I’m sure you’ve noticed that in recent months the Sterling Select Board, its Out-of-Town blow-in paycheck patriots Bill Caldwell, Town Administrator, and Stephen Wallace, dead-weight so-called ‘Town Planner,’ and the Planning Board, chaired by self-dealing weasel developer Carl Corrinne, none of whom gives a rat’s ass about degrading the Town of Sterling’s semi-rural character, have not placed any so-called “MBTA Multi-Family Zoning Districts” propaganda items on the Town website’s “NEWS” webpage. Instead, that stuff has been confined to the Planning Board section.
SO, let’s examine the lies and falsehoods set forth on the Planning Board’s ‘MBTA Zoning’ propaganda webpage, reproduced below, shall we?
“MBTA Communities Zoning Requirements
The MBTA Communities Act and Sterling
The State Legislature passed the MBTA Communities Zoning Act four years ago. The Act requires all MBTA communities and communities adjacent to MBTA communities to create overlay zoning districts that allow multi-family housing By Right (as opposed to by Special Permit).
- Housing Choice Initiative
- Local Capital Projects Fund
- MassWorks infrastructure program
- HousingWorks infrastructure program
This link will take you to the State’s MBTA Communities web page: Multi-Family Zoning Requirement for MBTA Communities | Mass.gov
The latest version of Sterling’s MBTA-housing bylaw can be found HERE.
At its meeting on May 22, 2025, the Planning Board chose Option #3 for the following reasons:
- the close proximity of the Leominster sewer line,
- the nearby Northgate multi-family housing development,
- Route 12 being a MART (Montachusett Regional Transit Authority) bus route,
- and the district being located on both sides of the road so that any development that comes in will not channel traffic onto Route 12 from a single point of entry.
At its meeting on June 18, 2025, the Select Board voted to approve the Planning Board’s preferred option and a pre-adoption review request was submitted to the State the following day. You can read the Town’s pre-adoption review request HERE.
The State should respond by the end of the summer. The Town will then convene a Special Town Meeting on the MBTA matter towards the end of the calendar year.”
STERLING PLANNING BOARD FALSEHOOD NO. 1: “The State Legislature passed the MBTA Communities Zoning Act four years ago. The Act requires all MBTA communities and communities adjacent to MBTA communities to create overlay zoning districts that allow multi-family housing By Right (emphasis added).”
THE TRUTH: Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A, the controlling statute, was enacted in January 2021. That statute makes NO REFERENCE WHATSOEVER TO “ADJACENT COMMUNITIES” AND ONLY REQUIRES “MBTA COMMUNITIES” HAVING LAND WITHIN ONE-HALF (1/2) MILE OF AN MBTA TRAIN STATION, BUS STATION, FERRY TERMINAL, ETC., TO ADOPT AN ‘MBTA Multi-Family Zoning District’ WITHIN ONE-HALF (1/2) MILE—WALKING DISTANCE– OF SUCH AN MBTA TRAIN STATION, BUS STATION, FERRY TERMINAL, ETC..
The ’adjacent communities’ language is a contrived concoction of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (an Oxymoron) ‘Compliance Guidelines Team’ who pulled the term ‘adjacent communities’ out of their asses and stuck it in their COMPLETELY BOGUS ‘Compliance Guidelines’ falsely purporting to implement Ch. 40A, Section 3A. The language in Chapter 40A, Section 3A overrides the bogus ‘Compliance Guidelines,’ NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Chapter 40A, Section 3A is set forth here:
- Added by St.2020, c.359, § 18, effective January 14, 2021
- Amended by St.2021, c.29, § 10, effective July 29, 2021
- Amended by St.2023, c. 7, §§ 152-153, effective May 30, 2023
- Amended by St. 2024, c. 150, § 9, effective August 6, 2024
(a)
(1)
An MBTA community shall have a zoning ordinance or by-law that provides for at least 1 district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right; provided, however, that such multi-family housing shall bewithout age restrictions and shall be suitable for families with children. For the purposes of this section, a district of reasonable size shall: (i) have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, subject to any further limitations imposed by section 40 of chapter 131 and title 5 of the state environmental code established pursuant to section 13 of chapter 21A; and (ii) be located not more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station, if applicable (emphasis added).
(b)
An MBTA community that fails to comply with this section shall not be eligible for funds from: (i) the Housing Choice Initiative as described by the governor in a message to the general court dated December 11, 2017; (ii) the Local Capital Projects Fund established in section 2EEEE of chapter 29; (iii) the MassWorks infrastructure program established in section 63 of chapter 23A, or (iv) the HousingWorks infrastructure program established in section 27½ of chapter 23B.
(c)
The executive office of housing and livable communities, in consultation with the executive office of economic development, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, shall promulgate guidelines to determine if an MBTA community is in compliance with this section.
In the case of Attorney General vs. Town of Milton et al., decided January 8, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said twice that MBTA multi-family zoning districts MUST BE WITHIN ½ MILE OF AN MBTA TRAIN STATION, MBTA BUS STATION, MBTA FERRY TERMINAL, ETC..
READ THE ENTIRE DECISION HERE: www.mass.gov/doc/attorney-general-v-town-of-milton-executive-office-of-housing-and-livable-communities-sjc-13580/download
All of this brings up the issue and meaning of Ultra Vires in the law. Black’s Law Dictionary, the go-to legal dictionary, 2nd Edition, defines Ultra Vires thusly:
“A body exercising an invalid excess or power of authority” (emphasis added).
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (an Oxymoron) bogus so-called ‘Compliance Guidelines’ are Ultra Vires in that they exceed the scope of the explicit parameters set forth in Chapter 40A, Section 3A, as interpreted by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and are therefore unenforceable.
