High Density Development on Commercial Property

 Q: Understanding our shared opposition to the PUD bylaw, what is your solution for redevelopment of industrial properties? Does housing belong on land zoned industrial? If so, what would be an acceptable type of housing and/or number of units in one overlay?

As I have stated in a previous post, encouraging the redevelopment of industrial property through the use of the PUD zoning law is the source of the problem. I've already made it clear that I want to see the PUD zoning law repealed.  There are already a number of zoning laws available - including some mixed use overlays - which allow developers and commercial land owners to effectively "re-zone" their property for residential use. The problem is, this PUD zoning law is specifically written to allow high density development on commercial land. You don't need to read any further than the first paragraph to see this.

5.E.9 PLANNEDUNITDEVELOPMENTDISTRICT

Statement of Purpose and Authority

The purpose of this Section is to encourage the construction of Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) in designated Districts within the Town. Planned Unit Developments shall:

  1. Permit a mix of land uses, densities and building types in one development.
  2. Facilitate high quality, integrated planning of large-scale developments

The PUD Zoning law also allows almost any use

PUD Permitted Uses

Planned Unit Developments in an Industrial or General of Neighborhood Business District may contain two or more of the following uses subject to the findings of the Planning Board as to net benefit and adverse impacts of the proposed PUD:

  1. Office use
  2. Research and Development uses
  3. Hotel
  4. Restaurant (with no drive-thru service), place of assembly, and recreational use
  5. Retail
  6. Financial institution
  7. Consumer service, ancillary to a permitted primary use
  8. Parking (including structured parking) to accommodate the above
  9. Light Manufacturing;
  10. Residential uses within 200 feet of Residence Districts
  11. Open space.

My proposal is to either amend the PUD so that it specifies one use - pick one of the above - and specifies exactly what the density shall be, or to just get rid of it altogether. If the developer wants to build an apartment building they can use any of the other zoning laws that are already on the books. And to see what those apartment buildings will look like simply look at any other non-40B apartment building in town. What this law allows is 40B development, without the 40B requirements for affordable housing. So, of course, the developer is going to use this law to build the largest, high density apartment building they can, because that's where the profit is.



The Committee to Elect John Meneghini
33 Timbercreek Rd. Billerica, MA 01821
https://planning-for-meneghini.blogspot.com/
Email: planning.for.meneghini@gmail.com
Phone: 978-435-4224

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