The law requires 177 Massachusetts cities and towns served by or near MBTA transit to create zoning districts where multifamily housing is allowed. Wilmington’s proposed district failed by a 288-154 vote in December 2024 and, when brought back in May 2025, by a narrower 165-152 vote.

The town first considered the measure in May 2024, but voters postponed a decision while legal challenges to the law were pending. In January 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the law and ruled that the covered communities must comply.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office sued Wilmington and eight other communities earlier this year over noncompliance. Wilmington has also lost grant funding as a consequence, according to the town’s discussion of the issue.

Town Manager Eric Slagle told the Select Board that the attorney general’s office may not accept a zoning plan imposed through a legal settlement or court order, describing that route as “paper compliance.” In a Sept. 25 memo to the board, he said the office would accept such a district only if Town Meeting approved it.

Some municipalities have used “paper compliance” districts in areas that are already developed or unlikely to see housing construction soon. Slagle said the November vote offers Wilmington a chance to secure that kind of compliance, rather than having a district imposed through litigation.

The renewed vote comes as Tewksbury, another town named in the state’s lawsuit, approved its own newly created district at Town Meeting earlier this month.