Citizen articles do not gain support
The Arlington Redevelopment Board took two key votes Monday, March 21 — recommending to Town Meeting zoning changes that would enable developers to build small mixed-use buildings in Arlington’s business districts and other measures aimed at regulating teardowns.
The board did not support stricter teardown articles proposed by a group of Arlington residents that include John Worden, John Belskis and Wynelle Evans. They are described here >>
Town Meeting members will vote on all articles at the annual spring meeting, which begins April 25. Both sets of proposed teardown articles apply to lots in R0, R1 and R2 zoning districts. Such homes are largely beyond the town’s business centers.
Laura Wiener, assistant director of planning, confirmed the proposals for mixed use are called for on the town’s master plan, adopted last year, seeking more development along Mass. Ave. and Broadway — the town’s two main thoroughfares.
Wiener told YourArlington that provisions allowing mixed use and reduced parking in multifamily and commercial buildings are by special permit, so the Redevelopment Board would review each request.
Articles 6, 7
Building mixed-use structures, with shops or offices on the ground floor and apartments or condominiums above, is difficult in town, Weiner said.
The board took action on these measures: Article 6 would permit developments that combine shops, hotels, offices, artist spaces and residential units in dense buildings in all of the town’s business zoning districts. Mixed-use buildings in the town’s industrial zoning district would not be allowed to include residential units.
Any development would be limited to between three to five stories, depending on its location and the size of its lot. The fourth and fifth stories of any building would have to be “stepped back” 71/2 feet from the front of the building.
Article 7 would permit new developments to be built with fewer dedicated parking spots on-site, provided the developer creates a transportation plan encouraging tenants to use public transportation, ride-sharing services, bicycles or otherwise not use cars to get to and from the building. With space tight in Arlington, Wiener said the measure was needed to give developers enough flexibility to build mixed-use structures.
All new mixed-use buildings would still need approval from the ARB.
The two articles attracted little outright opposition from the large audience that gathered to hear the board take public comment on the measures, along with a set of proposed restrictions on teardowns. Board members praised the Master Plan Implementation Committee for their work helping to develop the changes, and called the changes an overdue step to keep Arlington economically vibrant.
A recent Metropolitan Area Planning Council report showed that requiring substantial amounts of parking in business districts and not encouraging more public transit and ride sharing use, said Redevlopment Board member Andrew West, “doesn’t make for a healthy downtown.”
Teardown controls
Following a crowded public hearing, the Redevelopment Board voted to support Articles 8 through 10, aimed at regulating teardowns and new residential development.
The board’s proposed teardown controls would make smaller the total possible size of any new home by:
— Reducing the average height of a home’s basement visible above ground by one foot as well as the height of a home’s third floor (its “half story”) to seven feet;
— Increasing the size of a home’s total contiguous yard area, not including driveways, from 30 percent of the home’s gross floor area — minus such areas as mechanical spaces, attics and attached garages — to 35 percent of that area; and
— Requiring a maximum driveway slope of 15 percent.
New homes in Arlington are allowed a third story whose footprint takes up only half of the second floor’s footprint.
Unanimous vote
The board voted unanimously to recommend all three articles, after altering the usable open space requirement from 40 percent to 35 percent and dropping a proposal that would permit a pair of 10-foot-wide driveways to run on either side of a new home, instead of the single, 20-foot-wide driveway now required.
Board members characterized the proposed zoning changes they endorsed as moderate measures aimed at influencing the development of new houses without halting development.
Board member Andrew West said the three articles were developed with extensive help from the Master Plan Implementation Committee.
Representatives of the construction industry and local real estate agents criticized the proposals, calling them unfair to homeowners who want to sell or enlarge a smaller house for a growing family.
Articles 11 through 17
The citizen articles that the board did not support are 11 through 17. These measures would control teardowns by, in part:
— Requiring garages that face the front of the lot be at least 35 feet away from the property line and enabling houses on smaller lots to be set farther back from the street;
— Including such areas as basements, attics and mechanical spaces in the calculation of a home’s gross floor area;
— Eliminating a current loophole allowing a new home to be built exactly on the foundations of a demolished home without a special permit, even if the home is taller than the demolished structure; and
— Changing the way a home’s total height is calculated.
Proponents described their proposals as necessary to moderate what they called out-of-control building.
Before they become law, all measures voted March 21 must be passed by Town Meeting and then approved by the state attorney general.
This report was published Wednesday, March 23, 2016.
