AMPUp Advisory Committee - Jan 13th, 2026

Meeting held via remote participation. Materials were available from https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/38580/.

Stantec Update/Plan Strategies Discussion

(Claire Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says we have the first set of draft strategies, which have been thoroughly vetted by town staff.

(Phil Schaeffing, Stantec) Mr. Schaeffing would like to discuss three topic areas tonight: Land use, Housing, and Natural Resources and Open Space.

(Lillian Hartman, AmpUP) Ms. Hartman would like to suspend the agenda and talk about the language suggestions that Mr. Benson sent via email. She thinks that some of the committee's language suggestions haven't been incorporated and she finds that frustrating.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson would like Word copies of the documents that were distributed via PDF. He'd like to work on phrasing, which is substantive in some case. Mr. Benson doesn't think the vision statement is adequate.

(Steve Kearney, Stantec) Mr. Kearney notes that we have worked on the vision statement in previous meetings. He suggests saving that for our next meeting.

(Paul Selker, AmpUP) Mr. Selker would like to understand what other stakeholders have said about the vision statement.

(Rebecca Gruber, AmpUP) Ms. Gruber liked Mr. Benson's proposal for the vision statement. She suggests forming a small group to fine-tune the vision statement. For tonight, Ms. Gruber would like to work on content first, and wordsmithing as time permits. She suggests starting a list of concerns for later follow up. She'd like to be sure the committee's concerns are resolved.

(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney suggests adding 30 minutes to the next committee meeting for this purpose. Stantec has provided a web form for committee members to submit comments and he encourages committee members to do so between now and then.

Land Use

The high-level draft goals for land use are:

• Increase the number and variety of residential and non-residential development opportunities.
• Encourage development that enhances Arlington's natural resources, built environment, and sustainability.
• Attract development that supports and expands the economic, cultural, and civic vibrancy of Arlington’s commercial areas.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says that diversity, equity, and sustainability measures are interwoven throughout the plan. The first few strategies try to strategically address land use, while the next few are broader and tie into economic development and housing. They also tie in mixed-use, mixed-income housing, and the development review process.

(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney says that some strategies can be achieved in the short term, while others will take longer or require funding.

(Paul Selker) Mr. Selker asks why business and industrial uses are called out in LU-6.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says this is a question of organization: whether to collect zoning-related items in one area, or distribute them in relevant subject areas.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks why LU-2 suggests looking at trail-oriented development West of Mystic Street. Why not along the bikeway in East Arlington?

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says it's because the larger and industrial parcels are along the western part of the Minuteman.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson believes the town wants to keep multi-family uses out of the industrial district. Regarding LU-4, Mr. Benson thinks there are some uses that would grow the tax base, but we wouldn't want here. He asks why LU-5 and LU-6 aren't combined. For LU-8, we already have the specialized stretch code. He thinks LU-9 belongs with the overall zoning audit.

(Grant Cook, AmpUP) Mr. Cook thinks the phrase "conduct strategic assessment" in LU-1 seems mealy mouthed. He says we've been trying to encourage development along the commercial corridors for years. Walgreens is an underutilized site, but how do you encourage redevelopment. He asks why our development process isn't considered streamlined.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says she's worked in places where planning staff could say "If you meet these requirements, you can get a building permit in 30 days". That's currently not possible in Arlington.

(Lillian Hartman) Ms. Hartman only sees three places named as study areas. She asks if other areas are feasible.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says the problem with listing a lot of sites is that people will think that you've missed some.

(Steve Revilak, AmpUP) Mr. Revilak would like to respond to Mr. Cook's comments. There's been a ton of commercial development in the Boston area over the last ten years, but essentially none in Arlington. Mr. Revilak says that's not an accident. A strategic assessment would involve looking at businesses we could attract, and making accommodations for them. A second area is our zoning bylaw, which is very prescriptive and has more layers of regulation than other communities.

(Dave Fatula, AmpUP) Mr. Fatula thinks that short/mid-term seems too short for Russell Common. He asks what our typical timeframe is for getting things done.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that Russell Common is a property that we're about to study. There are several steps involved, and study is the first. Getting shovels in the ground is a long-term goal.

(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney says the table of strategies could be clearer with respect to timeframes. Short-term is less than three years, mid-term is three to six years, and long-term is greater than six. That should be noted.

(Rachel Dunham, AmpUP) Ms. Dunham is surprised there's nothing in the land use section about open space.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says that's covered in the section on Natural Resources and Open Space. He says that land use is tricky, because it encompasses other areas.

