Good Morning, Neighbors!

It’s a busy day in Burlington as the Burlington Players’ Dragonfly Plays begins its final week, two candidates hold their kickoff events, and the Planning Board discusses all the proposed Warrant Articles for May Town Meeting.

Housing on the Agenda in Burlington This Evening

The Planning Board encourages the public to attend this evening’s public hearing (which begins at 6:00, a half-hour earlier than usual), during which the Planning Board, Land Use Committee, and Zoning Bylaw Review Committee will jointly discuss the proposed Warrant Articles for May’s Town Meeting. You might recognize some of the articles from reading the Buzz or because they were previously on the Warrant and withdrawn. If you’ve got something to say on any of these items, you’re encouraged to attend either in person or virtually. Here are the topics that will be discussed:

The  proposed zoning overlay designed to comply with the law known as MBTA Communities. You can read more about the proposal at this Buzz story and the Planning Department’s dedicated page, but the tl;dr is this: Due to the shortage of multifamily housing, the state enacted a law requiring MBTA Communities (a set of municipalities laid out by state law) to have a zone where multifamily housing can be built without a special permit. The town has worked to identify areas that would be well-suited for this zoning, including several areas that already have multifamily housing and one that does not and would be difficult to build on.

Critics of the article (and the state law) say the state shouldn’t be micromanaging zoning like this. Proponents say (a) the state is doing what it can do to help solve the housing crisis and (b) it’s easy for Burlington to comply (assuming the Attorney General approves this plan), so we might as well do it. And still others say that the spirit of the law, which is to build more housing to help solve the housing crisis, would be better served by identifying appropriate areas where housing could actually be built without disrupting the surrounding neighborhoods.

• That first Article is to create the zoning overlay. There are then several separate warrant articles to zone the identified properties into the overlay.
• Rezoning Grandview Farm into the Limited Business District to allow for the building of the new police station on a part of that property.
• Rezoning Fox Hill into the Limited Business District to allow for backup generator fuel storage.
• Allowing a fast-food drive-through in Northwest Park.
• Updating parking requirements in the Zoning Bylaws.
• Modernizing the use table in the Zoning Bylaws to eliminate redundancy and bring it in line with uses of today, eliminating obsolete references and moving definitions to a definitions section.

The Board will also hear an update from Economic Development Director, Melisa Tintocalis, about the proposed Mall Road Mixed Use Innovation District (read more about the history of Mall Road and this initiative in the Buzz In-Depth feature.

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

• 9:00 AM - Ways & Means Town Hall II Subcommittee - Building Department will discuss the Building Department’s FY25 budget. (Town Hall Annex)
• 10:00 AM - Police Station Building Committee will present conceptual designs. (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 12:30-3:00 PM - Bridge Club (Human Resources Building, 2nd floor)
• 1:00 PM - Ways & Means Town Hall II Subcommittee - Veterans will talk about the FY25 budget for Veterans’ Services. (Town Hall Annex)
• 4:00-5:00 PM - Weather & Climate is a fascinating topic and kids in grades K-5 can join their friends in trying to predict, measure and analyze how weather relates to our ecosystems. (Burlington Public Library; Register)
• 5:00-7:00 PM - Adam Senesi for Moderator Campaign Kickoff (American Legion)
• 6:00-8:45 PM - Tabletop Board Game Group for Adults - Grab your neighbor and come play some board games together. (Burlington Public Library; Drop in)
• 6:30-9:00 PM - Meghan Nawoichik School Committee Campaign Kickoff (Cafe Escadrille)
• 6:00 PM - Planning Board Joint meeting with Land Use and Zoning Bylaw Review Committee - During this public hearing, all proposed zoning amendments for May Town Meeting will be discussed; if you would like to speak on any of them (see above for more details) or learn more, you’re highly encouraged to attend this meeting. They’ll also talk about a minor engineering change at the forthcoming O’Reilly Auto Parts building. (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 8:00 PM - The Dragonfly Plays, presented by the Asian-American Playwright Collective and the Burlington Players (Park Playhouse; Tickets)

Sports and Activities

The BHS boys’ basketball season ended last night with a disappointing 51-62 loss to Mansfield in the round of 16. Congratulations to this groundbreaking team on what they accomplished this year!

The girls’ hockey season is still going, though, as girls play their Elite Eight game against Marshfield in Watertown this evening at 7:30. Get your tickets here.

And that’s all, folks! Have a great day!

Nicci

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