Tewksbury Boards Vote 9-0 to Put MBTA Housing Zoning on Fall Ballot

TEWKSBURY — June 15, 2026 — Tewksbury's Select Board and Planning Board voted 9-0 to advance an MBTA Communities Act zoning proposal centered on 75 Radcliffe Road to the fall 2026 town meeting. Town Planner Curran presented two competing options for a second zoning sub-district — 3 Radcliffe Road, a commercially zoned parcel with a modeled capacity of 805 units, and 75 Radcliffe Road, a wetland-adjacent site modeled at 906 units but likely to yield far fewer — and all nine voting members chose 75 Radcliffe to preserve existing commercial land. The first sub-district, in the Clark Road area, carries a modeled capacity of 886 units and was uncontested. Select Board member Krapman warned that the state's continued withholding of grants during the compliance process could poison voter sentiment by fall, saying the situation "has to be a partnership and somebody working together, not a dictatorship." Town counsel will approach the state to seek a temporary funding stay now that both boards have formally committed to the fall warrant. A second unanimous vote authorized a joint public outreach letter and informational sessions targeting early September, with the state's simple-majority threshold of 51 percent required at town meeting for the zoning change to take effect.