master plan and planning board's recommendations looking forward East Milton Square. In 2023, MAPC
prepared the zoning language and design guidelines built on previous recommendations and community feedback. planning process included stakeholder interviews, community meetings, two surveys, chamber of commerce meeting, and numerous planning board meetings.
Next, following the master plan, the MAPC studies were drawn from a series of connected community visioning and planning processes that have built on each other over the years, including expert, multidisciplinary, and
nonpartisan advice on land use. Next, zoning requirements. Mixed residential and business uses may be permitted by Wright with site plan review through the planning board up to three stories and 45 ft. No building
shall be erected or altered to exceed three stories and 45 feet in height. All businesses, all business uses otherwise principal in the East Milton Square business district shall be allowed by right with site plan review.
Residential uses are allowed by right with site plan review as long as they are in conjunction with one or more residential uses. Um we then created design guidelines. These design guidelines address building
design and architecture, the public realm including streetscape design, walls, fences, parking, uh vehic vehicular access, which included driveways, alleys, and lots. Landscaping signage, which included quantity, size,
design, placement, lighting, which in fixtures, and hours of operation, building and streetscape, sustainability, and storm water management. Thank you very much. Any um questions?
We would be happy to entertain them. But thank you. Thank you, Chair Hall. Mr. Zole, would the select board like to be heard on article 4? Thank you, madam moderator Ben Zol, time meeting member of precinct 5, chairman of the Milton Select Board. Um the
select board has voted uh to approve this uh with one abstension, four yeses, and uh congratulates the planning board on uh a lot of hard work that went into a very thoughtful plan and um we hope that the body will endorse it as well. Thank you, madam moderator. Thank you,
Mr. Zul. Mr. Caldwell, would the like warrant committee like to be heard? Thank you, madam moderator. Tom Caldwell, Tonine, member of precinct 6 and chair of your war committee. Again, re reiterating the uh statements of the select board chair. The war committee
asks that you uh consider approving this article. Uh we had a significant amount of time with the planning board over several different articles, but especially this one. Uh we found it um to be a very thoughtful plan uh to reinvigorate the East Milton Square area
with uh not only housing but also mixed diverse mixed business use. Um it uh it was a plan uh that came to us unanimous from the planning board and was obviously the uh in our opinion the
result of many years of hard work. So, we ask that the uh town meeting uh accept this uh article. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Caldwell. If anyone else would like to be heard, please move to the front.
Again, I see no one moving. So, we will open. Excuse me. The motion before the body is that the town will vote to amend chapter 275 of the general bylaws known as the zoning bylaw by inserting the new section
275-3.23 East Milton Square mixeduse overlay district as set forth in the warrant and to amend the zoning map to include the East Milton Square mixeduse Overlay district as set forth in the warrant.
And we will now open the vote. This is a simple majority. Motion passes. 99% yes. 1% no. 235 yes. Two no. One abstension. Okay. Yes. Thank you. All right. Now,
articles five and six. So, article five is a motion to amend the zoning bylaw with respect to the MBTA communities multifamily overlay district and to amend the zoning map as submitted by the planning board. Article six is a motion
to amend the zoning bylaw with respect to the MBTA community's multif family overlay district and to amend the zoning map as submitted by citizens petition. Each of articles five and six require a majority vote. As I mentioned, prior to
moving on to articles five and six, I will recuse myself from the discussion and vote on these articles accordingly. Pursuant to town meeting time volume 4, rule 2.2.1 2.1. The members of town meeting must now elect a temporary
moderator. As I mentioned at the beginning of our meeting, as a courtesy, the town administrator Nick Milano reached out to both of our former moderators, Mr. Bob H and Mr. Brian Walsh, to determine if either would be willing and available to serve if
elected. As I mentioned before, Mr. H is unavailable, but Mr. Walsh is willing and available. Again, the choice is up to temp. Okay, we had the nomination. Can I get a motion and then we'll second it?
Okay, perfect. So, I heard a second. Thank you. So, on a motion to elect Mr. Brian Walsh as temporary moderator, the vote is a simple majority. Does either the select board or the warrant committee wish to be heard? Okay, Mr.
Zol. Thank you, madam moderator. Benzel, uh, select board chair, town meeting member, uh, precinct 5. I would like to encourage maybe a voice vote on this one so that we can proceed quickly and, uh, I think that the board agrees, uh, with
the nomination of Mr. Walsh, Mr. Caldwell. Uh Tom Caldwell, town meeting member precinct 6. I forgot there for a sec. And uh chair of your warning committee. The warning committee that usually has a lot to say has nothing to say about this one. We would rather not uh uh weigh in
on this uh just given our appointment by the moderator. Thank you, madam moderator. Thank you. If anyone else would like to speak to this before we open the matter up for a vote. Okay, I see no one moving now. Thank you, Mr. years old, but we are going to
do an electronic vote. So, I appreciate your efficiency. So, on a motion to appoint Mr. Brian Walsh as temporary moderator for articles five and six, the vote is now open. All
[Music] right. Still have six seconds. Okay. 94% yes. 3% no. 3% abstain. Before Mr. Walsh is duly sworn as the temporary moderator. I will collect my
things. Thank you, Mr. Walsh. Thank you. Can the body hear me? Okay. I'd like to introduce myself to those town meeting members who haven't uh been here when I was moderating, but I was a moderator. I've been a town meeting member since 1992,
and I was a moderator for 14 years. I'm a real fan by the way of town meeting which have existed in our country in our state even before the revolution. In fact, if you didn't know it, the night the revolution started in
Lexington and conquered they held a town meeting. So town meeting is uh is a long sacred tradition in this country and I want to just mention that because some articles that come before town meeting generate terrific passion
and conflicting opinions and that's okay. Uh I think we have some of that tonight. But we have rules and procedures that govern how and uh and who and when people speak here at town meeting. You may uh only speak for 10
minutes maximum unless you re request and receive permission from the moderator. Uh those who have previously gained permission to make a presentation are allowed to do it for 20 minutes. Uh as a maximum and keep in mind less is more.
The quorum is required. We'll have no personal attacks. If I recognize a speaker and I uh feel that you're not being appropriate, I'll use the gavl and ask you to step back from the mic. Listen, we all have to be respectful of
other of everyone here at town meeting. We're all elected to represent the town and we want to maintain that uh that decorum. If you want to reference somebody, let's avoid names. You could say something like a previous speaker mentioned or a a board member from such
and such board stated uh raising voices and some of the recent town meeting we've had members get up and really start they get excited and they raise their voices. Keep in mind that's I'm not going to allow that. We're not going to get loud and boisterous and
intimidate anybody. Just remember your objective as a speaker is to influence other media members to vote your way. Persuade them with credible opinions where uh everyone here is a resident of the same town. We are neighbors, maybe
friends, all presumably enjoying our residency in Milton. I certainly do. And even if we disagree strongly on an article, we likely agree on most issues. So with that as my intro, uh let's get started.
As soon as I find the correct page, article five, Mr. Moderator, um I would like to um to present um a move to reorder articles five and six so that we address article six first in order. Would you, sir, would you please identify yourself? Sorry, my apologies.
Uh, Matt Morang, town meeting member, precinct 2, you're recognized. I'm sorry. Has it been seconded? Okay. And I see that the chair of the planning board. Did you wish to be recognized
before Mr. Morang makes his motion? Hi, Mr. Mong. Would you repeat the motion? Um, Matt Morang, town meeting member, precinct, will do it the right way this time. Um, I'm moving to reorder articles five and six so that we address article six prior. Okay. So, Mr. Mong is is
essentially saying you want to rec start with article six next. That's correct. That's correct. And that has been seconded. Seconded. Okay. And sir, I'll recognize you to explain the reasoning for your mo change the order and then I'll recognize the chair of the planning
board. Okay. Um I move I make this move um because passing article six before article 5 uh will reshape the debate about article 5. Article 5 is a multif family housing zoning zoning proposal that is not aligned with the town's legal obligations. Does 40% of what we
need to do. In fact, the title the MBTA community's multif family overlay district is a misnomer. It does not address the requirements of the MBTA Communities Act. It is purely speculative based on a notion of compromise that has no basis in law or reality. I don't compromise and pay 40%
of my property taxes to the town. The only thing that will bring the town into alignment with the state law is article 6, and the result of that vote will determine what is done with article 5. It makes no sense to pass article 5 if article 6 passes. For this reason, I ask
that we resolve article six first, then move on to the decision on article five. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moran. I recognize the chair of our planning board, Meredith. Good evening, Meredith Hall, chair of the planning multipli
member, precinct 3. Um, it is really imperative that in order and prior to your voting on a 25% plan that you understand the implications of that and understand what the impacts would be to
the town. It's only possible to understand that if you hear what the 10% plan and the justification from the planning board on why we strongly believe at minimum a 10% plan should be voted on. Whether you vote on the 10,
you want the 25 or not, at minimum, the 10% plan should be voted on. Why? Because what do we know to be fact? Milton has 37.5 developable acres within a half mile of
three commuter line stations. The RKG study that will be presented to you with one of the presentations for the 25 is outdated. The it is flawed. It is complete and
missing essential facts. RKG admitted back in 2023 incorrect that they admitted that they had incorrect data using the an incorrect number of single family homes. RKG admitted to the planning board
during the study that the compliance model was flawed. RKG did not include the number of children that would move into single family homes when when single family owners downsized. That was completely said. We did not study that
that that we don't have those numbers on that. So those are incomplete. It was not disclosed to the planning board while we while working with RKG um that they were also working with HLC
developing the compliance model. So they were completely in conflict working for the state and advocating apparently you know for clear data for the town of Milton. The data was flawed and incomplete and should not be relied on
by this town meeting. The numbers have changed. the the the districts have changed. The number of units in each of the districts have changed. The data that RKG provided is baseless with today's districts of the 25% plan. There
is currently p there is currently pending litigation before the superior court which is under review and the outcome is still unknown. The most important thing that I think this town meeting should recognize is
this is not just by zoning. This is very different than other byight zoning such as what we just passed for East Milton Square. This by zoning cannot be altered and changed simply by coming back to town meeting and revoting the districts and changing it. It's not that simple.
This the particular zoning requires approval not only by town meeting but by HLC and do we have any guarantees that HLC would grant that? We we do not have that guarantee.
Also in this in the statute's own wording, Milton has the right to choose which is applicable, the commuter line or subway if we determine if determined to be as such. And I will read you from
the statute. In order to understand the significance of the impact of a 25% plan, the residents should first understand the impact of a 10% plan and why it is why it is not only a better plan, but it is most appropriate for the
Milton residents. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone else wish to speak to this motion to move the article? Mr. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Moderator, and thank you for uh coming off the bench tonight. Uh
Benzel, precinct five town meeting member, chairman of the select board. Uh I do have some thoughts about this, but I'm going to put those a pin in that and I would like to invite uh one of our state representatives, Mr. Richard Wells, uh who has some information that he'd like to share with the body as a
state rep on this motion. Mr. Wells, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, town meeting. I'm very honored to speak to the state representative for the Sabbath North for the first time tonight
to this party. was not on my intention before today, but as days have passed in Beacon Hill every day since I arrived six months ago. The MBTA MBTA communities act rises at the top of many discussions amongst many communities.
