View source for Forum on Zoning and Town Bylaw Amendments -- Apr 6th, 2017

Jenny Raitt introduces the proposed zoning articles.

The residential study group (RSG) has been meeting weekly for several
months.  Nine articles came before the 2016 town meeting, attempting
to address concerns about residential development.  All of these
articles were voted down; instead, town meeting voted to form the
residential study group.

The residential study group's goal are to regulate new residential
construction, and to look at what other communities are doing, and
find policies appropriate for the town.  The priorities have been
construction impacts, parking, driveways, and streetscapes.  Future
priorities include setbacks, irregular lots, building height, and the
special permit and variance process.

40A is the state zoning act.  Arlington is currently undergoing a
zoning recodification process, to modernize and clean up our zoning
bylaw, and to make it conform to current case law.

ZBL section 1.03 states the zoning bylaw's purpose.  The purpose
includes appropriate review, quality of life, health and safety, and
quality standards.

The department of planning and community development (DPCD) has a 13
person staff, four of which are professional planners.  The Arlington
Redevelopment Board (ARB) serves as a planning board and redevelopment
authority.

Zoning can only be changed by a 2/3's vote of town meeting.  Assuming
that an article passes, the changes will take effect on the day the
article was first advertised.

The RSG has researched building permits.  The volume of new
construction isn't that high, but it happens all over town.

The warrant articles are designed to control the size and scope of new
residential development.

The RSG sent a survey to 680 abutters of new construction projects
which took place in the last three years, and to the developers who
did these projects.  The top complaints were a lack of notification,
and a lack of knowledge about the construction plans and schedule.

Some of the articles are based on a Good Neighbor Agreement, aka the
Residential Construction Control Agreement.  Articles 11--14 implement
the good neighbor agreement.  The recommendations will be accompanied
by additional staffing at inspectional services, primarily for
enforcement.

Article 11 requires notice to abutters within 200' before new
construction, large additions, or significant demolition.  The notice
must include construction plans, a proposed project schedule, and the
developer's contact information.

Articles 12 and 13 require on-site maintenance, and protection of
abutter properties.

Article 14 deals with noise abatement.  It changes the hours that
heavy equipment use is permitted.  Health and Human Services is also
looking at ways to improve the town's noise bylaws (this might come
before a future town meeting).

Articles 11--14 propose changes to the general bylaws, not to the
ZBL.

Article 8 caps the downward slope of driveways to 15%.  MassDOT and
several traffic engineering groups believe that slopes over 15%
present safety issues.  Many other municipalities have some kind of
regulation about driveway slope.  The article also reduces parking
space requirements for 1--3 unit houses, from two spaces to one.  The
requirement for two spaces/unit has contributed to the proliferation
of steep drive-under garaging.  A one-space requirement should
encourage more surface-level parking.

Article 8 should also help to control the size of houses, by way of
the relationship between gross floor area and the requirement for
usable open space.  Finally, Article 8 would require a vegetated
buffer for side yard driveways (between the driveway and the lot
line).

New construction will happen, and we're just trying to control it.
The ZBL requires a 6000 square foot lot, but a lot of our lots have
irregular shapes, or irregular slopes.

Special town meeting article 1 will reduce the minimum dimension for
usable open space from 25' to 20', for new construction with surface
parking.  It's meant to be paired with Article 8.

Question: How would these changes affect lots with 50' of frontage,
instead of 60'?  Do you have a diagram showing the impact to a 50'
lot?

We haven't prepared any diagrams with 50' of frontage.  Arlington's
residential lots come in all shapes and sizes, and we can't do
diagrams for them all.

Question: What is a vegetated buffer?  

It's defined in the zoning bylaw.

Question: would we still be able to have garages behind the house?

Yes.

Question: What's the definition of "newly constructed"?

If these article pass, they'd apply to any building permits issued
after the day of the article's advertisement.

Question: How do the time limits for heavy construction equipment
compare to other time limits in the noise bylaw?

This article affects heavy construction equipment only; it doesn't
change any other part of the noise bylaw.  We don't have a comparison
handy, but we should prepare one for town meeting.

Question: will the parking changes cause more people to ask the board
of selectmen for off-street parking spaces?

We don't know.

Question: What about permitting a second curb cut for a second
driveway?

You can have a second curb cut by special permit, but not by right.

[[Category:Public Meetings]]