Housing

The draft housing goals are

• Continue to support implementation of the Arlington Housing Production Plan (2022) and the Fair Housing Action Plan (2021).
• Encourage mixed-use development that includes attainable housing options at all income levels, especially near transit and in established commercial areas.
• Provide a variety of housing options for a range of incomes, ages, family sizes, and needs.
• Enhance the fabric of Arlington's residential neighborhoods while allowing new housing and amenities.
• Encourage sustainable new construction and renovation of existing structures.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing summarizes the housing strategies, which include: building support for a greater range of housing types, maintaining Arlington's housing choice designation (which is a funding source), and considering an affordable housing overlay. The next few strategies are intended to unlock lower-case "a" affordability options. The last few strategies tie housing to climate and sustainability goals.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson notices that the document being shown is different than what was distributed via email. He asks what's changed.

(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney says that Stantec and staff have been working on it in the interim.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson asks what "enhance the fabric of Arlington's neighborhoods" means.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says this came out of conversations that took place during the summer. It's trying balance the desire to have more housing with people's desire to maintain their single-family neighborhoods. The goal is to allow moderate increases in density.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson suggests getting rid of the word "fabric". He doesn't think we should cite Cambridge when mentioning the affordable housing overlay. He says that H-9 seems redundant with the zoning audit, and H-10 is the only place that explicitly mentions equity. He thinks equity should be mentioned in other places, and suggests naming it in one of the goals.

(Grant Cook) Mr. Cook says that "build support" seems like a throw-away line. Maybe we don't allow two-family homes in all of R0 and R1, but focus on specific areas instead. Parking requirements are a thing that burdens business and residential developments. He suggests having something that talks about lot size.

(Paul Selker) Mr. Selker thinks that H-9, LU-5, and LU-6 are all taking different angles at the zoning bylaw. Arlington has lots of non-conforming lots and the dimensional regulations are an impediment.

(Lillian Hartman) Ms. Hartman questions the idea of having specific strategies that might be unpopular.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says there are best practices and themes in planning; things that are good to support. The political push-back happens when you get into the details of how. She says that staff aren't necessarily the ones to stump for political issues. In Arlington, changes tend to be smaller and incremental.

(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney thinks that "build support" might not be the best phrase.

(Dave Fatula) Regarding making Arlington more affordable, Mr. Fatula notes that none of the strategies mention vertical development. He thinks that high rises on the corridors could help.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says that building taller than six stories triggers a much more expensive type of construction, which typically takes at least ten stories to break even. This is why one generally doesn't see eight story buildings being built.

(Dave Fatula) Mr. Fatula understands that the high-rise code generally means getting 14--16 stories. But if Arlington wants more affordability, that's how to do it. He thinks we should state the obvious.

Natural Resources and Open Space

The draft goals for the Natural Resources and Open Space section are

• Use sustainable and resilient approaches to improve air and water quality, mitigate flooding impacts, and enhance ecological diversity.
• Ensure that Arlington's neighborhoods, commercial areas, and infrastructure are developed and maintained to build resilience and mitigate climate change impacts.
• Protect and enhance the physical beauty and natural resources of Arlington.
• Improve open spaces, parks, recreational facilities, and programming to meet the population’s changing needs.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says that parks and recreation programming is split between the open space and public facilities chapters, and he'll have questions about how to organize it. The strategies cover heat island mitigation, flooding, water quality, and enhancing the tree canopy for shade and storm water absorption. There's a need for more staff, but no ability to add them in the near term. Mr. Schaeffing acknowledges that there's a tension between passive open space and more active recreation uses.

(Ann LeRoyer, AmpUP) Ms. LeRoyer asks if (Planning Department Staff) Talia Fox and David Morgan were involved in working on the strategies.

(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says they were involved, and offered a lot of input.

(Ann LeRoyer) Ms. LeRoyer says there are a lot of groups that could be listed as partners for the different strategies. She thinks the time frame for many of these is "ongoing". She asks if Town Meeting should be listed as a partner, here and in other sections.

(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber notes there isn't a specific call-out to combined sewer overflows in the Alewife Brook, which is a big concern for many people in town.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says we may want to specifically add that.

(Eugene Benson) Mr. Benson says that Alewife Brook and the Mystic River are the worst-quality water bodies in town. Spy Pond, the Arlington Reservoir, and Hills Pond also have water quality issues. He suggests adding rain gardens in the context of roadway reconstruction. There will also be a need to maintain rain gardens.

(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber asks about flooding.

(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak notes there are flooding-related efforts underway. This spring, town meeting will be asked to amend the floodplain overlay district so that it conforms to new FEMA requirements. We may also have an article about building elevation in flood plains. As sea levels rise, we will eventually have to talk about managed retreat from areas around the Alewife Brook, which are at risk from sea level rise.

(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says we'll cover the remaining four topic areas at our next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 19:30.