Zoning and Land Use

A collection of primary source documents regarding Arlington housing, zoning, and land use.

1971

• Chap. 738 of the Acts of 1971. This act abolished Arlington's Planning Board, and delegated planning responsibilities to the Arlington Redevelopment Board.

1975

• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Apr 7, 1975 Arlington redevelopment board minutes from April 7th, 1975. The board discusses the definition of "family", how the definition will be enforced, and the desire to make Arlington a "family values" town.
• Arlington redevelopment Board minutes, Aug 4, 1975. Discussion of "controversional" issues in the 1975 zoning rewrite.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Aug 25, 1975. Some discussion about the definition of family, and the zoning district of individual lots.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Sep 29, 1975. Paragraph about build-out potential under the old vs new (1975) bylaw.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Sept. 1975.
• Planning Director Reviews Zoning Bylaw Questions. Oct 2, 1975 article from the Arlington advocate.
• ARB report on 1975 STM Article 2 ARB report on the 1975 zoning rewrite.
• ARB Report on 1975 STM Article 6 ARB report on Article 6 of the Oct 1975 special town meeting. This article established a definition of "family", which precluded more than four unrelated individuals from inhabiting the same household.
• Special Town Meeting warrant for 1975 zoning rewrite
• 10 Arlington Advocate Articles on 1975 zoning changes

1978

• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, March 6, 1980. Includes a discussion of Article 93, which downzoned the R7 (High Density Apartment) district.
• Article 93 from Arlington's 1978 town meeting. This article downzoned the R7 (high density apartment) district, making many of the buildings non-conforming.

1979

• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Jan 8, 1979. Includes a discussion of building height in several business and residential districts.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Feb 13, 1979. Discussion of warrant articles proposed for the 1979 town meeting. When compared to today's meetings, attendance seems rather small.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Feb 26, 1979. Includes a discussion about building height, and downzoning the R6 (medium density apartment) district.

1980

• Arlington advocate article on zoning changes from the 1980 Annual town meeting. Includes mention of Article 87.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Mar 30, 1980. Includes mention of Article 87, which amended the ZBL to accomodate a set highly non-conforming duplexes in East Arlington, which were built after world war II.
• Article 87 from the 1980 Arlington Town meeting. The article changed the town's zoning bylaw to accomodate a set of small duplexes built in East Arlington after World War II.

1982

• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Mar. 22, 1982. During this meeting, the ARB entertained a warrant article that proposed the purchase of the Mugar Property in east Arlington.

1987

• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Jan 12, 1987. The board discusses downzoning the B5 (Central Business) District in response to a redevelopment proposal.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Feb 23, 1987. Discussion of town meeting warrant articles.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, March 3, 1987. Includes votes on zoning articles for the 1987 town meeting.
• Article 16 from Arlington's 1987 special town meeting. This article downzoned the B5 (central business) district.
• Arlington Redevelopment Board Minutes, Jun 22, 1987. Includes discussion of the Mirak property on Mass Ave. (The Mirak's eventually developed this site as the Legacy apartments, in 2001).

1991

• Article 15 from 1991 Town Meeting. This warrant article established Arlington's R0 (Single Family Large Lot) district.
• Article 15 Transcript from 1991 Town Meeting. Transcript of town meeting debate on the establishment of Arlington's R0 (Single Family Large Lot) district.
• Misc Material from the 1991 Arlington town meeting. Includes a portion of the town's annual report, and ARB minutes from the first portion of that year.