STERLING PLANNING BOARD FALSEHOOD NO. 2: “Sterling is considered an “MBTA- adjacent small town” and is required to find enough land to accommodate a housing district at a density of 15 units per acre, which equates to 156 multi-family units in the overlay district (approximately 12 to 15 acres of land)(emphasis added).
THE TRUTH: Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A, the controlling statute, refers only to “an MBTA community,” NOT an “MBTA-adjacent small town.’ The bogus term “MBTA-adjacent small town” was concocted by the MAEOHLC ‘Guidelines Team’ who pulled it out of their asses. As noted, that bogus term is Ultra Vires and, therefore, unenforceable. MOREOVER, Sterling has NO LAND within 5-6 miles of the nearest MBTA train station in Leominster, is well beyond the ½ mile MBTA zoning districts limit, AND, THEREFORE, IS NOT REQUIRED TO ADOPT ANY MBTA MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING DISTRICT.
THE STERLING PLANNING BOARD’S FALSEHOOD NO. 3: “The law requires that the Town allow for the possibility of creating 156 multi-family housing units…(emphasis added).”
THE TRUTH: That assertion is false for the reasons stated above. MOREOVER, NOTHING IN CHAPTER 40A, SECTION 3A MENTIONS A MINIMUM DISTRICT SIZE OF 12-15 ACRES OR SO. The MAEOHLC bogus ‘Guidelines Team’ is using arbitrary and capricious computer-generated size requirements pulled out of their asses. They are ULTRA VIRES and unenforceable.
THE STERLING PLANNING BOARD’S FALSEHOOD NO. 4:
“Municipalities that fail to comply with this section shall not be eligible for a variety of State grant programs, including:
- Housing Choice Initiative
- Local Capital Projects Fund
- MassWorks infrastructure program
- HousingWorks infrastructure program” (emphasis added).
THE TRUTH: For the reasons set forth above, Mass. Gen. Laws Ch. 40A, Section 3A DOES NOT APPLY TO THE TOWN OF STERLING. THEREFORE, THE TOWN OF STERLING IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR GRANT CATEGORIES REFERRED TO. THE STERLING SELECT BOARD, PLANNING BOARD, TOWN ADMINISTRATOR, AND TOWN PLANNER ARE ALL FALSELY EQUATING THE BOGUS ‘COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES’ WITH THE ACTUAL LANGUAGE SET FORTH IN THE CONTROLLING STATUTE, CH. 40A, SECTION 3A. IF THEY HAD ANY INTEGRITY AND GUTS—AND THEY OBVIOUSLY DO NOT—THEY’D HAVE TOWN COUNSEL FILE A WORCESTER SUPERIOR ACTION CHALLENGING THE ‘COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES’ APPLICABILITY TO THE TOWN OF STERLING. INSTEAD, THEY PREFER TO STICK THEIR HANDS OUT, TAKING THE TAXPAYER-SUPPLIED-STATE-MONEY-GRUBBING EASY WAY OUT, THEREBY SUBVERTING THE TOWN OF STERLING’S SOVEREIGNTY AND CHARACTER BY PUSHING FOR APPROVAL OF A BOGUS SO-CALLED ‘MBTA MULTI-FAMILY ZONING DISTRICT’ ON BOTH SIDES OF ROUTE 12 IN NORTH STERLING NEAR THE GIGANTIC “NORTHGATE MEADOWS” APARTMENT COMPLEX AND THE BUSINESS PARK HOUSING THE REGISTRY OF MOTOR VEHICLES OFFICE. YEAH, JACKASSES, AS A PUBLIC SAFETY MATTER WE NEED MORE CARS ENTERING ROUTE 12 FROM BOTH SIDES IN THAT AREA.
SIDEBAR: The Kirsten Newman-Patty Page Connection to the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission.
The following is on the Sterling Planning Board webpage re-printed above:
“In November 2024, the Select Board directed the Town Planner to work with Town Counsel and the regional planning commission (Montachusett Regional Planning Commission – MRPC) to take another look at the Northgate area for Sterling’s MBTA-overlay district. MRPC came up with five options for locating the MBTA-overlay district near its border with Leominster:
Well, well, folks, just scroll down and check out the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission roster:
Sterling’s Select Board Chair, Kirsten Newman, a DemocRAT statist lemming if there ever was one, and Patty Page, another Sterling Municipal Building paycheck patriot–
https://www.sterling-ma.gov/people/patty-page—
–JUST HAPPEN TO ‘REPRESENT’ STERLING ON THE MONTACHUSETT REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION. The Montachusett Regional Planning Commission is entirely a creature of the State dependent on government funds–
Hey Kirsten, Hey Patty, NICE ECHO CHAMBER YOU SET UP!
AND IF THAT AIN’T BAD ENOUGH, MR. KIRSTEN NEWMAN IS ON THE STERLING PLANNING BOARD–
https://www.sterling-ma.gov/planning-board
–HELPING TO PUT OUT THE FALSE INFORMATION ILLUSTRATED ABOVE.
SEE HOW STERLING TOWN GOVERNMENT BULLSHIT IS SPREAD ON MULTIPLE LEVELS???!!!
HELP MAINTAIN THE TOWN OF STERLING’S SOVEREIGNTY AND CHARACER BY VOTING DOWN BOGUS ‘MBTA ZONING’ WHEN IT COMES UP AT THE SPECIAL TOWN MEETING THIS AUTUMN.
Stay tuned.
J.G.
STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS, OVERWATCH 
where can I get a yard sign to fight this. We need to take back Sterling.
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The telephone number to call for a yard sign is in the latest Blog Post.
SPREAD THE WORD. WE HAVE MANY YARD SIGNS AVAILABLE.
J.G.
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