ELEANOR WHITE
‘Delighted’ by response

Three towns became the first in Massachusetts to establish smart-growth zoning districts this month under new state laws that offer cash payments to communities that encourage housing development near town centers and public transportation and in underutilized or abandoned properties.

The creation of the districts in the three towns – Plymouth, North Reading and Norwood – could lead to the construction of more than 1,100 housing units under the laws known as Chapter 40R and 40S.

In Plymouth, Town Meeting unanimously approved a zoning change that will enable a developer to transform a complex of abandoned factory buildings into a community with up to 635 new homes as well as shops and restaurants.

North of Boston, voters in North Reading agreed to the creation of a zoning district that will pave the way for 406 apartments and an office park on the grounds of a state hospital that has been closed for at least seven years.

Supporters of Chapter 40R and 40S, laws that provide financial incentives to cities and towns that promote the construction of high-density developments with affordable housing in so-called smart-growth locations, say the latest approvals could help build momentum and push other communities that have traditionally resisted dense housing projects to adopt smart-growth zoning.

“Everybody involved with the genesis of 40R and 40S is delighted at the way that communities are responding,” said Eleanor White, a member of the task force that spurred the passage of the two laws. “There’s been a lot of press about how things seem to be slow taking off and actually we believe just the opposite.”

White noted that Chapter 40S – which helps communities pay for extra educational costs stemming from new development in the smart-growth districts – was passed in late November. Given that both 40R and 40S have been available for only a few months, it’s “quite remarkable” that three communities have already passed smart-growth zoning districts and another 25 to 30 are “actively working on 40R districts,” said White.

“I’m getting calls from communities [that are interested in Chapter 40R] daily,” said White, president of Housing Partners Inc. in Waltham.

‘Really Excited’
Lee Hartmann, director of planning and development for Plymouth, said local officials heard a presentation about Chapter 40R about a year ago and wanted to determine if a smart-growth district could be created at a 35-acre site known as Cordage Park.

Once home to the largest rope manufacturer in the country, Cordage Park is filled with large vacant mill buildings and a 130,000-square-foot facility that used to be occupied by Wal-Mart.

Tracks for the commuter train service into Boston run through the property. With the exception of two old mill buildings on the property that were converted into office space several years ago – totaling about 350,000 square feet – the majority of the buildings are not being utilized. Roughly 1.2 million square feet of building space at the location has sat idle for the last 20 to 30 years, according to Hartmann.

At the same time that the town was contemplating what to do with the property, the owners, Joe and Lou Jannetty, were moving along with plans to redevelop the site, said Hartmann.

With a $50,000 grant from the state, Plymouth was able to hire Concord Square Development Co. as a consultant late last year to evaluate Cordage Park and determine whether a smart-growth zoning district was appropriate.

Joe Jannetty said initially it was not clear to him how a smart-growth zoning district would affect his development plans.

“We just didn’t know enough about [Chapter 40R] to make a commitment to it,” said Jannetty.

The law requires housing developers to set aside at least 20 percent of any new residential units as affordable and gives communities more control over the design of projects that will be developed within the designated smart-growth district.

Jannetty said after learning more about the law and the benefits it offers to the community – such as affordable housing – he was convinced that it would help to speed up the permitting process and move his development plans along. He said he envisions building a mix of condos and rental units, with many of the homes located along the waterfront.

“We’re really excited about it. We think that 40R will help us jump-start the process of permitting the waterfront development and aligns the interests of the developer and the community,” said Jannetty. “That will hopefully expedite the whole process.”

After months of planning, meetings and negotiations, Concord Square Development Co. was able to help in formulating a new zoning bylaw, obtaining state approval for the zoning and drafting design standards.

Voters approved the new zoning district on May 20. The creation of the district means that the town will receive a $600,000 check from the state and is now eligible to receive $3,000 for each housing unit that’s permitted and built in the district – for a total of up to $2.6 million.

Hartmann said Plymouth leaders were not driven to action by the promise of financial incentives from the state. Town officials were eager to adopt a plan that would help create affordable housing, boost the residential population to support the local economy, and generate tax revenue from a property that had been largely abandoned, Hartmann explained.

“If we get the state money, that’s kind of the icing on the cake,” he said. “We didn’t look at the state money as being the driving force.”

After Wal-Mart relocated from Cordage Park to a new shopping plaza off Route 3 known as Colony Place, shop owners in the town’s North Plymouth section noticed a 25 percent to 30 percent drop-off in business, said Hartmann.

The planning director said he believes that because the Wal-Mart generated between 10,000 and 12,000 car trips a day, many shoppers heading to the retail chain traveled through the North Plymouth Village Center and stopped to do other shopping at local businesses. But when the Wal-Mart relocated, many of those customers disappeared.

Hartmann is hoping that the new residential development will boost business in North Plymouth.

“We’re talking about up to 675 housing units,” he said. “That type of development is essential to the long-term survival of North Plymouth Â… It’s reasonable to expect that people who live in this development will also shop in the community.”

Jannetty, who still must submit plans to the town for approval, has to go through various state review processes because he wants to build along the waterfront.

But Ted Carman, president of Boston-based Concord Square Development Co., said he believes that the town and state’s approval of the smart-growth zoning district and design standards will make it easier for Jannetty to get the necessary permits.

“At this point, the design standards are set and this is as-of right zoning,” Carman said. “The developer has the ability to come with the plan and, if it complies with the zoning and design standards, the Planning Board must issue a site plan approval.”

Carman, who along with White headed up the task force that led to the passage of Chapter 40R, noted that a town’s ability to come up with design standards for any potential development that will take place in the district is one of the unique features of Chapter 40R.

“The design standards allow the community to commit to paper the design Â… that the developer would have to comply with,” he said.

Carman marveled at the fact that the entire rezoning process in Plymouth took only five months.

‘Financial Benefits’
Just two days before Plymouth voted for the zoning change, voters in North Reading approved the rezoning of a former hospital site totaling about 87 acres.

The rezoning was sparked because Lincoln Properties wants to build a 406-unit apartment complex on 21 acres of the property under the state’s comprehensive permitting process. Burlington-based Gutierrez Co. wants to build office space on another portion of the land.

“It was suggested to the town that this would be an appropriate site for a 40R district and the town would get financial benefits,” said Kathleen M. O’Donnell, an attorney with the Boston-based law firm Kopelman & Paige, which serves as counsel for North Reading.

Greg D. Peterson, an attorney with DLA Piper Rudnick in Boston who represents Lincoln Properties, said the town asked the developer to cooperate in setting up a 40R district.

The two attorneys, along with town officials and the developer, worked to develop a zoning bylaw and negotiate various issues with the state. The town had to prove that it was creating zoning for development that could actually be built, explained O’Donnell.

Because the town lacks a town-wide sewer system and there are other infrastructure constraints, North Reading has a “severe shortage of rental housing,” she said.

The rezoning will enable the development of up to 434 housing units as well as office space. Lincoln is hoping to start construction on the apartments this year, according to Peterson. Meanwhile, North Reading is eligible for up to $1.5 million in state funding.

While the North Reading and Plymouth projects would create hundreds of new homes, Norwood became the first town to take advantage of Chapter 40R in early May when it approved a district for only 15 apartments. The apartments will be created in a closed church.

Other communities may soon follow. In Kingston, Thorndike Development wants to build a mixed-used development with up to 730 single-family homes and apartments on a 106-acre gravel pit near the local commuter rail station.

The town has hired Concord Square Development to advance a proposal for a smart-growth zoning district at the location. White’s firm, Housing Partners Inc., is working with Thorndike Development.

A vote on the district could come as soon as this fall.