The Zoning & Planning Committee voted to hold the following (see Report and watch the video on NewTV):
- Discussion on state guidance for implementing the Housing Choice Bill. The Committee discussed this item concurrent with the Village Center Zoning Ordinance discussion.
- Request for discussion and review relative to the draft Zoning Ordinance regarding Village Centers. Utile explained how the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) proposal complied with the MBTA Communities’ requirements and how changes to the VCOD impact compliance. “For Newton to comply, we must create an ‘overlay; (optional) district that allows for a unit capacity of 8,330 units. That is, the zoning must enable that many units to be built over time according to a clear set of rules that can be reviewed for compliance without requiring a special permit.” 90% of the land must be within a half-mile of a Commuter Rail or Green Line Station. There were numerous questions:
- Achieving compliance: The prohibition on requiring ground floor commercial and how this could seriously reduce the unit count toward compliance
- Total land area and percent of contiguous area: Consultants and Planning staff noted that in Newton the District must be must larger in order to accommodate a reasonable scale and there appeared consensus with the Consultant on the need to connect some village centers to help with the contiguity requirement.
- Percent located within a Station Area: At least 90% of the district land area must be within a half-mile of a Commuter Rail or Green Line stations with the remaining 10% outside these areas. Planning noted that they are looking at including MBTA stops with no VCOD zoning in future map iterations.
- Aggregate Gross Density: District must achieve a minimum density of 15 units per acre to achieve compliance however subdistricts can have less density as long as the district as a whole meets density requirement. Version 1 of the VCOD with the revised VC1 metrics achieves a total estimated aggregate gross density of 22 units per acre.
- Unit Capacity: In order to comply, the City must create an “overlay district” allowing for a unit capacity of 8,330 units. The VCOD Version 1 yields 3,500 units. While it is possible to create new zones, the development would need to be by-right to comply. In addition, additional units created by bonuses, such as the height and footprint bonus, would not count toward compliance.