When Somerville last updated its zoning code in 1990, it took an approach that relied on maximum regulation.
“We made every house non-conforming, and everything you’d do, you’d need a special permit,” said George Proakis, Somerville’s director of planning.
In the city’s attempts to control growth, however, officials found that excessive regulation hasn’t been effective. In some cases, it’s accomplished the opposite of the city’s goals, Proakis said. Condo developers found creative ways to build maximum density within the regulations, while residents were buried under red tape trying to build modest home improvement projects.
“It’s extremely hard to understand if you’re not a lawyer. If you’re putting a dormer on a two-family, it’s probably more onerous than it should be,” said Adam Dash, a Somerville attorney and member of an advisory committee reviewing the changes.
A new zoning code now in the works would make it easier to build smaller projects, such as additions, without applying for a special permit. The code also would encourage more mixed-use projects, including commercial spaces on ground floors below residential, while reducing parking requirements at developments near mass transit in a nod to the planned MBTA Green Line Extension.
“We have realized that our values and our zoning are no longer matched with each other,” Proakis said.
The zoning overhaul – which is subject to approval by the board of aldermen – is an offshoot of the city’s SomerVision land-use plan, which recommended more than 100 changes to how the city regulates commercial and residential construction. For the past year, an advisory committee has been meeting to discuss a more common-sense framework.
A New Approach To Development
It comes at a time when New England’s most densely-populated city prepares for the next wave of development.
Up to 2.3 million square feet of commercial and residential construction is planned in Union Square, where city officials in June named Chicago-based Magellan Development Group as master developer. And another 73 acres are being eyed for redevelopment in Assembly Square, where 1.7 million square feet of offices, retail and housing already have been approved.
The proposed reforms include elimination of floor area ratios (FARs), which regulate the maximum floor area that can be built in comparison to the size of the parcel. While they give developers a quick snapshot of maximum build-out – and the potential value of a parcel – FARs can be misleading, because density is regulated by other factors, like parking requirements, Proakis said.
In the city’s squares and neighborhoods near mass transit, parking requirements would be reduced. The strategy reflects conditions in neighborhoods like Gilman Square, where a Green Line station is planned. Current zoning allows buildings up to 50 feet tall, but there’s been little interest by developers to go to those limits, because the minimum parking requirements make development unprofitable, Proakis said.
“You’d think people would be jumping all over us to build 50-foot buildings,” he said.
Design By Neighborhood
Residential additions would be subject to a less intensive review. Rather than applying for special permits, they’d be allowed by right if they met certain dimensional requirements. Only a building permit would be required.
Taking the place of the current dimensional tables would be a “form-based” zoning. The zoning code would show examples of styles of housing allowed in various neighborhoods, with the intent of fitting in with the existing buildings.
“In the neighborhoods, it sounds like you’ll be able to build what’s already there, and looks like what’s already on the street,” said Dash, the attorney. “In the commercial areas, they will be open to different types of design.”
The final version of the amendments is expected to be released this fall. The proposed new code would be the subject of a public hearing hosted by the board of alderman and the planning board. In the meantime, projects that already have building permits or special permits at that point could go forward under the current rules.
Email: sadams@thewarrengroup.com