Now, while Milton have been the first to take action against, they clearly are not alone today. And when you sit at the front of the room here, and I'm in my ninth year sitting here and follow my former colleagues who sat either the select board or the warrant committee table or
the moderator stand or clerks, you can't help when you sit here to realize that when you look out into these seats, you're looking at a reflection of this community. men and women, diverse backgrounds, diverse colors, diverse makeup, diverse
socioeconomic costs, diverse ages. But the single commonality amongst each of you is not just that 0286 is your home. That apathy never really lives in this town. We see that in celebratory things.
You saw it in a tragic thing on Blue Hills Parkway this weekend where first responders and neighbors rushed to try and save the lives of two people who are mortally wounded. It's probably one of the things in my 40 years I'm probably always the proudest
of is that people always care. So when it comes to this issue, it didn't matter whether you were yes or no, whether you were for the MBTA or against it. at the core it was all people who cared. So the dilemma in the state house for
both Senator Driscoll, myself, Rep. Fuku Kley, all of our colleagues is and for me especially here is where do we go from here? And so I floated the idea to my colleagues today, to the war committee
tonight, to the planning boards here this morning that we combine question five and six and take one vote. And I'll give you my rationale. There are no less than 40 bills on the hill right now addressing MBTA
communities. There are a multitude of reasons. As you know, there are litigation in other communities. And it's probably more than likely that either judiciously or legislatively there will be some changes to MBTA communities going forward.
By merging the two, we would accomplish two things. one with HLC, we would file a 25% plan. We would also file a 10% plan. The 25% plan is the one they would be acting on. It would become law as
soon as the body files it and HLC, well, it would take a few weeks because they're looking a lot of them right now once HLC approved it. But we would also expect them to approve the 10% plan and hold that there. And in the case that
either by legislative action or by a court decision that Milton were ever reclassified, the 10% plan would already be on file. The only action that would be required would be to come back to town meeting and repeal the 25% plan.
I think for some you might think this is a long shot, but it is legal. I'll run it by town council. I've talked to my colleagues. We've debated this back and forth. I think the time now is for others to take
this fight up and to continue, whether it's those in elected office or those who sit in judicial appointments. And so I won't make a motion, but I hope that someone will amend the motion that's on the floor and make a motion to combine
questions five and six and vote yes on both the 10% and 25% plan for this town, for the good will of this town, for goodwill of our community, and for the future of all those who live here. Thank you very
much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. So folks, we have a your moderator has a few issues. The first issue is we have a motion that has been made and second in front of the body to move the article.
The second issue is I believe Mr. Wells, you are recommending that we combine the two uh articles five and six. Uh the only the only time we've combined articles here in town meeting in Milton. Oh, and I might want to check with town
council. So All right. Thank you folks. I I appreciate you're allowing us to have a uh a brief consultation on that. So in town meetings in general and certainly here in Milton, we have
precedents and once we've established a precedence, they're important. Well, merging separate articles together, the Tom meeting and Milton has a history of doing that. It's called a consent agenda.
When we do that, that consent agenda, all the articles that get included in that merge are then not debatable. That does not seem appropriate for these articles. There's a lot of interest. And
so, in order to accomplish the wills of a member of the select board uh and not violate or change our procedures, I will entertain a motion. and I want to explain it and then I'll actually entertain the vote. I'm going to
entertain a motion to suspend the rules governing our uh consent agenda. If that is made and seconded, we'll take a vote on that. That will require a twothirds passage. If that's then passed, we can we can in fact entertain the motion to
combine uh articles five and six as suggested by the previous speaker. So, but There is a motion on the floor. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Let me uh Good catch.
Uh let me just take a moment. Okay folks, so indeed we do have a motion on the floor. The motion is to move article six to be considered before article five. Then a member of our select board got up and explained a strong rationale as to why
we might want to combine articles five and six. So, it's it seems to your moderator, your town council, and to your warrant committee chair reasonable to take the vote on moving article six
before article 5 and then entertain a motion relative to the consent agenda. All right. So, I hope I've been clear on that. I I'm not trying to make it confusing. So, where where are we? We are consider Excuse me. Just hold on a second. We're considering uh the motion
that was made to move article six before article 5. Now, did somebody have a point of order on that? Yes. I I apologize, but I can't hear you. You could come down. I I I can repeat it. I hear him. He's asking if the the gentleman who made the
motion to move article six first would withdraw the motion. Where is Mr. Nope, he's not interested doing that. So, all right, Mrs. Augustino. All right. So, I will do my best
interpretation uh understanding Mrs. Diane Dulio Augustino precinct nine town meeting uh asked me to to ask Mr. Morang to explain are there other
motions that he intends to add to uh article six before we consider the the concept of moving it first. We're we're actually so I can help here and I think it'll save us time. The motion before the body is just to move
article six before article 5. Uh I'm not sure that we do need to understand the contents of those two articles before we can take a move. And that's the moderator's decision. So thank you. Is there anyone else who wish to speak to this motion? Yes, sir. Mr. Kelly, you're recognized.
Brian Kelly, precinct 7. Mr. Moderator, I ask that we be given a few minutes to break and to talk about this among ourselves. This is one of the biggest This is leading into the biggest zoning article this town has ever voted on. And
by the sound of things, it sounds like they're going to try to dump the discussion on article five after they move article six up and vote on it. So, it's critical and I have some reasons that I can share why we should con before we get into the
weeds here, why we would consider having the combined articles, but it's important they know that now before we vote on this. So, Mr. Kelly, it's a it's a judgment call. Um, I you're you're you have made an assumption in your remarks and I'm
not sure. I I agree. I have but if my assumption is correct then it's critical. So your assumption is that article five will not then be properly discussed. Exactly. And there is that possibility and you know that as a moderator correct well I would know I
will tell you this because of the this is a really unusual set of circumstances. So I'm going to explain again have a motion in front of the body to move six next. Uh then we're going to have because of the complexities uh we had a recommendation by a member of the
select board to combine the two and because of the complexities there around our consensus agenda I I'm going to entertain a motion to wave that rule and then I will make this commitment to you that we will absolutely consider article
5. Thank you. Does anyone else wish to speak to the motion to move article six before article 5? I have a question on um I guess it's related to what Mr. Wells proposed which might make a difference in the vote. So can I speak to that? Um
Christine Hodland precinct 2 um town meeting member and I guess I don't quite understand how we would know what we're voting on. What is the wording? What is anything that we're going to have in front of us if we do this? So, I guess I would suggest if we're going to propose
that we approve a 25% plan, which is compliant, why don't we do that first and then put the 10% plan out there and we can make an amendment to say that we'll submit that if we can't change to be not a rapid transit. Why would we try
to do something? So, ma'am, that we've never done before. May I interrupt? So, again, and it it look, it's a complex issue. The only motion we're considering is to move article six to be debate concerned or debated before article five. Right? That's the motion before
the body. So what you would want to speak to is it should not be moved for reasons XYZ or it should be moved I agree for reason but getting in the complexities is different. You'll have an opportunity to do that. All right. Thank you.
Does anyone else wish to speak to the motion before the body which is to consider article six before article 5? Seeing none, let's move the vote. Open up the electronic voting. And just while you're voting, I want to share I am a town meeting member from
precinct 8. I do have a voting, but I as your moderator to maintain my independence, I will not be voting while I'm up here. Thank you. The motion to move article six is is approved 64% to 36%.
Thank you. And now uh now we're to the issue of making a motion to suspend the consent agenda rules. Does anyone wish to make that motion? Mr. Mrs. Zol, you're recognized.
Just making a motion. Okay. Has the motion been seconded? Second. And even the chair of the war committee was jumping up to second that. So the Okay. So, uh, for clarity, this will require a
two-thirds vote changing the the motion for the consent agenda. Just FYI, I'm looking to town council. Town council, do you agree? Does it require a two-thirds vote? And he does. Thank you. So, does anyone wish to speak to the motion to suspend the
rules of the consent agenda for the possibility of combining the two? Yes, sir. You're recognized. Michael Chin, precinct 2. Mr. moderator, I appreciate uh greatly that the discretion in ruling something out of scope is yours and I
urge you to rule this out of scope. The town citizens have notice of a consent agenda. There was nothing before Mr. Wells spoke that I've ever heard that these were going to be proposed to be combined and that was never put to the
town. There's article five and article six was put to the town. They're separate articles. The select board was perfectly able to propose an article that combines them and they did not. The board they did not file it tonight.
Exactly. They did not. And the elected moderator, as I understand it, has implemented rules about making amendments. I don't know that this was made as a with notification in advance of tonight's town meeting. So this seems
clearly out of scope and also it could be accomplished by voting on article six. If it passes have a full debate on article 5 and pass that also and you have both things passed which seems to me the same effect
as combining. But this has not been put to the town in advance of the moment Mr. Wells spoke and I urge you to rule it out of scope. Thank you folks. Give me a minute to take that under advisement.
Thank you folks and sorry for the delays. I believe the previous speaker has made an excellent point. The town hasn't been fear warned about combining these articles. Uh I don't want to cause problems where town meeting takes
actions that get challenged later due to procedural issues. And so I'm going to honor that. We are going to uh finish the vote on moving article six and then we will consider article six if it vote passes. If it doesn't, we'll consider
article five. But basically, we're going to uh consider those articles separately. And if you are interested in them both, you'll vote them both. Uh if you're interested in them separately, you'll vote them separately. And uh I think that's the safest and most appropriate thing to do. Uh and I thank
the uh former speaker for calling that to my attention. So right now, Mr. Morang has a motion before the body. Oh, I'm seeing a different screen though. Thank you. All right. So folks, we have uh had a
positive motion on considering article six before article five. So we will we will move. Sir, do you want to speak procedurally to this or do you want to speak to article six? Okay, let me uh introduce article six. Thank you. I'm trying to earn my keep and I'm
asking for a raise. I said I'm trying to earn my keep and I'm asking for a raise. For those who may not know, it's not a paid position. Article six to see if the town will vote to amend chapter 275 of the general
bylaws known as the zoning bylaw by adding the following new section 275-3.2x 2X MBTA communities multifamily overlay district and to amend the zoning map to include the MBTA communities multif
family overlay district including the following subdists granite a north sub subd district paper mill site subd district matapan station blue hills Parkway Carter subdist Elliot Street
subdist a west subdist district, Randolph AB East subdist, Milton Station, Central Avenue Station subdist, East Milton Square subdist, and the Fairmont section
station subdist as shown on the MBTA communities multif family overlay district boundary map dated, and there's no date on this XXX the MCM OD boundary map. Now folks, you
all have your warrant and you may notice that in fact there are many many pages to this article in motion and there is a long history at town meeting for a moderator to ask that someone make a
motion to allow the moderator not to have to read the entire article. It's moved and seconded. All those let's take a vote voice vote. All those in favor say I. I. I oppose. No, it's unanimous. Excellent judgment.
