Lexington is compliant with the MBTA Communities Act. It was one of the first towns in the state to comply, adopting overlay districts at its 2023 Town Meeting that went far beyond the requirement, then voting in March 2025 to scale the zoning back. The state required Lexington to zone for a capacity of 1,231 units, and after the scale back the town still zones for about 2,411. For owners and investors, where the overlay applies changed in 2025, so the current map matters.

What is Lexington's MBTA 3A zoning?

Lexington meets the MBTA Communities Act through overlay districts that allow multifamily housing by right, first adopted at the Annual Town Meeting on April 12, 2023. As an adjacent community, Lexington was required to zone at least 50 acres for a capacity of 1,231 multifamily units, about 10 percent of its housing stock. The town went much further at first, zoning 227 acres across 12 districts for roughly ten times the state minimum, which made it the first town in Massachusetts to comply and earned it praise from the state. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities determined those 2023 districts compliant that same year.

Why did Lexington scale its zoning back?

The broad 2023 zoning drew a wave of development proposals, more than 1,000 units across about ten projects in two years, including the first MBTA Communities project in the state to break ground. Concerned the scope had outrun what residents expected, a citizen petition brought the question back to Town Meeting, which voted 164 to 9 in March 2025 to cut the designated land from 227 acres to about 90 and reduce zoned capacity to roughly 2,411 units, while removing Lexington Center from the overlay. The state determined the modified districts compliant in August 2025, so Lexington remains compliant, now at nearly double the 1,231 unit minimum rather than ten times it.

Which parts of Lexington are in the overlay now?

After the 2025 changes, the overlay covers about 90 acres across the town's village and commercial areas, down from 227, and Lexington Center is no longer included. Inside the remaining districts, multifamily is allowed by right at a minimum density of 15 units per acre. Because the boundaries changed recently and are parcel specific, the only reliable way to know if a property is in the current overlay is to check it against the town's adopted map. Send us the address and we will look it up.

What does this mean for Lexington owners and investors?

If your parcel sits in the current overlay, your development potential, and therefore your value, may be higher than the old zoning implied. What that means depends on who you are:

• Investors: Lexington is the proof of concept town, where 3A zoning has already produced real projects rather than just theory, including the first to break ground in the state. The 2025 scale back shrank the map, so by right multifamily opportunity now sits in the current districts, and the difference between a parcel that kept its overlay and one that lost it is significant.
• Sellers: if your lot is in the current overlay, that upside is worth knowing before you price it, and if it was zoned in 2023 but cut in 2025, that matters just as much.
• Owners holding long term: the added development rights can sit on your balance sheet as future optionality, where the overlay still applies.

We run that analysis before clients buy, sell, or hold.

How do I find out if my Lexington property qualifies?

There are two ways to check, in order of speed:

1. Send us the address and we will confirm whether it falls in the current overlay and what that allows, usually same day.
2. Or check it yourself against Lexington's current adopted overlay map, published by the town, and look up whether your parcel is included. Older maps from 2023 may be out of date after the 2025 changes.

Written by Ethan Piani-Hohmann, broker and founder of PH Realty Group, a Greater Boston brokerage focused on multifamily and investment property. Last updated May 2026