Milton Town Hall · Town Meeting Transcript
Labouré Backers Warned of a 40B, a Familiar Argument in Milton
303 Adams St · Town Meeting · Oct 24, 2026
Labouré supporters warned of a 40B, an argument Milton meetings make far more often than the case for 40B.
- At Town Meeting: on Oct 19, at least four speakers for the $11.75M purchase raised a 40B in arguing for it. Town ownership "probably prevents the building of a 40B project on that site," one member said. Another warned of a developer using "the 40B Trojan horse." A supporter's slide listed "40B development" among the alternatives to buying. Select Board Chair Winston Daley put "the 40B's in East Milton" among the town's "lost chances and regrets." An opponent used it too, arguing that even if the town rezoned and resold the land, "we haven't blocked 40B."
- A familiar argument: we read Milton's Select Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board, Warrant Committee and Affordable Housing Trust minutes since January 2024. Together with Town Meeting, 23 statements presented 40B as something to head off or a burden on a neighborhood, and 2 presented it as a way to build affordable housing. Most other mentions were routine updates.
- The other view: a 2024 plan for affordable housing at the Town Farm would use a "friendly 40B," and in April a town advisory committee urged a plan "to bring Milton into compliance with Chapter 40B within the next five years." At a 2024 hearing on the Highland St memory care home, where a supporter had raised a 40B as the alternative, a neighbor called "the threat of a 40B" "unfounded."
- The case for 40B: the law dates to 1969, when a legislative committee blamed restrictive local zoning for "an acute shortage" of affordable housing. Defending it in 2010, the Boston Bar Association said it gives "decent housing affordable to seniors on fixed incomes" and to young families priced out since then. That year a statewide repeal failed, and Milton voted 7,123 to 4,605 to keep 40B.
- The 10% mark: Milton has 723 homes on the state's affordable housing list, 7.38% of its 9,801, by the state's December 2025 count. Asked at Town Meeting, Town Administrator Nick Milano said that if the 40Bs already permitted are built, "Milton will go over that benchmark." The town's March tally puts that at 10.34%. Above 10%, a town can turn down a 40B without the state overriding it. Below it, as now, a developer can seek one almost anywhere in town, Labouré included. The bar resets with the 2030 census.
- The site itself: no 40B has been proposed for 303 Adams St. Labouré's broker had been preparing to ask developers for best and final offers above the town's price, the town says. The town's appraisal values the campus for school use and treats apartments as not allowed under its single-family zoning, without assuming a rezoning or another special approval.
- What 40B has built: the Zoning Board has approved eight 40B projects with 510 homes, 128 of them affordable. One is finished, five are under construction, one is under appeal and one has no building permit yet. The town's draft housing plan credits 40B rentals, where every unit counts on the state list, for most of Milton's rise from 4.97% in 2017.
- Next: voters decide the Labouré debt exclusion on Dec 15. A new town housing plan, which can bring temporary protection from 40Bs, is due in November.
- Background: 40B is a state law that lets developers bypass local zoning in towns where under 10% of homes are on the state's affordable list, if at least 20 to 25% of a project's units are affordable. How we counted: a statement counted when it described 40B as good or bad for Milton. Updates, questions and explanations did not. Minutes summarize meetings, so some remarks may be missing.
Sources: Town Meeting video (Milton Access TV) · Select Board, Planning Board and other minutes (Agenda Center) · Select Board minutes, Mar 24, 2026 (affordable housing list) · Labouré appraisal · Town's 40B projects page · 2010 vote on repealing 40B, by town (Secretary of the Commonwealth)
Earlier coverage: Town Meeting Backs $11.75M Labouré Purchase, 168-45, Over Warnings It Could End the Gile Road School (Oct 20, 2026) · $11.75M Labouré Purchase Goes to Town Meeting, Then to Voters Dec 15 (Oct 19, 2026) · Town Meeting backs the $11.75M Labouré purchase, 168-45 (Oct 20, 2026)