All right. So, folks, we are now uh considering article six. Does anyone wish to speak to this motion? Yes, sir. You're recognized. Do I speak to you, Mr. Moderator, or do I speak speak to the crowd? I'm confused on you. You can speak to them as long as
I can hear you. Okay. Hello, everybody. Good evening. Mark Croninger, town meeting member, precinct 7. Um just an anecdote and then a a proposal. Um I a couple weeks ago decided to take a little onfoot field trip from the fruit
center in East Milton to the closest uh Matipan trolley stop which is Butler was exactly two miles by foot and I had to cross over three on-ramps to get there from 93 and off with no bridges or any way that so the notion that East Milton
which was slated to bear the brunt of this initially is a uh is a viable place that would use the Matapan trolley as commuting is absurd. But that being said, um as those of you who who are familiar with this issue probably know,
originally the MBTA law said that there would be a 0.5 radius.5 mile radius drawn around said T station um and within that radius is where the uh housing would be developed. However, if you draw that
radius around the Matipan trolley, a good portion, almost half falls into Boston. the Boston city line. So they could not do that. So in their infinite wisdom, when they realized the EOHLC realized could not accommodate those many units within a 0.5 radius because
half of that radius fell within Boston, instead of saying, "Oops, we made a mistake. Maybe these guys shouldn't have to zone for that many or anything," they said, "Oh, well, here's an idea. You don't have to zone it within 0.5. You can zone it anywhere." The uh infamous exception clause, right? So
theoretically now you could zone that anywhere in Milton, right? That those housing units any anywhere. You could put them on the far end of town over by uh Hyde Park. You can put them anywhere. What an opportunity that is for all the people who are zealous supporters of the
MBTA Communities Act to put units in their own in their own backyards. There's been a lot of nimism accusations here. And let's put that to bed. My proposal would be an amendment that each precinct that votes on this, should it
pass, agrees to take 10% of the 2500 units, roughly 250 units, and put them in their precinct. That's not a heavy order to ask. If we are at being asked to do it in East Milton, which is the densest part of town, why shouldn't everybody take a fair share of of of the
weight? Only seems right to me. seems like it's time for people to put their money where their mouth is a little bit. Um I recall when there was some talk about moving some of the stuff out of East Milton into Precinct 2, there was a lot of push back from uh precinct 2 with
regard to more units and going in. And as the old saying goes, some people I guess uh they don't see the light till they feel the heat. Well, you know what folks, let's all do this together. If that's what this community is really about, I propose 10% in each precinct
that pass. Thank you for listening. Do I get a second? I don't know how this really works. I'm not a parliamentarian. A second there. There you go. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. And you're doing an excellent job. And as the old saying goes, never volunteer for anything, I think. But um uh that's it.
Thank you. So well, I'm not sure. Excuse me, sir. Is that I'm not sure I can that we can take that motion. You suggest 10% within every district. So So let's take that as your uh
recommendation of the body. Uh but we really haven't had much discussion and debate yet. So at the appropriate time, you might want to come back up to look for a motion. I'm not all right. Hey folks, uh I know we have Mr. Kelly, I know you're waiting and I know we have somebody over here also,
but um in discussing these issues which the planning board has spent a tremendous amount of time on, I know they have a brief presentation, they've asked to present it and with the hard work they do, I believe it's appropriate to recognize the planning board right now. And everyone else waiting
everyone else waiting you will get your chance to speak. There's no issue there. Ah, all right. Let's I apologize. That's a good point. We'll have the sponsors do it and then the planning board. Mr. Kelly, you're going to be third.
Okay. And yes, ma'am, you are recognized. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Karen Freriedman Hannah and I live at three Norway Road and I'm a town meeting member in precinct 2 and I'm the first signer on the citizens petition. For the
fa past few years we in town meeting have been hearing from the select board, the warrant committee and the planning board that the planning board just needs more time to develop a plan that's both compliant and right for our town. In fact, I think the warrant says that
again. Many of us, including me, were watching their meetings closely and were thrilled that the planning board, after many months of hard work, created and voted to submit a compliant 25% plan to town meeting by a 4:1 margin. Member
Oldfield abstained from the vote on May 8th only to be disappointed in the re their reversing of their vote the following meeting on May 13th again with a 4 to1 vote with member Tagias voting no. I received more emails and phone
calls from constituents of mine in precinct 2 which is along the Elliott Street corridor being confused and upset by the planning board's unexpected decision. The predominance of people I have spoken to continue to feel the 25% compliant
plan is the legal and fiscally responsible plan. Hence, this petition was initiated to allow town meeting to vote on it. Let me be clear, this is not a new plan developed by me or the other
citizens who put this forward. It is the compliant 25% plan that was developed by the planning board in conjunction with the hired expert consultants from UTIL that the planning board originally voted to put forth to town meeting but then
revoked and opted to only put forth the non-compliant 10% plan that they created. We just got notification again this week from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities or HLC reiterating that the 10% plan being put
forth is not compliant and therefore not a legal option. It is the fiduciary and legal responsibility of every elected official including town meeting, select board, warrant committee, and
planning board to comply with the law or as was previously said, it's required by law. All attempts to modify our standing as an MBTA rapid transit community have
failed. We must follow the law and we have until July 14th to do it. This has already cost the town hundreds of thousands of dollars, money which we do not have. Ongoing frivolous costs because of our non-compliance will wipe
out a portion of the benefit that we just received from a huge override that we was needed just for basic level funded services. That's not okay. This plan that the planning board worked on for months with the hired expert
consultants may not be perfect, but it is a good one. If there needs to be changes to it, those can occur through future town meeting votes. Several towns have modified their plans after they were initiated. If the law
miraculously changes and our designation changes, then we can modify our plan. Please keep in mind that this is explicitly a zoning plan, not a mandate to build. It took into consideration the
concerns from East Milton residents and redistributed the zoning to several parts of town. most of which are near the various forms of public transportation, including the trolley, the bus line, and the commuter rail. It allows for us to get credit for the
various 40b projects and other building projects that are already underway are about to begin, and significantly reduces the risk for additional 40bs. It allows for mixed use, which will potentially bring very necessary additional revenue and businesses to
various parts of the town. It will help with environmental issues by promoting use of public transportation and increased walkability to businesses. And very importantly, it allows us to maintain control over what's being built
rather than it being imposed on us. Out of the 177 cities and towns that this law applies to, 137 already are compliant. Just tonight, Ducks voted to make it happen as well. 35 additional towns that are considered
adjacent have until December 31st to comply and are anticipated to do so. These communities are all making this work and the time is now for us to do so as well. My cohort, Dr. Kyle Johnson,
will provide additional details through a slide presentation. Thank you, Miss Freeman. Hannah, can I see you for a minute? Well, sir, you're recognized. All right, get out your phones. We're going to make this fun. Kyle Johnson, town
meeting member of Precinct 10. Um, I am one of the signers of the petition and I'm here um to introduce you to the article, where it comes from and why it has received the endorsement of the citizens petition. And we can go ahead
to the next slide. Um, as my colleague just shared, Milton has a July deadline for compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. And as a refresher, that act is an update to Massachusetts uh uh zoning law 4A. Um,
the Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the constitutionality of the law, including the regulations which are developed by the Office of Housing and Livable Communities or HLC, to whom the law gives the power to determine what compliance means in different contexts.
The Supreme Judicial Court has explicitly upheld their power to do so, as have other courts. Now, you may hear tonight um that we could potentially fight this classification in court. Um, we have made multiple attempts. Many towns have made attempts. Many towns
have made arguments about classification and they have all been shot down. This is the law. We know the consequences and it's not hypothetical like it was in December of 2023. We've faced nearly a million dollars so far in legal costs
and lost grants. Um, and this next round of litigation, if we face it, is likely to be worse. The last litigation ended with uh this extension that we received until July, but the courts have made it clear the attorney general absolutely has the right to to go after us for
injunctive relief, which could end in court imposed fines to the worst case scenario of an appointed special master that will create zoning for us. So, as was just shared, the planning board had designed two plans, a 10% plan and a 25% plan. The 10% plan does not comply with
the regulations of the law. the 25% plan does. They passed uh both agreed to send both to town meeting and then at the very last minute rescended the 25% plan. We as residents filed a petition to put that plan verbatim back on the agenda
for tonight. And so that's what we afforded um tonight. We can go to the next slide. We believe that the 25% plan is the right decision for Milton. It protects our financial future uh by avoiding costly litigation. It keeps us eligible
for grants. It attracts new property tax revenue. It includes mandatory mixed use which brings commercial tax revenue. In fact, many studies show that mixeduse development is one of the most effective ways for a town to improve its financial stability. Um it's also important to
note that porting a 25% plan does not box us into a corner. We can change the zoning. Several towns have already done so. They have remained compliant, but they have made adjustments to the details of their zoning. And finally, this isn't just about following the law. We feel the plan makes smart housing and
planning choices. And I'm going to get into the details here in just a moment. Uh, next slide, please. It's important that our conversation be grounded in facts and data and not feelings or fears. The data on the fiscal impact of multif family housing
is very clear and very unequivocal. One important references is literature review reviewing studies across multiple towns across the country noting that multif family housing has a positive fiscal impact on towns across the country. Um it also found that mixeduse
development in particular which this plan mandates in several subdists is especially helpful for towns to improve their revenue. uh specific studies in Massachusetts municipalities have confirmed exactly the same finding. I also found of note
this helpful analysis by a researcher in Stonem who noted that multif family housing actually helps towns better pay for their education costs because it increases tax revenue significantly without significantly increasing the number of school age children uh
compared to single family zoning. So it tends to be a very positive revenue to expense ratio for towns. And now the next plan, sorry, the next slide. So what is this plan? And we'll go to the next one as well.
Um before um tonight you'll hear a few amendments to the plan. I'll just mention them briefly um highlight them. One is simply to fix a typo, a copying editor um copying error needs to change the name of the streets in one of the sections. two is a change that is
required by the HLC, the governing body that oversees town compliance. Um they gave us feedback on the plan and noted this change needed to be made. Um and then the third is just to attach a color copy of the zoning map instead of the black and white map that was included in
the first um copy. Uh now to the next. Some have suggested that passing a new compliant plan undermines the voice of the people when they voted no last year. On the contrary, this is fulfilling exactly what voters asked for and were
promised on numerous occasions. In 2023, the warrant committee recommended a no vote on the 2023 plan with the understanding that the planning board would provide a compliant, fully compliant plan in a few months in order to avoid conflict with the state. The no
campaign explicitly told their voters that their goal was for the town to consider and vote on a new and better plan. And in February 2024, voters voted no under that premise and under that promise made multiple times by multiple uh members. In both cases, the planning
board had promised this plan by May of 2024. It did not arrive until April of 2025, but it is the plan before you tonight as article six. And this is not about criticizing anyone. Excuse me, sir. Sure. Sorry to interrupt, of course. But it's been called to my attention that you're using a town
meeting member's name on the slide who did not provide permission to do so. So I just wanted to share that with the body. May they continue. Okay. I'll just note it's from a public news news article publication. I'm happy to find the reference later.
