The Dec. 31 deadline for this commuter rail community to comply with state MBTA Communities Act requirements to create multifamily zoning districts near train stations is zooming down the tracks.
With less than five months to go, Gloucester’s Planning Board is scheduled to meet in person and on Zoom Thursday afternoon to review multifamily zoning district scenarios and changes to zoning ordinance meant to bring the seaport into compliance with the law known as Section 3A.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in person at the Harbormaster’s Conference Room at 19 Harbor Loop on Aug. 8 at 5 p.m. A link to the meeting on Zoom, https://gloucester-ma-gov.zoom.us/j/86065315420, and the agenda can be found on the city’s website at www.gloucester-ma.gov.
The Planning Board is scheduled “to review and discuss districts and draft zoning amendment language to comply with Chapter 40A 3A/MBTA Communities requirements,” the single-item agenda states.
Planning Board Chair Rick Noonan said the board will be presented with the proposed multifamily zoning districts, the draft zoning amendment language and use table changes from the city’s consultant, RKG Associates.
The Planning Board is expected to make a recommendation on the draft language for the ordinance changes for the City Council to take up. The council’s three-member Planning and Development Standing Committee will also weigh in.
Both the Planning Board and the City Council would then hold public hearings on the proposed changes, and a public forum is being planned.
“It’s been a fairly tight choreographed effort by all of us,” Noonan said. The work has involved digesting the public input as best the board and consultants could and work to craft sensitive zoning “as best we can.
“We are at a good place to start the review,” he said, noting the amount of work that’s been done to get to this point. He said there are plans for a joint meeting among the Planning Board and the City Council, making sure to get as much public input as possible “keeping in mind there is a drop dead date.”
The MBTA Communities Act requires each of the 177 designated MBTA communities to provide for at least one district of reasonable size permitting multifamily housing by right, according to a slide presentation on the law in May by RKG Associates and Innes Associates.
The zoning cannot have age restrictions and it must be suitable for families with children. The zoning must have a minimum gross density of 15 dwelling units per acre and a portion of the district must be located within a half mile of a commuter rail station, in Gloucester’s case.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.