HOLDEN, Mass. - Voters in Holden shooting down an article at Monday’s town meeting which would’ve placed the town in compliance with the MBTA Communities Law.

Their town manager telling Spectrum News it’s unclear what steps the town will take next and the state has made it clear not complying could be costly.

In total, 177 Massachusetts cities and towns fall under the requirements of the MBTA Communities Law. It’s the law which requires multi-family zoning in cities and towns near the MBTA.

The town of Holden is one where its residents are pushing against the law which was passed nearly unanimously in 2021 and signed by Governor Charlie Baker.

As of last month, nearly 70 MBTA Communities were deemed compliant or conditionally compliant.. with a total of 119 communities where they’ve adopted multifamily zoning to work towards complying with the law…

In Holden, the town voted on amending the zoning map in a meeting this week and the vote did not pass with a 2/3's majority. At the meeting on Monday night, Town Manager Peter Lukes said if it didn’t pass, Holden will soon be out of compliance.

“We have a July 15 deadline, so we'd be out of compliance if we do this. If it doesn't pass tonight, we are also out of compliance, so we would have to go back to the drawing board anyway," Lukes said. "But we've worked very hard on this. We spent tens of thousands of dollars with consultants on this to state grants that we've received. It took a great deal of time, and I would ask that we at least vote on it tonight.”

Back in March, the town of Middleboro opposed the MBTA Communities Law and filed a lawsuit against the Healey administration which they then withdrew after reaching an agreement.

Ultimately, it seems like it all comes down to funding. According to the MBTA Communities Law, cities and towns who fail to comply will not be eligible for funds from the Housing Choice Initiative.