I'm just trying to maintain decorum. Let's continue. Yes sir. Next slide please. In fact, this plan very carefully incorporates the feedback given over the past couple of years. It is more equitably balanced across town. It is more transit focused. It would bring a
lower impact on the town and it only permits modest changes to next to neighborhoods. Next slide, please. In terms of being more balanced, the 2023 plan had 43% of the capacity or 55% of the net new capacity in East Milton.
that has been adjusted now to 15 or 19% respectively. The Elliot Street corridor has absorbed a small amount of that density. Um that was again in response to community feedback that the transit corridor should have the majority of the zoning. Um and then to in order to
continue to take more pressure off East Milton districts were added in Randolph A, Fairmont, and the Paper Mill site. Next slide please. In terms of being more transit focused, 78% of the zoning is in the transit area. 0.5 mile is the radius that is
required under the regulations. Um only 50% is what's required. And so this zone 78% and even in areas that are not explicitly within that radius. Several are nearby. The paper mill district for example um is not within the 0.5 mile radius but is very close to the Fairmont
commuter rail station. Next slide please. uh it has a lower impact um by taking advantage of existing multif family housing and this is a complicated point if if you haven't been following may not be obvious um although the law says we must increase by 25% we are allowed to
credit for multifamily housing that already exists. So the planners, the planning board did a very careful job of incorporating as much as they could in order to reduce the net new actual units that are being zoned for. More or less makes sense. You're with me. Um so the
net new in 2023 was around 2,000. In the 20 in this new plan, it is around 1500. That is a 25% reduction. And in practice, if every single unit were built, which is unlikely, but if every single one were built, it would represent a 15% increase in total homes.
So, it's important to have that number in addition to 25 rolling around in your head. Next, please. Um, it only allows modest changes. The majority geography is capped at three family homes. It is more restrictive than our current single family zoning in
many respects. Site plan review is required for anything that is built. Um, the stringent site plan review that we approved as town meeting in the last meeting. Uh the plan is designed to reduce the likelihood of 40BS and it provides opportunities to resident owners to redevelop their own property.
Next slide please. So that is the map. Um I'll also mention that UTIL who helped uh worked with the planning board on designing this plan who vetted it carefully before it was prepared as an article um is here to answer specific more technical questions. Um so they are
available to do that and we can help um facilitate that. Um, but that is the detailed map and if you had been following along and I'll give you the QR code again, um, there's a place where you can see the map more closely and an interactive version of it as well. Um, next slide please. Um, I'm not going to
read all these um, if um, but this is a breakdown of why some of the different districts were chosen. And I will say a hopefully welcomed uh, statement in defense of the planning board. I know anytime we might see a map like this, automatically all of us have the initial reaction, well, why didn't you put it
here and why did you put that there and couldn't you make that a little bigger? All good questions that I know the planning board has welcomed and listened to over the past several years. Um, but I do want to emphasize that each choice was made in balancing hundreds of different factors, trying to be compliant with the law, choose things
that are make the most sense for us. So, nothing was chosen arbitrarily. Of course, we can talk about what things maybe we think could be better and talk about that over years. Um, but the choices were made very carefully and intentionally and those that's kind of a highlight of some of the major reasoning behind each district. And then the final
slide. Thank you. Um, if you want more resources, you can look at the interactive map um through that QR code that is available to you. And as I said, UTIL is here to answer more technical questions and of course we can answer other questions as well.
Thank you, sir. Folks, I just want to point out a I want to point out when I read the first paragraph of article six, at the very end of it, it talks about a overlay district boundary map dated and it's all
X's. Uh the date is in fact May 13, 2025 just to correct that. Okay. Hey, does anyone else wish to speak to this motion? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Chairman of our planning board, you recognize
Meredith Hall. Great. Thank you, Karen's gonna pull up presentation. for article five. So, you can see the difference. And when you're looking at the numbers, I think some of the questions that you'll need
to be asking are um again, what is the impact? What does this look like, the number of units, and again, what is defensible legally? And
this is our explanation that we'll be presenting. We're still in the discussion still considering article six and the planning board is recognized to make presenting the difference in the information in the five and six which
will be useful to the town meeting on voting for six. Yeah, thank you. Uh again the planning board who was primary responsibility these types of articles uh had asked me to to make this presentation and said it's pointing out the differences and I I I feel that is
appropriate. Continue. and we can move through this quickly, I promise. So, okay, this is what a 10% the adjacent community plan and the information that it's based on and the difference of the numbers um in the calculations table
which you have not seen yet for the um for article six. I would hope that you would want to know the number of units per each district um in article six and this is the difference again the purpose of the communities multif family overlay district to allow
multifamily housing as of right in accordance with section 3A of the zoning act mass general laws chapter 4A um the zone this zoning provides for as of right multifamily housing to accomplish the following goals to meet the housing need local needs needs
alongside the full range of incomes, promoting social and economic diversity in the stability and in of individuals and families living in Milton. Ensure that new multifamily housing creation is harmonious with the existing community. Provide a wide range of housing
alternatives to meet Mil Milton's diverse housing needs. Promote smart growth development by citing multif family housing adjacent to transit or in areas where existing commercial and civic amenities and infrastructure already exist. And last for to increase
the municipal tax base through private investment in new residential development. Next and this is our plan. So this is what the districts would look like under this. You have Granite AB North, the Papermill site, Blue Hill AB station,
Blue Hills Parkway corridor, Elliot Street corridor, and 7-Eleven Randolph. These are all mapped throughout town, and you can see the geographic locations of Blue Hill A and Fairmont um that are in proximity here.
Next, commuter rail stations. So, this is um these are the three commuter rail stations that we have, the Reedville, Fairmont, and Blue Hill A. and their proximity to Milton. And the uh total develop the total gross commuter rail
station area is 74 acres. This is the total acreage in Milton that falls within a half mile buffer of commuter rail stations. The current use of the 149 parcels, it is predominantly single family, 116 single family parcels, 22
family parcels, 13 which are residential, condo, um, eight units or greater multif family housing, DCR land, vacant or institutional. So therefore, the developable land within the commuter rail stations is precisely 37.5
acres. That's after subtracting the land. Almost exactly half the commuter rail station area remains developable. Next. Okay. So, this is what's very important to see. You're looking at the districts and this will we'll go through this just
quickly um later, but I just what's really important is when you look at the number of units when you're looking what is the unit capacity. So we have a unit capacity of Granite AB North 183 units here. The Papermill site has a capacity
of 179 zone units. Blue Hill A station would have a capacity of 183. The Blue Hills Parkway corridor a capacity of 143. These are very different when you look
at the 25% plan and what those numbers look like. The Elliot Street corridor tier 1 81 units. Elliot Street corridor tier 2 42 units. Elliot Street corridor tier three 45 units. Tier four on Elliot
Street 18 units. And Elliot Street corridor tier tier five 36 units. And lastly, Randolph A 97 um unit capacity for a total of 107 um meeting the adjacent community
compliant target of 985. Next, so the dimensional standards, what are the difference that you're looking at between the the five the 10% and the 25%. Okay, graded a this is a total area of
3.8 8 acres 2.8 acres which is developable. Next these are sort of the map so you can visualize and this is these are the parameters. So this is what the minimum lot size required um on granad is none.
There is a maximum stories of six six stories or 75 ft. Minimum open space 30% maximum units per acre 48. Minimum frontage, none. Front yard set back 30
30 feet. Sideyard setback you're looking at uh minimum setback 10 feet or on both sides 20 feet. Rear yard set back maximum uh the rear yard setback 20 maximum floor area ratio 1.1.
Next, this is the paper mill site. So, you all can see that on a map. I don't know if you've been able to see a zoomed in map of these locations. This is 3.5 acres. 20 2.7 acres is developable of this. Next,
this lot size, it's a minimum lot size. Uh there is not one. Height six stories in this location. 75 ft maximum height. Minimum open space 30%. Maximum units per acre 48. Minimum frontage none. Side
front yard set back 20 feet. Sideyard setback again minimum side setback would be 10 feet and this location. Minimum sum of both sides 20 feet and rear yard set back um 30 feet with a max floor area ratio of 1.1. Next
the blue hill a station. This is where this is located. Most of you know house. This is in that area. Um, next, this is fully within the computer line. Um, this would be the Blue H Blue Hill AB station
lot size minimum of 5,000 square feet. So, this is the difference you'll start to see between the 25% and the 10% is some of the the lot size minimums. The lot area per additional unit square footage 1,000. Height, six stories. Um,
maximum feet 75 stories. Minimum open space 40%. Maximum units per acre 45. Minimum frontage none on this uh front yard setback 15t. Sideyard setback minimum side set back of 5T. Minimum sum
of both sides set back 20 feet. Rear yard set back um 30 feet with a maximum floor area ratio of 1.1. We tried to keep all of the floor area ratios um similar to the character and what exists
um in context um of the site as is. Next, this is the Blue Hills Parkway corridor which is partially within the Blue Hill A commuter rail station. See this?
And then the minimum lot size here is um is greater in the 25% plan. It's actually a 6,000 minimum lot size. We have a 7,000 here. Height um stories is 2 and a half stories with a maximum height of 35 feet. Minimum open space,
there's a 50% open space here. Uh with our plan, the maximum units per acre 30. Minimum frontage 50 feet, front yard setback 20T, sideyard setback, minimum side setback is five. uh minimum sum of
both sides setbacks 20 rear yard setback um 20 maximum floor area ratio 0.5 next and this is the Elliot Street corridor which one of the goals um of the planning board is to minimize the impact along the Elliot Street corridor this is
a highly densely already developed built out neighborhood and we were really concerned about the impact um along along this area area Um, as you can see, yes, right there. Yep. You can just see
how this follows and you'll see the significant difference between this and the 25. Minimum lot size, again, 7,000 for the 10% plan. The 25% plan has 6,000 square foot minimum here. Height 2 and a half stories, 35 stories, minimum open
space, 40% maximum units per lot, three units, three units um per lot on a 7,000 square feet or more. Minimum frontage 50 ft. Front yard set back 15 feet. Sideyard setback. Minimum side setback
5T. Minimum sum of both sides 20. Uh rear yard setback 20. And then the maximum floor area ratio. This is similar. We broke it out. Um the F to control the building size um is is similar to in the 25%. So 6 to 7 thou
six to 7,900 square feet is 050. We don't we would have a minimum of 7,000 but lots 8,000 to 99.38 10,000 to 12,000 roughly.3 12,000 to roughly 14,000.25
and lots 14,000 square feet or greater or more 21 next does 7-Eleven have excuse me chairman so I I'm getting questions from town meeting members would seem legitimate um I certainly recognize that article five
let's call it the 25% plan I mean excuse me article six the 25% plan was is basically it's submitted by citizens but it was basically mostly a copy of what the planning board had put together some time previous and you asked to speak to that that some
town meeting members are getting confused they feel that the points that you're making really have to do with the 10% plan so clarify that that is correct yeah so I could if I could clarify so when we so the the 25% plan that the citizens are using is information that
the planning board studied without a doubt and UTL our consultant studied the problem is when We looked at the impact to um the Milton Village, which you'll see um is a tremendous number of units in the Milton Village and in other areas
along the Elliott Street Quarter especially. Those impacts were what caused us to say, you know what, this this we find this to be too too much density. Um and why the we reverted and went back to the 10% plan. So it's
the amount of density in the 25% and this is why the it is much more favorable and when you see the districts you'll see the difference um that that's presented in a 25% plan in the number of units. The other thing to to defiate
is the planning board has worked for years working on the lower mills Milton Village overlay zoning. So, we do not have that. We do not have that in our plan because this MBTA the 25%
why would anybody want to work with the overlay zoning when it would be much easier to go with an MBTA plan and bypass all the guidelines and all the work that the planning board had done in those overlay districts. So, this is this would be a the 25% would be a third
layer on top of our overlay zoning. So, we did not we purposely did not include the Milton Village area because that has already been zoned with multifamily housing and um so and Madam Chairman in the interest of time. Yep. Is it safe
for you? No, it's okay. Is it safe for me to assume that many of the points you're making here will save you from making those points when we consider article 5? Completely. Completely. Yes. Okay. So, 7-Eleven Randolph AB. We'll just run through these. Height two and a
half. Uh maximum um height 35 feet. Minimum open space 40%. Maximum units per acre 12. Minimum frontage 50%. Front yard setback 30 30 feet. Sideyard setback. Minimum side setback is 15 feet
or 30 feet on both sides. Rear yard setback. Maximum floor area. Um the rear yard setback would be 30.7 F on this. And I believe that's our last slide. So I just wanted to say thank you very much
and I hope you will be receiving that same information on the um on article six because I think a lot of that information has not been provided to you and it would be helpful for you to to recognize that. So thank you.
