Framingham Officials, Residents Continue Discussions on Opt-In Building Code

FRAMINGHAM - The City Council continued their public hearing on the Massachusetts Municipal Opt-In Specialized Building Code during their meeting on Tuesday, November 18.

The code is an optional mandate that, if adopted by municipal legislators, would feature ways for new Framingham buildings to have eco-friendly utilities built in, including pre-wiring for solar installations and electrification in the future. It’s solely for new construction projects, and it would not require full electrification of those new projects. It provides multiple paths to compliance, such as the use of mixed fuels.

The public hearing on the matter started on October 20.

Proponents of the code—many of which spoke during the continued public hearing on Tuesday—have claimed it can help the city cut its carbon emissions and air pollution while taking advantage of tax credits, state grants, and potential future savings through greener utilities and properties.

Energize Framingham, a local climate action group, started a petition to ask local officials to approve of the specialized opt-in code. Initially it was reported to have had over 350 signatures, though City Council Chair Phil Ottaviani of District 6 noted on Tuesday that 55 electronic signatures were not counted while many of those signed names were already included on the physically-signed petition. Ottaviani stated that 237 of the signatures were considered valid.

Others have hesitated to support the code’s adoption. The Framingham Economic Development Corporation (FEDC), which works with private and public partners to stimulate economic growth in the city, requested that the code’s adoption be deferred due to potential development costs and the impact the adoption could have on drawing commercial and industrial projects to Framingham. The FEDC also proposed that a study be launched to investigate how other communities have fared following the code’s adoption before Framingham leaders make a decision.

Mark Sandeen, a member of Lexington’s Select Board, traveled to the Memorial Building on Tuesday to share his reaction to how his community has done after adopting the opt-in code. He explained that in his experience, the code has been a win for affordable housing developers—along with those who will eventually inhabit those homes. Lexington is primed to have 40 units of 100% affordable housing developed through an agreement with Causeway Development. Those units are set to be fully electric and solar powered at an average of 60% of the area median income.

“Lexington and Framingham are in the same HUD territory defining area median income and fair market rent,” Sandeen told the Framingham City Council, “so that means the economics for building affordable housing in Framingham and Lexington would be quite similar.”

Additionally, Sandeen said Lexington officials have approved of over 1,000 fully electric multi-family housing units—through its passing of the MBTA Communities Act—that will be built with these opt-in code standards.

Still, District 1 City Councilor Christine Long was skeptical in backing the opt-in code as presented at this time. She explained she wants to hear more from people who are on the other side of the debate, adding her belief that the code could rob homeowners of their ability to build their house however they see fit, pointing to a difference between affordable housing units and the rights of homeowners.

“This is, to me, similar to MBTA zoning,” Long continued on Tuesday.

“It’s another statutory overreach into taking out local control over your municipal choices, over homeowners’ choices.”

District 9 City Councilor Tracey Bryant expressed support for the code’s adoption during the most recent meeting. Brandon Ward of District 2, District 5’s Noval Alexander, Leora Mallach of District 7, and District 8’s Leslie White Harvey had backed the opt-in code’s merits during Energize Framingham’s candidate forum leading up to the November 4 municipal election. City Councilors-elect Mary Kate Feeney of District 3 and John Stefanini of District 8 also expressed support. At-Large City Council member George King said on Tuesday that he supports the opt-in code, though he wants to ensure that Framingham is not getting too far ahead of itself with changes—especially when compared to what state guidelines mandate.

District 4 City Councilor Michael Cannon expressed some hesitation in adopting the code for the time being; he cited his desire to thoroughly garner community feedback and additional information.

The City Council closed the public hearing on the code’s adoption by a 9-2 count; Long and Cannon voted against that motion.

District 3 City Council member Adam Steiner then raised another motion to approve of the code; his motion featured language provided by City Solicitor Kathryn Fallon Manupelli. Cannon mentioned that the language in Steiner’s motion was not within the City Council meeting’s background material. Fallon Manupelli explained she was asked to clarify the best way to phrase a motion to opt in.

In turn, Cannon invoked an article in the Home Rule Charter to have the vote delayed to the group’s next meeting. He said that invocation was taken in order to give local legislators more time to review the actual motion being put forth before voting on it, though Bryant suggested that action was a delay tactic.

In any event, the opt-in code topic will be picked up once again during the City Council’s meeting on December 2.