Proposed Zoning Ordinance Raises Questions

The new zoning code being proposed by City Hall is causing some concerns and raising questions, at meetings, in the news, and on street corners or in cafés.

The 308-page document would overhaul and modernize the existing jumble of regulations and procedures, but it could also lead to some fundamental changes in how the city looks and feels and some are nervous about many of those changes.

Organizations like Union Square Neighbors and Somerville Development Watch, and individuals like urban planner Philip Parsons, Alderman Mark Niedergang, green space advocate Renée Scott and others, have been writing letters and columns in the Somerville Times, Somerville Voices and other venues.

“Unfortunately there are some major, major problems with the proposed zoning overhaul,” Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang told SNN in a recent interview. He wrote a five-page critique that he sent to constituents and posted on his blog, MarkNiedergang.com.

Niedergang is worried about many aspects of the proposed zoning, noting that, in his opinion, it does not promote commercial development enough, it will not create enough affordable housing, it does not allow neighbors to adequately weigh in on large projects, it does not go far enough to promote “green and solar roofs” and other environment-related development, and it allows homeowners and developers to have very little space between buildings.

“Our neighborhoods are already pretty crowded and tight; I am not sure why we would want houses to be even closer together,” he wrote.

Niedergang admitted that he is no zoning expert. He spent a lot of time learning, and listening.

“These are not necessarily my personal analyses,” he told SNN. “There are lots of smart people out there who have been looking at the zoning ordinance proposal and writing up their analyses. Most of what I am talking about comes from other people’s analyses.”

Another person who has been looking into the issue is Somerville Journal reporter Danielle McLean, who wrote a story called “Everything you wanted to know about Somerville’s new zoning but were afraid to ask.”

Many aspects of the new code have caused people and organizations concern, she said. One that jumps out at everyone is related to the amount of units that a developer of new housing would need to rent or sell at a below market rates. These units would be considered “affordable housing” and would be available via a lottery system.

“The new zoning encourages affordable housing,” McLean told SNN during an interview across from where the Green Line will hit Union Square.

“In a major commercial hub like Union Square, or next to an incoming transit system, like the area behind me, if a developer wants to build a major residential building with seven or more units, 20 percent of those would have to be affordable housing, but in most other districts, the ratio is much lower. “

In some areas, the required amount is only 12.5 percent, which is the current percentage for much of the city.

“Critics say that these numbers are not going to meet the affordable housing goals laid forth in Somervision,” McLean noted, referring to the city’s strategic plan. “Critics say the only way to meet that affordable housing goal is if you have 20 percent affordable housing city-wide.”

Another concern is related to the city’s density.

Because of the way the proposed ordinance makes subdivision easy in some areas, McLean said, “the new zoning actually encourages property owners and developers to build additional buildings on large lots.”

During his interview, Niedergang said that he and fellow aldermen are waiting to see and hear what responses the city’s Office of Strategic Planning and Development will present at a May 6 meeting of the Board’s Land Use Committee.

“The administration has come forward with a formal proposal but they have said that they want feedback and criticism and that they will adjust it, amend it and change it accordingly,” Niedergang said.

City Hall told SNN that it is pleased with all the public discussion.

“This is the process working the way it was intended,” mayoral spokesperson Dann DeMaina told SNN in an email. “The administration submits a proposal, everybody scrutinizes and submits comments, and then the Planning Division takes all those comments and makes adjustments where necessary.”

As of April 16th, City Hall had received 1,015 comments or suggested map changes, from comments made on the zoning website, in letters and at a public hearing.

The Board of Aldermen must approve or disapprove the proposed ordinance by June 27, or “the proposal simply dies,” according to Niedergang.

“Right now my sense is that most of the members of the Board share a lot of the concerns that I have,” he told SNN. “I believe and I think that most of my colleagues on the Board believe that there simply isn’t enough time” to hear the City’s revisions and make all the changes needed by the end of June.

“Most likely this current proposal will die or maybe be voted down, and my hope is that the administration takes the feedback they’ve gotten and comes forward with a new and dramatically different proposal this fall, which would be much more in the ballpark of something that the Board of Aldermen would be willing to consider approving,” he added.