I see we have several other uh members waiting to speak to address article six. Typically, we line up first here. So, since you're sitting that although I don't Mr. Kelly, were you waiting earlier? I'll go. All right, we'll go with Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly, you're recognized.
Good evening. Brian Kelly, precinct 7. You can ask the moderator. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Was there a motion made? I have recognized uh Mr. Kelly for his presentation. I have no idea, but I asked the t the moderator and I submitted the
information and so whether it's on the town website or not, I have no idea. Did you check? All right. So, uh, was it there? Um, I'm going to show you some information from the, um,
Hold on. Hold on. One minute, Mr. Kelly. skeleton. What's So folks, as you might imagine, uh there were a lot of emails uh going around and and presentations and audio clips and others uh word documents being submitted and there was
some legitimate confusion. Mr. Kelly did make every attempt to get everything in at the appropriate time. We may not have gotten it appropriately on the website, but I'm going to rule that he can continue with this presentation. I just want to make sure the control booth is ready. Okay. All right. Um, I'm
going to I am one of the 16 taxpayers that filed suit against the state of Massachusetts regarding this classification. I have a recording. We have about a 4-minute clip from the trial this week.
And um I thought it was important that the body sees what the judge said about the classification and about what's going on. We have a unique situation in Milton that may be different from all the other communities. And so it's important that
you understand what the concern was with the judge and what the response was from the assistant attorney general, Eric Haskell. Appreciate your time. Let me put this here. This is the transcript. I'm going to try
to keep this lined up with the audio. It's hard to hear the judge. So, if you can be I don't think he had his mic on. You'll hear all the other speakers, not a benefit to the community. We're just arguing that we shouldn't be forced
fed into 25% when we could be the adjacent community and have 10%. Why Why are they going after us individually and and making us have 25%. Creating a density that's equal to some of the
biggest cities and towns. Let's ask attorney that because being familiar with the area, I'm wondering how going to fit much more in that particular area then is already there like what's the available link
and if if it's just a paper exercise as we talked about in the last program in these cases where's pretty dense area to begin. So, as your
honor knows well from time spent with these issues, uh the exact acreage and unit capacity as well as the proportion of acreage and unit capacity that need to be within a half mile of a transit station uh are calculated individually
as to each municipality. uh based on things like developable area and you know excluding wetlands and institutional land and um you know existing housing units and so on and so forth. And so Milton being categorized
as rapid transit community uh they're required to put half of their 3A multifamily district within a half mile of these uh these these Madapan trolley stops. Um, as we've Where are they going to go? Well, your honor, that's that's
really up to the town to identify the locations that it feels best. And that's really the feature of this MBTA communities program. HLC decides based on things like the level of transit service and the benefit that the
community gets from that uh what category they fall into and they tell them based on your level of transit service and your category here's what you need to do but the town decides middle there's a common land around the station right there's not a lot of land available in
there there's there's certainly a lot of land your honor now some of it is developed already. Uh so that's just inviting them to redevelop really the end result is it changes the
community. Uh it does no doubt and that's that's the intention of this law. If the town chooses to place its district on land that's already developed and so the implication is it perhaps might be
developed. Uh the town can make that choice and the town can place um you know things like site plan review and setback requirements to channel that as they want to back requirements around there. And that is has anyone from that
office ever walked through that part of Milton? I I I am familiar with that part of Milton, your honor. When I uh ride my bicycle into Boston, as I do once a week or so, it takes me right through that neighborhood.
And so what you see here is regulation to come up with numbers. I'm sorry, your honor. You didn't do the regulation come up with I didn't. No. Now you might be wondering why that was important. The difference with Milton is because of
our location and how close we are to the city. And so what happens is most of the towns that agree to this and have to have their developable station area, those stations have lots of undeveloped land
like he mentioned, Middlebar. So when they put the housing in there, it's not disrupting an existing neighborhood in Milton because they deemed the trolley rapid transit. The developable
station area is all along Elliot Street and that's where we have to put 50% of the units. So whether you go with the 25% plan or the 10% plan, we need to pack 50% of whatever the total number is
into those units. You can sense the judge was a little disappointed that this is land that's already developed, which means we are going to be pitting some neighbors against other neighbors. Some people in
this room actually own homes on the Elliot Street area that they're going to have an opportunity to sell at a premium price most likely because a lot of developers are interested in Milton. And so if you were one of the first ones to
get out, good for you. But some of your neighbors or neighbors that aren't in the zone but about the zone are might be looking at a bigger building beside them. They might have the sun blocking their garden. I have a garden. I know
what it's like. They may have solar panels that don't work anymore and they still have a contractual obligation to keep painting. This is not a simple thing. Then I did a little more research and this um I just
well if you I can just go to the state if you go to the state site I apologize. If you go to the state site, you go to MAPC, the metropolitan area planning council, they are the ones that are really coordinating this whole onslaught
about the MBA, MBTA communities act. So the challenge if you look at this site, they're going to say the work that we do and then you page down to it says the it tells about MBTA. You click on it, there's a fullblown over a hundred
people that work for this organization. They are working with all the housing advocates. They're working with Chapa. You can go to the Chapa website. They host Chapa's content on the state site. They have slides available for the people that want the town to have this
zoning. So, they provide all this stuff free of charge. It's unbelievable that we are even this far in this discussion. the amount of material that they produced but it's o also overwhelming and sometimes too much information makes
it hard to be have clarity. So if you read it, they have come out with a project. We talk about project 2025. You're familiar with that. Some of you in this room, they have a project called 2050, I believe it's called 2050.
And if you read it, it's about a home for everyone. And um matter of fact, I'm going to go right there. So here's the site, our work, MBTA section 3A resources. What kind of resources do they have? You can see over
here all the resources. They even have a toolkit so that you can fight people like me and they give you they give you messaging. They tell you what to say. They have community outreach. They have navigating town meeting downloadable materials. But that's not the big thing.
The big thing is we go over here. The state of mass has a um let's see a home. Okay. How a home for everyone. A home
for everyone. I'm not over my 10 minutes. It'd be nice if you'd be respectful to me. I'm being respectful to you. All right. Let me uh let me interrupt. So, we we allow 10 minutes for Tommy make comments, but we allow up to 20 minutes
when they have a presentation. That's would I'm not doing that. Okay. I'm not taking that long, but listen, they um so they worked with Tus University and they brought them in. They teamed up
with the metropolitan area planning council and they came up with a report called zoning for livable communities and when they it talks about all the different things that they have in mind because this isn't this is just the beginning
and chapa chapa is the one in 1968 came out with the 40B a lot of communities have reached their goal by now. So this is the new 40B. It takes place of the It works in conjunction. This is what I call the perfect storm. We have the MBTA
communities act. We have 40B and we have the accessory dwelling units. Those accessory dwelling units that you're going to go up around town all count towards increasing your 40B requirements. You also have the um
the ADUs, the 40Bs. Now the MBTA, the more units you have in town, the more 40B you have to have and that can be anywhere in town, not just in the zoning area that we have put the MBTA. So we have a confluence of factors that
they have built in intentionally in a couple years in 2027, six or 7,000 units come off the rolls as affordable housing. the state talks about how much money if you look at the um a home for everyone brochure and if you want to email I'll
get it to the town website for you. Excuse me. You look at it this week. Mr. Kelly, if you could wrap up your remarks. What you will see that if you read the amount of homes that they want that they need, they tell you in the document that
they only need a 100,000 homes over the next 10 years. Everything else is speculative. Like they're looking for people to go on a home. My son and daughter bought a home together. They live in the same building. If one of them wanted to leave, there's a home for
them. There's a home for everybody. It's really, if you read it and you understand what they're talking about, there is no way we could fund this. It's impossible. It's like a pipe dream. There was a movie with Rick Jery a
couple years ago about lying. He was the only person in town that could lie. So he told people he was God and they all came to his meeting and they said, "What happens after death?" And he said, "Everybody gets a mansion." This is like telling everybody. It says,
"If you want to have a home or you want to rent, we have that for you. No matter what your income was in any community, they are taking away driving. This is transitoriented development. They right now with this
bill we're about to pass in East Milton, Falcone could change to an MBTA zoned pro uh property or he will be one and he could increase the units there to 139 units and he doesn't have to put one
parking spot in there. Think of that when you go to Fitness Unlimited. It's unbelievable. And you talk about commercial space and you're all excited about it. What is the commercial space in the Henry's building? Excuse me, Mr. Kelly. Interesting. Nail salon. The
7-Eleven went out of business. Nail salon they're putting in. There is no minimum square footage requirement for the commercial space in the MBTA Communities Act. Did you know that? So, Falcone could put a 750 foot unit. Mr.
Kelly, you're no longer recognized. Thank you. And the rest could be parking. Mr. Fur, you're recognized. [Applause]
Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Uh Brian Furs, precinct 2. Uh thank you for letting me speak tonight. I'm, as many of you know, I'm no longer a town meeting member since I moved into the uh MVT district uh by moving to Central Avenue recently. Um I just wanted to speak for a couple
of reasons. One is I was on the planning board for a while in this town. Uh I was a town meeting member for a long time. Uh I'm also a real estate developer. So I feel like I bring some uh ideas to this topic and just wanted to share them with you without necessarily taking a
position on 10 or 25. Uh so the first point I want to bring up is one that I've made many times before this body and it's the fact that uh we as a town have a right to hopefully have a right to have some say in what happens as Mr. Kelly was just saying we
would like to be able to dictate the character of what happens in our town not the state. Many many years ago the state imposed 40B uh which I am not a big supporter of. Uh what that does is it allows the state to pretty much unilaterally allow
real estate developers to override local zoning and change the character of a town to get what they want to produce housing units. Milton has many many times uh had to put uh has seen developers use that law as a
weapon and then had to reactively come up with some creative zoning to come up with a compromised project. Uh and over the last several years, we've been unsuccessful in being able to do that. And uh we have almost 100 units going up
in East Milton with zero public amenity. Uh we have another almost 90 units going up on Blue Hill Avenue uh in a former estate uh because a developer came in and used 40B and was able to just
basically get what they wanted. And we were lucky to get any input on that project. We have, I think it's almost 30 units going up on Brush Hill Road, uh, in front of Curry College. All of these projects are happening because the state allowed
basically comprehensive zoning to come in and overrule. That's what's going to happen again if we don't take some opportunity here to have guidelines that comply with this act. It's state law. You can love it,
you can hate it, but unless it changes and unless we take the steps to govern our own character, the state is going to do it for us. Uh, number two, or excuse me, uh,
I I think it's important to talk about zoning not being building. We're hearing a lot about having to put 50% of the units somewhere. We have to zone for the units, but there's an economic reality uh in some of these districts. The fact
that Elliot Street is extremely dense will actually discourage the production of many of these units. You're looking at a district that has many, many small lots owned by individuals with buildings that are out of the setbacks that are
being proposed by this zone. The economic reality of taking those buildings down when you put the financial basis of buying them and then having to build a smaller footprint is math that doesn't math. So just because
we're zoning for it doesn't mean it's going to get built. If it doesn't make sense developer to build it, they won't. We learned that with the ice house. We put zoning in place that we thought was so smart at the ice house, but the
reality is we made it so restrictive that we got a 40B instead because the math didn't math. So, I understand we're putting 2500 units uh on on the docket here, but a lot of them are never going
to see the light of day because the basis of buying the the properties to build those units will just make them impossible. The last thing I want to just quickly touch on is is something that I've been seeing a lot during this whole process. I've gone to a lot of the meetings
whether virtually or in in person on on this topic because of my affinity for planning and I've seen a a a theme here where people are coming up with hypotheses of how many things are going to get built or how
many kids are going to be in the school district. And I respect the thought and the time that is going into those uh studies because it's it's both uh difficult to come up with the rationale and it takes time
away from families and and and in many cases it's well thought out but at the re in the in reality it's theory and we're paying experts a lot of money. These are people who are studies studiers of planning. They have the resources. They have the technology.
