The Massachusetts attorney general on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Winthrop and eight other towns for violating the state’s 3A housing law, calling their persistent obstinance a harm to the success of working families.

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court, came as promised for this month by the attorney general, Andrea Campbell, a full five years after the state legislature passed the measure – also known as the MBTA Communities Act – on a nearly unanimous bipartisan basis.

The top state court already has upheld the law, and the new lawsuit seeks a ruling ordering the nine communities to amend their zoning laws to comply with the 3A law and, in the event of continued defiance, seeks further injunctive relief “reasonably tailored” to achieve each town’s compliance.

While “bringing a lawsuit is never my first choice,” the attorney general said in announcing her action, “courts have consistently ruled that compliance with this law is mandatory, and the urgency of our housing shortage compels me to act to ensure that all MBTA Communities meet their legal responsibilities. My office remains ready to assist any town working to come into compliance with the law.”

177 communities

The 3A law requires 177 communities across eastern Massachusetts to open more areas of their community for multifamily housing relatively near public transportation.

Of the 177 communities subject to 3A, only a dozen had not yet submitted the required zoning plan. Three towns not yet in compliance were not named in the lawsuit because their filing deadline was later than others or their voting was delayed due to inclement weather.

“Massachusetts has a housing crisis, and our commonwealth is unaffordable,” the attorney general said in her announcement. “The vast majority of MBTA communities deeply understand that developing more multi-family housing will improve our ability to attract businesses, retain our families and residents, and ensure that Massachusetts remains the greatest state in the country to live, start a family, and work.”

Winthrop and several other communities have pushed back on the law. Although Winthrop’s Planning Board developed a rezoning plan that would give the town credit for its current housing stock, an activist group that includes the Town Council President Jim Letterie and other council members, along with state Representative Jeff Turco, opposed the plan. The Town Council has on two occasions refused to approve it, and Mr Letterie has instead talked of tax hikes to compensate for revenue lost due to non-compliance.

Failed efforts

Other failed bids to stop the implementation of 3A include an attempt by the Winthrop Board of Registrars to certify a recall petition that did not meet the threshold of require signatories, threats to sue Mr Letterie and Town Counsel Jim Cipoletta, bills filed by Representative Turco seeking exemption on various grounds, and an attempt to place a referendum question on the statewide ballot to repeal 3A.

The town Board of Registrars attempt was deemed illegal by the state, the lawsuit against Mr Letterie and Mr Cipoletta stalled, Mr Turco’s exemption bills did not pass, and the referendum campaign did not gather enough signatures.

The lawsuit is the latest consequence to befall the town of Winthrop as a result of its 3A non-compliance. So far the losses in terms of rejected state grants or ineligibility for them include $1.2 million for flood mitigation, $100,000 for tree planting, a school safety grant, and an inability to access housing funding sources for 2026. Funding for infrastructure projects also remains at risk.

In the last five years, the Winthrop town government said, it secured more than $3 million from state and federal sources.

Ongoing costs

Other potential costs to the town include legal fees. The town of Milton spent $250,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to stop 3A’s application to the town.

The Massachusetts governor and her state attorney general have said that the state intends to use extensive additional financial powers to punish non-compliance – including the loss of access to nearly $4 billion in Economic Leadership Act funding slated for economic development, infrastructure, public facility improvements and climate change initiatives.

Some of the money is specifically targeted for coastal communities. The governor’s office said it plans to consider for withholding any funding for which the state has “discretion on recipient selection.”

The governor’s office also appoints five of the seven directors of MassPort, and therefore exerts political influence over funding decisions by the agency in charge of Logan airport. The Winthrop Foundation, a major funding source for civic activities in Winthrop, also is funded by MassPort.

Act of segregation

An analysis by the nonprofit group Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association argued that legal precedent shows that the attorney general can seek actions to demand adherence to the law that include ordering explicit zoning actions to be taken by the town, demanding compliance reports to be filed with the court, requiring fines to be paid by the town, and losing zoning control by the state appointing special masters to conduct or oversee implementation of court-ordered compliance actions.

An emergency meeting called by four members of Winthrop’s newly elected Town Council to “discuss MBTA zoning litigation” was canceled, after being scheduled twice in the past week.

The advocacy group Lawyers for Civil Rights on Tuesday sent Winthrop a demand letter telling it to stop violating the law and comply with 3A. It said that noncompliance harms low-income families, saying that all “of the noncompliant towns are highly segregated, with white populations of 80 percent or more.”

“The towns’ refusal to comply with the law perpetuates pervasive racial segregation and illegally prevents critical housing opportunities for Massachusetts residents of color,” the lawyers group said.

Town Council President Letterie did not respond to requests to comment on this article.