Arlington Redevelopment Board - May 4th, 2026
Review of Meeting Minutes
The board approved minutes from their April 27, 2026 meeting.
Comprehensive Plan Discussion
Stantec consultants Steve Kearney and Phil Schaeffing presented the comprehensive plan to the board.
(Steve Kearney, Stantec) Mr. Kearney says this was an 18 month process. It started with visioning and a survey of existing conditions. There have been 6,300 visits to the project website, 3,453 votes on the interactive map, and over 1100 survey responses. Mr. Kearney says Arlington's was the most active comprehensive plan steering committee that he's worked with.
(Phil Schaeffing, Stantec) Mr. Schaeffing says the community weighed in throughout the plan. There was agreement in some areas and tension in others. For example, on the subject of housing there was tension between people who wanted a more diverse set of housing options and viewed this as an equity issue, versus a desire to "maintain neighborhood character".
The plan tries to make the point that topic areas do not exist in isolation and are related to each other. Equity and Diversity and Sustainability and Resilience considerations appear in each chapter.
The plan's vision statement was based on the one in the 2015 Master Plan, but updated. Each topic has a set of goals, which are supported by strategies. Mr. Schaeffing gives a brief summary of each chapter.
Land use. Arlington has a fixed amount of space, and Arlington needs to make thoughtful decisions. The minuteman bikeway is a unique community asset.
Economic Development. The main recommendation is the creation of a strategic economic development plan. Also to support the business districts through placemaking.
Housing. The main goals are allowing more types of housing in more locations, and finding sustainable funding sources for affordable housing.
Connectivity. Adopt vision zero to eliminate bicycle and pedestrian fatalities. Review parking regulations and consider additional parking benefits districts. Continue to advocate for improvements to MBTA service.
Historic and Cultural Resources. Goals include updating the arts and culture plan, preserving historic buildings, and integrating public art.
Natural Resources and Open Space. A number of goals relate to resiliency. For example, mitigating heat islands and flooding, improving water quality, and expanding the urban tree canopy.
Public Facilities. Continue to work on net-zero goals, address athletic field maintenance and use, and modernize town-owned buildings.
The final chapter contains an implementation matrix.
(Vince Baudoin, ARB) Mr. Baudoin thought the plan did a good job of capturing the moment that we're in. He has some typo-related comments, which he'll email to Ms. Ricker. The 2015 master plan talked about reducing parking requirements, but the new plan is less explicit about that. He suggests adding language to LU-6 to reflect that goal.
(Shaina Korman-Houston, ARB) Ms. Korman-Houston also has comments about LU-6. We've talked as a board about how codes have become a barrier at times. She suggests expanding on the LU-6's idea of an audit.
(Steve Revilak, ARB) Mr. Revilak was a member of the steering committee, and he's spent a lot of time on this effort over the last 18 months. He appreciates the work that Stantec did to go through all of the public input and distill it. He thinks we got input and ideas from a broad cross-section of residents.
(Rachel Zsembery) Ms. Zsembery says that we wrestle with the issue of balance as a board. She suggests making that challenge more prominent, perhaps as prominent as equity and sustainability. She thinks that LU-5 should mention balance. She thinks that LU-10's recommendation for neighborhood scale businesses in residential districts is too specific. She thinks that H-1's recommendations for two-family homes in single-family districts is too specific, and H-5 might conflict with what the board has been trying to do in business districts. She agrees with the near-term priority items, but notes that the board spends several months out of the year dealing with town meeting related things.
(Kin Lau, ARB Chair) Mr. Lau asks the Stantec folks for their opinion on what the town things. He asks if people want growth?
(Steve Kearney) Mr. Kearney says there were strong feelings about wanting more housing growth and more commercial options. He was surprised at how few voices asked to freeze things in place.
(Phil Schaeffing) Mr. Schaeffing says there was a lot of interest in having more businesses, and an understanding that having more people helps with that. People connected housing to equity. The growth concerns were more about traffic and the design of buildings.
(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak doesn't think the goals in H-1 are too specific. Arlington's housing production plan recommends allowing more types of housing in the single- and two-family districts, and he thought H-1 was taken from those recommendations.
(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin agrees with Mr. Revilak regarding H-1. He'd like to keep LU-10 as well.
(Shaina Korman-Houston) Ms. Korman-Houston agrees that Russell Common should be on the list of short-term priorities. She's okay with LU-10 because the first word is "explore".
(Vince Baudoin) Mr. Baudoin suggests additional points for LU-6. To evaluate and consider reductions in minimum parking requirements, and to consider replacing parking minimums with parking maximums.
(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak says we've made a lot of progress on residential parking minimums since 2015. But our non-residential parking minimums are very suburban. He thinks they'll become a challenge if we start seeing more commercial-only development.
The board votes to approve the new comprehensive plan, with some edits to be included, 5--0.
Town Meeting Warrant Articles
There's general support for the Benson amendments to Articles 44 and 47. The board discusses the Cullinane substitute motion for Article 53 and the opinions are largely unchanged since the hearing.
Meeting adjourned at 19:58.