Let's let the data dictate. Let's not have people running around throwing out theories about how many kids are going to be in the school. Let's look at the data because that is what we should be making decisions based on. Uh not not theory of of what we think. Let's let's
let's listen to the experts. Um again, thank you. I wish I could be here voting tonight and hope to be back again. Thank you. Excuse me. In the front row here. Yes, sir. You're recognized. U
uh good evening. Uh my name is Brian O'Halerin and I'm a uh town meeting member from precinct 3. Publicly available data shows us to understand the differences between how
our elected body represents our constituents with regard to the MBTA communities act. We rarely get such a unique opportunity to use real data to examine our effectiveness as a representative body. Uh next slide,
please. a special town meeting um on December uh 11th in 2023. Uh members voted to adopt a 25% zoning plan with the most comprehensive zoning changes in a 100 years. Subsequently,
a successful and historic signature drive collecting nearly nearly 3,000 signatures forced a townwide referendum to allow all the voters in Milton an opportunity to help decide on this zoning article.
On February 14th, 2024, the residents of Milton voted overwhelmingly by 54% to reject that zoning article. It's from these events we are now able to analyze just how well
we as representatives of the residents in the town of Milton did in the performance of our duty as town meeting members. Next slide. We had one job and we failed. Here we see data taken from town meeting
voting records as well as referendum voting records by precinct. Along the x- axis, we have each one of the 10 town precincts. And along the y ais, we have the percentage of no votes broken down
in blue for how citizens voted on the zoning article on February 14th and in red on how town meeting members voted on December 11th. For example, in my precinct three, in red, we see 31% of
the town meeting members voted no. And in blue we see 48% of voters in the precinct 3 voted no. This is a dramatic difference of 17%. You can see red and blue dotted lines
across showing the averages across all precincts. 32% of town meeting members voted no and 54% of voters in precincts voted no. I'm going to take a few seconds for
y'all to take a peek. Please look at your precinct. Next slide. Here we see the same data in tabular format for those of you that like to look at things in table format.
Uh, next slide please. In addition to the obvious differences in each precinct, we can see from the data that there are some important highlights. Collectively, town meeting members and
voters differed significantly by 22% overall. We see that 32% of town meeting me members voted no as compared to 54% of the residents.
We weren't off by 1% or 5% or even 10%. We were off by 22%. A greater percentage of voters voted no in all precincts except one when compared with town meeting members uh
member votes. The greatest difference was in precinct 6 with a 35 percentage point difference between voters and town meeting member. Uh please back up two slides please.
So what conclusions can we draw from this data? Firstly, as an elected body on this issue, on the zoning article, clearly we do not represent our constituents. Secondly, our constituents want and
expect this plus process to play out. They don't want a 25% plan. The central defining feature of the plan voted down by the voters in February was an adherence to the 25% model. While the
new plan has shifted the burden around, it's clear the lack of action to address our rail classification as an adjacent community is not consistent with the will of Milton's voters. We should ask ourselves, how will our
constituents react if we vote yes a second time on this very same issue they voted no for back in February of 2024? How will our constituents treat those
who vote yes once again at the ballot box in the future local town elections? We have an opportunity to make things tr make things right to truly listen to what our constituents are telling us.
The data is clear. Our constituents want and expect us to vote no on article six. Please vote no on up. Vote yes on article uh five. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Okay, folks. I want to point a couple of things out. First, the time. Uh it certainly would be, I believe, in the best interest of town meeting if we were able to vote this motion in front of us, this article before we go home tonight.
Uh and we we will we typically meeting uh wraps up between 10:30 and 11. I think it's a reasonable goal. I see one member waiting to speak over there and four members waiting to speak here. Uh if oh
there's uh there's more there. There's three there. Okay. So again, if there's anyone else that wishes to speak, I wish you would wait down front and I'd encourage all the remaining speakers uh to be expedient so that we can we can bring this vote tonight while everyone's had a chance to listen to the whole
thing. And with that, Miss Swinson, I believe you're next. Oh, excuse me. Yeah. Okay. So, let me let me explain. Uh, Robert's rules of order in town meeting time uh differed pretty dramatically on what it means when you move the question
here in Milton's town meeting when you move the question. In fact, it's reduced to five minutes and everyone speaks once before they could speak again. Um, it's no not too different. I I heard someone yell three minutes that that would be it's not part
of our regular rules. It would take a little bit. So, here's what I'd like to do. I'd like to ask the remaining speakers to m keep keep their their comments to 3 to five minutes and Oh, do you have a do you have a
presentation? Yeah, if you have a presentation, they had permission before the meeting started to we allowed them for 10 minutes. So, that's not going to change, folks. Uh they got them in time. But I think the message is clear from the body. Let's get this moving along to
the best that we can. I'm I'm actually Nope. Behind you. I'm sorry. You're recognized. Uh my name is Christine Hodlin and I represent precinct 2 um town meeting
member. I live on the Ellis Elliott Street corridor. Um it won't be any surprise I've stood up before that I am rising to support this article. Um many citizens mostly in preync six and seven did vote down the last um 25% plan um in
the referendum and and um and that was because they didn't like it. Um the plan has now been reworked by the planning board with the experienced people that were offered by the state and we have a new plan here today um where the density
is more fairly distributed and new areas near commuter transit um access have been identified. I'm very much in favor of the MBTA act that will allow housing for seniors like my husband and me who would like to downsize in a few years. It can also
create housing for young families that cannot afford a home here or in the surrounding area. My husband and I purchased a two family home in Milton in 1984. It has paid for three college three three children to go to college um and
has increased in value beyond our wildest imaginations. We are very fortunate to house two of our children and their families there. Two of the four parents uh work in the Boston public schools and they would
like to remain in the area permanently, but their ability to afford a home nearby may never be realized with the current housing stock and the crazy prices. This point was graphically documented and perfectly articulated in the Globe
article today discussing the house price to income ratio. I would like to see us change this for them and for our grandchildren and your children and your grandchildren. Um, we just passed a really large override um that is only going to
provide us level service. Many of our departments have been dependent or enhanced with grants to supplement the town's operating budget. Mr. moderator. I would like to ask a couple questions of um our town
administrator, our town treasurer, and the school committee. Direct the question to me, and I'll find the best person to answer it. How much have we spent from our operating budget and lost in grants since the town meetings yes vote in
December was overturned? What is the cost of lost future grants that are usually counted on to support our budgets if we remain non-compliant? Miss Hodlin, can if you could I suspect you've moved on past one question. Let's see if we can get the answers rather. Do
you want me to write all the questions down? That's too timely. Can can anyone can can our town manager address that first question? It basically if I summarize it, how much money has lost the grants because we didn't have the what's lost in grants? what what have we
spent so far um since we've become non-compliant in any area? Um what grants have and that would include grants we lost. I'd also like to know if there's any future grants that were that the schools would typically count on in
their budget that will be um not available to us. We remain this way and has there been any revenue that's been lost? So let's let's do our best. Let's start trying to get the answer to the first one. Yes, sir. You're recognized. town manager. Thank you, Nicholas Milano, town administrator. Uh, in terms
of um grants that have been impacted by MBTA communities non-compliance, this information is on the town website. Um, since uh the first grant was impacted was um a Seapport economic council grant that was back in um 2024. It's just over
$800,000 of grants that the town has applied for and been informed that the town would have received it if it were not for non-compliance. Um, so that's in terms of loss grants. In terms of cost, I think I heard a question of that. There have been
certainly legal expenses spent. Um, has been discussed in with this body before. $275,000 was the town's arrangement with Goodwin Proctor for the case that went before the Supreme Judicial Court. In addition to that, town council has occasionally incurred expenses on MBTA communities, which I think was about
$45,000 since again going back to 2024. Um, those are the first two. In terms of lost future grants, I think that's a little bit tricky to nail down in terms of what uh the town may or may not um get. Uh, we have been awarded and the
select board accepted today a grant in the amount of $250,000 from the municipal fiber program. Uh, that is contingent upon MBTA communities compliant. If we were non-compliant, presumably they would um pull that funding potentially. Um, and there are other grants that we have submitted for
recently, including um just about a half million dollars for designing uh infrastructure improvements in East Milton uh through Mass Works, a $60,000 grant we've submitted for for housing production plan again through the state, which um would presumably also be compliant uh contingent on continued
compliance. Um but beyond that, those are things that we have applied for. I can't speak to things we may or may not apply for. Uh there are many grant programs out there uh that may or may not be impacted going forward. I don't know Chris, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Miss Hodlin, if
there's anything else in terms of my I think he last question had to do with the the school department or the schools. I don't who is our current chair. Thank you. Madam, you're recognized. Hi, Amanda Cherio, chair of uh school committee TM town meeting member
precinct 5. I ask the moderator to recognize interim uh superintendent John Failen. Absolutely. Mr. Failen, you're recognized for purposes of addressing the the member's question. Good evening. John Failen, interim superintendent of schools, Milton Public
Schools. Uh the last fiscal year. Thank you very much. Uh the last fiscal year the school department has uh lost 196,632 in grants. One being for and behavior
mental health for $150,000 we were not able to apply for due to the designation. A second grant partnerships for reading success for $30,000. a third grant for computer science professional development and devices for
$6,000. And the last grant, uh the fourth grant, innovation career pathways planning grant for $10,632, again totaling $196,632. The one grant that may be um annually distributed that we would go for again
would be the $150,000 for student, behavioral, and mental health. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I'm gonna we're gonna go uh back and forth. It's easy. So, madam, you are recognized. Good evening. Cheryl Tagayas, town
meeting member from Precinct 9 and a member of the planning board. And I have some slides. So while we're waiting for those, uh there's a lot of discussion about 10% and 25%
and even 15%. And there are a lot of questions about how and where this new housing could be added. So to answer these questions, we need to look at the regulations, but we also need to look at the zoning itself. The rags require a multif family
district with an average of 15 units an acre and it must be and must allow for a total of 2,461 units or 25% of the existing housing stock. It can be made up of subdists half within a half mile of transit
stations and half dispersed. These subdists can have different standards that control density, size, height, and open space. Next, please. This district map takes full advantage
of the flexibility in the rags. There are existing multif family properties within a half a mile of the trolley stations between Adam Street and Central A and at Curtis Road to the west. These though are not large enough to meet
rags. So areas along Elliot Street and Blue Hills Parkway are needed to aid with dispersement. A subdist like the Elliot Street corridor is included near the Fairmont Commuter Rail Station. And then other subdists include sites of
three 40B projects, an office building, and a VAS and a vacant parcel. When existing units in these subd districts are factored in, the number of new units is about 1,500 or 15% of our
housing stock. Next, please. These photos of the Milton station and Matipan station subdists. The zoning is informed by an analysis of these properties from density to height
to open space. Next. Similarly, an analysis of the existing housing stock in the subd districts that you see here inform the zoning. Much of this area is one and two family housing on modest lot sizes. The zoning here
allows three units per lot, which is the minimum that the rags allow. Doing this though requires higher densities in other subdists. Next, please. Density is not the only standard that
controls development. There are a lot of standards listed here and they work together to control how much can be built on a lot and where. Floor area restrictions and open space minimums are included here in this
zoning and these are not included in most of our current existing zoning. So these standards are set to match the existing standards and existing built fabric in each of our subdists. Next,
please. One of these standards is floor area ratio or F. It's been discussed a lot and you have charts or tables in the zoning which lay this out. This is what limits building size and it
limits it to a percentage of the lot size. So there's multiple tiers so that you can keep the building size approximately the same no matter the lot size. So there's example calculations on the right side of the slide. Building
size is held in check at about 3,00 to 3500 square feet. By comparison, new single family homes in our new subdivisions average about 4,200 square ft. So, what's allowed here is less size
but three units than a single family home in other parts of town. Next, please. So this example applies these dimensional standards to a hypothetical lot. Typically in the Elliot Street and Fairmont districts where three units are
allowed. The zoning allows similar size building compared to what exists. The difference is it allows more but smaller units. Units that can meet the needs of small households and seniors who are
downsizing. Next, please. Here's an example. This building is basically the size of building that can that would be allowed in these districts. The difference here is this two family
could be converted to a three family, but it couldn't be enlarged. It's already larger than what this zoning would allow. Next, please. In this larger lot example, there is some opportunity for new development
given the dimensions and size of the lot, but the standards keep it to a similar scale. So, the zoning is designed to allow targeted incremental development. Next, please. Now, we'll get into the multif family
larger districts. In this example, the building has less units than would be allowed in this zoning, but the building is much larger in area than would be allowed. This is due to the compliance model metric, which is set at 1,000
square ft per unit, and this building has an average size of over 2,000. There's no financial incentive to redevelop this property. Yet, the zone capacity counts towards the requirements. The zoning is targeted to get credit for
existing multifamily units. We can also use this example to illustrate a point about the compliance model which is what determines the zone capacity. It is based on a small unit size. So if a larger unit size were used
in a development like is typical in this building but also in many of the others in it would yield significantly less than500 new units. Next please.
