After months of campaigning, a heated debate over a state-mandated plan that would have made it easier to build multifamily housing in parts of Needham came to a head Tuesday when voters soundly rejected the new zoning.

Needham became the latest Massachusetts suburb to shoot down a controversial state-mandated MBTA zoning plan, but its Select Board chairman says the town won’t follow in Milton’s footsteps.

people voted down the zoning changes, while 4,914 people voted to keep in compliance with the law, according to the town clerk.

NEEDHAM - Needham residents have voted against the town's plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Law, even as the state filed emergency regulations intended to enforce the rules. According to preliminary special election results,

A new zoning plan is back up in the air in Needham, Massachusetts, with voters set to decide on Tuesday whether to add new multifamily housing, which would comply with the MBTA’s Community Act. The plan has received heavy pushback over the past several months in several communities,

The proposal would have created capacity for roughly 3,300 units near two of the town's commuter rail station stops.

Massachusetts' highest court just decided the state could force certain communities to allow multi-family housing. Will Needham comply?

Opponents of Needham’s plan to allow more multifamily housing under the MBTA Communities law defeated the measure on Tuesday.

Voters in Needham Tuesday soundly rejected a plan that would have paved the way for the production of more multifamily housing in this suburban town of 32,000 and aligned it with a much-debated state housing law.