Zoning Articles for May Town Meeting Focus on User-Friendliness

At the end of May Town meeting this year, Town Meetings will hear five different zoning articles. Two of them are related to the Police Station Project (and won't be summarized here), one is related to the state's MBTA Communities law for multifamily zoning, and the final two seek to revamp portions of the Zoning Bylaws—particularly, the parking and use table components. Let's take a look:

• Article 31 - MBTA Communities Zoning Bylaw and Overlay District - This seeks to comply with the so-called MBTA Communities state law for multifamily zoning by establishing a multifamily housing overlay district that allows multifamily housing "as of right" (meaning without a special permit) in certain areas of town. This overlay actually includes several existing multifamily developments, as well as a couple of parcels on Middlesex Turnpike where it's unlikely multifamily housing will be built. There are critics of this article who disagree with the state law, those who believe the overlay doesn't do enough to address the housing shortage, and more. Learn more about the law and the town's plan to comply.
• Article 34 – Parking and Landscaping Modernization - This article would adjust the parking requirements to fit current needs, allow for some flexibility for businesses to meet requirements, and add landscaping requirements, as well as reformatting the information into a table.
• Article 35 – Use Table Modernization - This article, born out of the work the Economic Development and Planning Departments have done to re-envision the Mall Road corridor, hopes to remove antiquated uses, add new uses, add flexibility for uses not yet envisioned, separate out the definitions into their own separate section, and reformat the rest of the information into a physical table.

Both Articles 34 and 35 were withdrawn from January Town Meeting, and the Planning Department has been working on them since then to be sure they're ready for presentation this time.

Stay tuned for the final installment of the Warrant Article Summary, during which we'll review the last article or two.

This year’s Annual Town Meeting will begin on Monday, May 13, at 7:00 PM and will continue on Wednesday and Monday evenings until the entire Warrant has been reviewed. Stay tuned to the Buzz for summaries of the articles in the Town Meeting Warrant and how Town Meeting votes on each.