Select Board to Review MBTA Multifamily Housing Guidelines on Monday, April 25

April 22, 2022

Bedford is close to complying with the state’s multi-family housing guidelines for MBTA communities.

And that basically means the town doesn’t have to change much of anything.

Planning Director Anthony Fields said his office has received confirmation that Bedford’s mixed-use zoning would satisfy the requirements, as long as the density per acre is at least 15 units.

He has noted that the Crossing at Bedford mixed-use development on Loomis Street exceeds 15 units per acre. So will the building now under construction at 314 The Great Road.

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Under the guidelines – which are in draft form — Bedford must be zoned to allow for almost 1,100 new units by right, with no restrictions on age or number of bedrooms. If the required density is applied across the board, the town is pretty much already there.

And that doesn’t mean anything has to be built – the requirement is for zoning capacity, not actual units.

The topic is on the Select Board’s Monday night agenda, with a presentation by the Planning Board that is required to maintain eligibility for compliance. A community information form, featuring a basic compliance plan, is due with the state Department of Housing and Community Development by May 2.

Fields commented on Thursday that the Select Board ultimately could choose not to comply with the requirements. However, submitting the community information form would sustain eligibility while “we spend the rest of the year analyzing where we are.”

Communities that do not comply with the state requirement will not be eligible for funding from Housing Choice Initiative; Local Capital Projects Fund; or Mass Works Infrastructure Program.

This specific issue began with state zoning legislation passed in January 2021, which included a requirement for MBTA communities to allow multifamily housing by right in a reasonably-sized zoning district.

“The measure is rooted in concerns about the shortage of housing to meet demand in the Greater Boston area and in the benefits of concentrating development near public transit,” according to the Planning Department. The state agency issued draft guidelines in late 2021.

Since there is no transit station in Bedford, the zoning districts can be anywhere within the town but are preferably placed near town centers and businesses, according to Fields. At least 73 acres of land would need to be zoned to achieve the 15 units per acre.

At an earlier Planning Board meeting, Fields outlined the potential for this kind of development: Shawsheen subdistrict (the Great Road Shopping Center and the Mead Block) is 55 acres; the Marketplace subdistrict totals 33 acres; the Depot overlay zone on Loomis Street is 18 acres; and the North Road subdistrict is another 13 acres. That is a total of 119 acres.

There are a few variables. Fields said Thursday that town planners need clarification on how the state agency defines a developable acre.

Bedford zoning districts exclude road rights-of-way, Fields explained, so density standards are applicable only to the actual land. But what is the state’s definition? That could impact the density required to meet the goal.

A hypothetical case: if the state includes two acres of roads in a 20-acre district, the potential total number of units required would be 300. But if Bedford does not include two acres of road rights-of-way, those 300 units would have to be accommodated in the remaining 18 acres, a density of almost 17 units per acre.

Also, some of the local multi-family provisions require a special permit; the MBTA guidelines say they have to be built by right. And the state’s minimum density of 15 units per acre is not the required number for the Bedford districts, Fields pointed out; it is optional.

Final guidelines are expected to be issued this summer. MBTA service levels or physical improvements are not attached to the zoning law change.

Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763

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