Special town meeting in Bourne to address proposed MBTA Communities Act housing district

BUZZARDS BAY – The Town of Bourne is inviting residents to attend upcoming information sessions about the MBTA Community Zoning Law.

The first is happening tonight, Thursday August 28th at 7:00 at the Bourne Veterans Memorial Community Building, 239 Main Street in Buzzards Bay.

A proposal has been made to create a “Section 3A Multi-Family Housing Overlay District” to comply with the state law passed in 2021 which applies to towns and cities that have MBTA transit stops, as well as neighboring municipalities.

The zoning article will be considered at a special town meeting on October 20th.

Future info sessions at the Community Building will be held on Wednesday, September 10th at 1 p.m., and on Thursday the 11th at 7 p.m. 

Information on the project is also available on the Town of Bourne website. 

Multiple other towns filed suit against the Communities Act, while Bourne officials moved forward with compliance efforts.

Year-round commuter rail is not currently offered on Cape Cod, but the Cape is serviced seasonally by the T’s CapeFLYER. The FLYER features two stops in Bourne.

The T’s full-time commuter rail comes as close as Kingston, after the closure of the station in Plymouth. The region is also serviced by the new Fall River/New Bedford line.