Council May Vote On New Zoning Priorities This Week

Over the past few months, the Community Resources Committee (CRC) of the Town Council has drafted a detailed document with suggestions for revising the Town’s Zoning bylaw. The central aim of this 27-page document is to increase density throughout town and to ease dimensional guidelines that inhibit development. 

Among the proposals are to permit development of smaller parcels in the Limited Business (B-L) zone, permit multifamily dwellings (duplexes and triplexes) throughout town, allow supplemental dwelling units, and ease restrictions on building height, lot coverage, and frontage. The document proposes to eliminate single-family zoning. 

The document was developed in the CRC, a subcommittee of Town Council, with little input from other relevant committees. Members of the Planning Board, Environment and Climate Action Committee (ECAC), and Housing Trust were invited to attend the CRC’s December 15 meeting to give feedback on the proposed new housing policy, but not on the proposed zoning changes.

The CRC has divided the initiatives into those that can be accomplished in 3 to 6 months and those which would require 6 to 12 months. The Planning staff is charged with drafting the actual wording of the bylaw changes. According to the Town Charter, a public hearing must be held prior to a vote on zoning changes, and a two-thirds vote (nine Councilors) of the Council is required for passage.

The first suggestions in the proposal deal primarily with increasing development in the B-L district and also allowing apartment buildings in other zones by Site Plan Review, which has less oversight, rather than the more stringent Special Permit; the change would make it easier for projects to be approved quickly. As noted in a 2016 memo to the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board , loosening the dimensional requirements in the B-L would substantially increase density, from 0 dwelling units to 8 dwelling units for a mixed-use building and up to 12 units for an apartment building. The B-L district is meant as a transitional zone between the downtown and surrounding residential areas. It is part of the “municipal parking zone,” where builders do not have to provide parking.

The later proposed changes deal largely with expanding the types of businesses allowed in Village Centers as well as increasing density in Village Centers and surrounding neighborhoods.

The CRC proposed to use money which has been set aside for consultants to develop form-based zoning and design standards for the downtown area. Inclusionary zoning to create more affordable housing in multifamily dwellings was deemed too complex to accomplish without consultant input and is not included in the proposed zoning changes. But the CRC felt the development of form-based zoning was more pressing.

The motion up for approval at the Council meeting is as follows.

MOTION: To direct the Town Manager to present zoning amendments that promote diverse neighborhoods, affordable housing, and new growth in downtown and village centers, in accordance with Town Council annual Policy Goal III Economic Vitality, in the following time periods: • by March 15, 2021: o Adding B-L District to footnote b o Adding footnote a to maximum lot coverage and maximum building coverage o Proposed a revised SDU bylaw, similar to the 2018 Town Meeting proposal o Demolition Delay bylaw revisions o Work with the Council to begin a conversation on housing types expansion, in preparation for meeting the September 1, 2021 priorities below o Move apartments to SPR in more zoning districts o Remove Footnote m o Revise the Apartments definition • by September 1, 2021: o Dimensional regulations in the R-G and R-VC o Lowering barriers to development of duplexes and triplexes o Frontage regulations for Residential zones o Look at appropriateness of Use Table for V-C: What kinds of businesses are allowed or encouraged in V-C districts – food, entertainment, services – things that make community and meet basic needs, within walking distance o Transportation issues (may not be zoning) • Use of Consultant money: o Form based zoning / design guidelines.