In this example, this building was built in the 1960s and it is probably ripe for redevelopment under this new zoning, but this is a place that I think many would agree is appropriate for new multif family housing. So, the zoning is
targeted to where there is opportunity. Next, please. These are 40B projects that are approved, two of which are under construction. The zoning is targeted to get credit for these units. Next,
and I'll close with this. This zoning was informed by two years of study and lots of public comment. It is thoughtful. It's strategic. Let's comply with the law and help ease our region's housing crisis by voting
yes on article six. Thank you. Thank you, Miss MTO. You're waiting to speak. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, sir. You are recognized. I guess that's me. No, ma'am. M ma'am. Ma'am, I'm going back and forth. you'll
be next. Sorry for the confusion. This gentleman had a a pre-approved small presentation that is apparently being loaded right now. ready to roll. Yes, sir. You're recognized. Okay. Thank
you. My name is Mark Cristo, 17 Waldo Road. uh live in precinct two and he is a registered voter and has been approved to speak. Thank you. Thank you. Pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you, Mr. Moderator, board select and planning board, war committee, town meeting
members and uh members watching from afar as well. I'm here to talk about the trolley and the classification the core of the argument since day one. Can you hear me? Okay, too. I don't want to over shout. It's okay. Thank you. Slide one
first. Uh why would you support a 25% plan? I've asked myself that and as a pres precinct 2 resident I cannot. The reason small single vessel Matipan trolley with very limited carrying capacity and no ability to transport one
passenger downtown is the heart of a great divide due its ambiguous classification. Slide two, please. Y there. To fully understand its consequence, let's recall the MBTA's extensive plan to convert the Madapan
trolley to rapid transit back in the late 1960s. Ultimately, the MBTA abandoned their plans, and to this day, the trolley has remained unchanged, operating beyond the scope of the rapid transit subway system. Those benchmark
plans provide critical details showing incorporation of the local route into the subway system accomplished by pushing the Ashton terminus out to Madapan and replacing eight closed distance trolley shops with just two
subway stations enabling vastly improved infrastructure for operationally superior service. for certain only two stations would result had the conversion to rapid transit been realized. The loss of many trolley stops is a necessary
byproduct of a conversion to rapid transit subway service. Slide three. If I could, I'd like to point out some specifics. Under that scenario, Milton would have lost three of her four trolley stops. There would have been construction of large overhead vioaducts
to separate the third rail from the road crossings at grade level and massive train yards would have been built for a multitude of heavy rail cars along the Neponet River in our beautiful Neponet bikeway down by the Harvest River Bridge
and beyond. However, plans were totally abandoned with the acquisition acquisition of a train yard in South Boston. I'd like to shift gears for a moment and bring up the point that recently the SJC
determined that the legislation 3A itself is the law. We understand that and the H, the attorney general has the ability to enforce compliance. Our town has been challenged as never expected though by legislation administered by the Executive Office of
Housing and Livable Communities. The SJC also determined that HLC did not properly promagate regulations of which the guidelines that dictate both classification and zoning requirements are a part. HLC has singularly failed
Milton. Yes, HLC has failed Milton on a number of occasions, inflicting calamitous harm because of the unfair application of a law. First, they rashly rebranded the Matipan
trolley to rapid transit without recognizing the trolley's grave limitations. If I could ask for slide four, please. Then HLC failed to recognize that Ashmont is the rapid transit terminus
which the dimminionive trolley sits entirely beyond and only feeds into like a bus. The trolley should have been struck from that rapid transit list immediately at that point. Let's compare
the Matipan trolley and rapid transit by a couple of points. Seating capacity of the trolley is 38 seats. It's a single vessel. Rapid transit has six vessels each with that should say 64 seats. So that did a typo equating to 384 seats,
but it's a 10-fold difference. The route's length on the Madapan trolley, it's two and a half miles long. It's above ground and it's a semi has a semi- exclusive right of way. The rapid transit line is 22 total miles on an exclusive right away with significant
subterranean segments. And the transit nodes on the trolley are stops at sidewalk level. On the transit on the rapid transit, it's secured stations, many of them are multimode with parking structures as well. And regarding direct transport for downtown, we all know that
trolley does not do that, but all rapid transit lines do in fact provide passengers uh service directly to downtown. Then if we could, I'd like to uh switch to number slide number five if I could could and look at the daily
ridership. There are dozens to a few hundred on the Charlie line at each of the stops. There are thousands to tens to tens of thousands of passengers that are served on those week those average daily uh counts uh on the rapid transit
line. So if you look at Brainree with over 4,400 daily passengers, Quinsey Center at 7,000, North Quinzy 8,400, JFK at 8,000 as you get down by South Station uh and into downtown it it approaches 14 18,000 and then beyond uh
into Harvard Square. Look at the trolley. We've got 10 at Valley Road, 17 at Capable Street, 196 at Milton, and I think 557 uh at Central. How significant those weekly boarding differentials are
between the trolley and rapid transit service. It is obvious to me that the Madapan trolley has insufficient infrastructure and capacity. It has not the ability to support HLC's most ambitious 25% zoning
demand. HLC zoning demand of Milton is inequitable. It's punitive. It's excessive. 2 and a half times so. Milton should not be tasked to zone to excess by 250%
because of the state's ambiguity with regard to a classification. That's absurd. Slice slide six I think please. We should not be putting forth a 25% zoning plan based upon an ambiguous
classification that has not yet been challenged. Fairness is paramount. Laws, regulations, guidelines, society, all based upon fairness. Is not fairness the cornerstone of the law?
We as a community stand alone. Milton is the only community with a classification whose basis is the Madapan trolley. The only one of 177. This is our fight alone. I don't like to use the word fight, but it is a fight. Our town
deserves closure by way of a long overdue resolution for reclassification so that we can comply. I'm for that. Slide seven, please. I have a question.
I don't know, but I'm assuming you might not be aware of the magnitude of HLC's reductions in zoning requirements that were afforded to 90 communities of the 177 municipalities.
That's more than half, of which over half of those 90, 48 to be exact, were reduced by 50% and more. HLC enacted 79 classification downgrades and 11 scale adjustments. I put together
a listing by what the initial regulation showed and what the new regulations that were released in January. And that was the finding. It's five pages. I've asked my friend Brian O'Halerin to post it on the uh I don't know if we could do it. It's not an infomercial, but the MNRZ website um for review if you're
interested in seeing that. Back to the trolley if I could though. As the trolley was never converted to rapid transit, it is not rapid transit and therefore has no subway stations. Only with conversion could there be
stations and it would be just two stations along the trolley route with only one in the town of Milton. By deduction, HLC has blatantly overcalculated our developable station area acreage around
seven trolley stops. That is stale data that is driving the 25% zoning plan that is based upon a never converted trolley route. At present, the only subway station is a
mile away and that's the Ashmont rapid transit terminus. Slide eight, if I may. Milton's ambiguous classification remains a massive failure per HLC. This is not on us. Until the court renders a decision about our ambiguous
classification and it's unfair application, we should not put forth a 25% compliant plan. A 25% plan is unfair. It's punitive and it's inappropriate. You should not support it. In conclusion, you should
only support a 10% zoning plan because we do not have a subway or subway stations and because the Dominion of Matipan trolley operates independently without superior subway function and capacity.
Thank you. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. You're recognized. Yes. Mr. Good evening. Doug, precinct 2. I'm tired, hungry, and a little fussy. So, I apologize in advance if I don't make a lot of sense. Um, MBTA Communities Act.
I don't like it. I don't uh I'm particularly concerned about what's going to do to our community. I have some real fears about that and I don't think it's fair. Heard that word fairness from a number of speakers. It's not fair. Right. Saw that in the uh comments from the warrant
committee. Essentially speaking about fairness and concern for the future. What's it going to do to our town? Is it going to uh what is it? Uh change the uh somewhat rural nature of our town. fears about traffic, about costs, about
everything like that. Fairness, right? Someone says all about fairness. No, it's not. Right. If if you stop me in front of the fruit center with a petition and you say, "Hey, do you think it's fair that Milton
has to have uh you know, 2,461 units?" I'd say, "No, I'm going to sign that." Right? But that's not what we're deciding whether or not we like this law. We're not deciding whether or not we're scared of the ramifications of this law. We're not deciding whether it's fair. It's not how this can be
decided. Because when I decide whether or not to follow the law, I generally ask, is it the law? Yes, that's the end of my inquiry. It's not do I like it or am I afraid of it? It's not as the uh 3A the MBTA communities act it's about 245
words and the EOHLC regulations are 10,580 words. You know how many times fairness is mentioned? Zero. You won't see fairness or unfair where
it's not fair. Right? That's not the way the law operates. Now, I had the opportunity to listen to the entire audio of the um hearing that the the Min Milton citizens petition um had last week and first of all, not going to
mention names, but the council who represented the 16 petitioners did a fantastic job. I say that as a practitioner and just you did a wonderful job, right? Yeah, absolutely. Didn't mention fairness because that's not a legal argument. Now the the
argument is whether or not the classification that we have of rapid transit communication is arbitrary and capriccious or not. That's it. Arbitrary and capriccious. Do you know what that means? It means if something is
arbitrary and capriccious, it means it is quote from case law devoid of reason. Not unreasonable. Not I disagree with the reason. Not let's have two charts and have two pictures of a trolley and a and a a commuter rail and say, "Hey, what's the difference?" It's devoid of
reason. That is a bar that is so high as to become impractical in this case. And we heard a little bit of that audio from when the AG was questioned. The judge was kind of giving it to him and saying,
"Hey, fairly you even ridden the tea. You know, your bike probably could go faster than it." all fair questions and the law and the case won't be decided on any of those. As a practitioner, I recognize that, but he was respectful of the arguments because he knows it's
important to the people in town. It's how we feel and I feel it, too. But that's not how we decide these things, right? Um, the way that hearing began, the very first words of that hearing, the attorney representing the the folks from
Milton referenced in a decision that that same judge had made the prior week where he dismissed all the claims of, I think, eight or nine different municipalities, including citizens, who argued, excuse me, excuse me, sir, if you could wrap up to Yep. who argued a number of different things including
categorization and and what the and let's say I read it and what the judge said is okay now you can go ahead and tell me how you think I'm wrong if you want but I don't know that it's going to have a lot of effect it's a direct quote from the judge our council so this case
is not going anywhere and very briefly three things I want to mention because I end on a positive note number one we have a lot in common number one we're all nerds in this room and if you think you're not it's 10:30 you're talking about zoning so you're a nerd Okay. We also pay attention to these things. So,
I'm not saying we're any smarter than people that maybe vote in a referendum, but we sit through these meetings and we know that the way you have to decide this is not on what you think or what you feel or what your definition of fairness is, but it's on what the law is. And the law dictates that we pass a
25% plan. Even if we don't like it, even if we're scared of it, and even if we think it's unfair. Mr. Aasino, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Diane Dulio Agustinino, precinct nine. I got it right that time.
It is the law. The American with Disabilities Act of 1990 is the law. All MBTA transportation must be compliant with the law. And the MBTA was reminded by the United States
Department of Transportation General Counsel in a letter of November 2016 that anyone and everyone can find on the internet. In fact, the reason I bring this letter up is Milton
specifically filed a lawsuit against the MBTA for not repairing damaged staircases at the Milton station. The letter specifically stated back in 2016 that any transportation
must put in an ADA ramp or an elevator to access. So when we talk about money, um that was a costly lawsuit against the MBTA. We lost um because they can't rebuild those stairs. So that's a fact.
You can all look up that lawsuit. The ADA is a federal mandatory law to abide by and also should be abided by out of basic human consideration of the disabled who would seek housing in these
proposed zones at the trolley itself is not it violates the law. It violates the American with Disabilities Act. The sidewalks to get there violates the act. And even the fact that there's no parking, no parking at all at Valley
Road violates the fact, let alone handicap parking. That's the first argument that I want to put on the record for those who are disabled, that it is the law. The second argument that it is the law relates to
the two false statements by the proponents of article six that quoted all attempts have failed. That's in quotes. And after many attempts, all shot down in quotes.
Thanks to a prior presenter, two prior presenters, you learned that the Plymouth Superior Court uh just last Wednesday, June 11th, heard the six residents, taxable residents um argument
just last Wednesday, and it was not all related to the mandate. The second portion finally for the first time when the argument was given regarding the rapid transit that Milton is not rapid transit the American with Disabilities
Act violations were included. So if you even just have any disability and want to ride that trolley it's difficult. A friend of mine rode it in a wheelchair years ago and would never do it again. So that hearing that you just saw
absolutely did happen and you can listen to it yourself has not come back with a ruling yet. That was the very first time the American with Disabilities Act was presented has a good reason why Milton's trolleys are not rapid transit. So I'm
looking forward to hearing that. The third, it's the law, has to do with if it's the law, does article six versus article 5 give us more or less of a financial fine
potentially if less disabled individuals are impacted? I mean, that's a serious question. And in fact, I'd like to ask the moderator um what if he could please ask town council what are the options
if this active pending case ruling comes back on that. I I only know of one. There were three topics and attorney Paul Hogan could address that after we hear from town council if the moderator would allow. Um the mandate I'm not
concerned about that. the rapid transit being ADA compliant. I am concerned about that. There was a third reason. But what would happen to Milton if the ruling comes back? You're not rapid transit and if we pass 25 versus 10% 25%
versus 10%. The fact is the Milton Communities Act is not fair to this disabled and that makes it illegal per the ADA. Do I think it's going to come to that? No. I don't think anyone has the money to fight it
all the way, but let's fight for fairness for those with disabilities because it's human decency to do that. So, if the moderator would allow town council, sorry, are you if the moderator would allow town
council to answer the question if the Plymouth Superior Court decision um on not on the mandate issue, but on the rapid transit issue finally being presented also with the ADA and there was a third issue which I can't remember
right this minute. Um, what would town council say, Miss Augustino, given the given the late hour and other speakers waiting? We are clearly going to have to reconvene tomorrow night. So, I would ask town council if they could research that to give you an answer tomorrow night. Great. I'll give you the questions to pass. Thank you very much
for your time. Thank you. All right, folks. Get slow down. Slow down. Take a take a breath. We have seven people have been waiting to speak. It's getting late. Specifically, it's uh
10 minutes of 11. If I would ask if the speakers could reduce their comments to two or three minutes, we could get to a vote tonight before we leave. Uh and I think that that would be preferred by the members. We will have to reconvene
tomorrow night anyway. We have another article to consider, but it would be nice if we could finish the home stretch on the article we've been listening to all night. So, with that, madam, over here, you're recognized. And please,
brevity is best. Go ahead. Okay. Hello. My name is Linda Bosworth. I have lived on Ridgewood Road for 33 years. I've been a lifelong town resident and I am not a member of any board. So, um, I also want to stipulate I am
related to the ICE house developer. No, I am not part of that project. Um, and don't panic over the amount of papers in my hand. I just went with the extra-large print. As a homeowner on the street that is landlocked by Randolph Fav, I share the concern of neighbors
over the traffic flow and state's plan to remove the lights at Chikatabitet and replace it with a roundabout. While we're here tonight to vote on articles that change the zoning and therefore drive and regulate future housing developments, this segus directly into the everinccreasing traffic and other
problems in the town. This is a quality of life issue for everyone. I recently drove from Randolph A to Pleasant Street by the old Ben factory and was stunned to see the traffic for the turnoff was backed up to the old dump road from the stro sign. I realize this isn't even
close to being the only congested intersection in town. Milton has become virtually impossible to navigate during commuter hours and weekends as well. What used to be an easy 10 or 15 minute drive across town has become an epic
journey and a trial of patients instead. This is without the potential 2500 units of additional housing that some believe we should move forward on. We already have additional housing under construction. It's not clear to me if these buildings will be considered under
the 25% plan, but I don't see how it's possible to develop additional multiple unit housing beyond those currently underway. We need clear answer to the questions of how to manage the traffic that will undoubtedly come with the additional living units when the town is
already struggling under current conditions even before construction has been completed for the units being built. Traffic is only part of the equation. We just had an override for the school budget and we're told it was a critical decision and would face draconian cuts that would have to be
considered without it. There are still plans to consider building at least one, if not two more schools. What will those projected needs be if we move forward with the 25% plan? Where is there enough land to construct one or two more schools with staff parking and bus drop
off? What about the strain on other services such as DPW, police, and fire departments? Taxes are ever increasing as it is, forcing many residents and particularly our older population to reconsider whether or not it's worth
remaining in the town. Can you imagine being 70 or 80 years old or the caregivers of older parents and having to decide to relocate at this stage of life? And while you might roll your eyes over that scenario, it could happen to any one of us or our beloved parents in
the future if we don't give immediate and thoughtful consideration to our future growth. For those who support the 25% plan, I'd respectfully ask you to reconsider your position. The town elected the planning board members and the warmer committee is made up of
dedicated volunteers with solid professional experience. These people have all been entrusted to act in the best interest of the town and have invested incredible time and consideration of the plans for 25 versus 10%. It's extremely significant to note
that the warrant committee majority and all but one planning board member that I understand are advocating for the 10% plan. This isn't about gatekeeping, exclusivity, racism, or any other ugly
label. The indisputable fact is Milton is limited in both size and resources and can't continue down the path of unchecked growth. The things that make us such a desirable place to live, amazing schools, small town charm,
beautiful green parks and caring neighbors are already under significant strain and will eventually disappear if we don't course correct. That needs to happen now. I'll leave you with one more fact to consider. A lot of people aren't
aware that the developers of the Jessen building in East Milton Square had approached the town and said they'd be willing to cap the expressway at their own cost if the town would allow them to build either a parking garage or a second office building. May light
husband maintained that's a fact. While it's easy to play armchair quarterback now, town management at that time didn't have the foresight to see what the future would look like and rejected the proposal. Can you imagine how many thousands of dollars the town would have
saved in traffic studies in East Milton alone if that had been allowed? Let's not make the same error in judgment and rush to commit to a plan that could have disastrous consequences we may not be able to recover from. If the 25% plan is
implemented, it will be virtually impossible to backtrack if it's approved and be as damages damaging as I feel it may be. For the sake of the town, I ask you to please consider supporting the 10% plan.
[Applause] Okay, folks, here's our situation. Uh since 1992 when I first became a member, it's always been a really hard and fast goal
to conclude evening meetings by 11:00. We cannot do that with the amount of people uh waiting to speak and then have them speak and vote on this article. We have to reconvene tomorrow night anyway. We have another article. So with that
knowledge, I would entertain a motion to adjourn until 7:30. It's been made. Seconded. Seconded. And it is a You all have your vote. We'll We'll do a voice vote. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. No.
All right, folks. We're Hey, don't leave, please. We We're going to do what we're going to do. I can't determine the voice. We're going to do an electronic vote. So, it's a motion to adjourn. It's not debatable, but we we have to vote on it.
You may vote. You may vote and please do. And the motion is to adjourn until 7:30 tomorrow night. I I know everyone's Thank you members. You can see the vote. We are adjourned. Thank you. See you
tomorrow night.