Malden planning board backs locally tailored ADU rules, sends amended zoning to council

The Malden Planning Board on Jan. 27 recommended the City Council adopt a local ordinance implementing accessory dwelling units — ADUs — with 12 amendments aimed at preserving neighborhood livability while complying with state law.

The advisory vote follows a joint hearing with the City Council Rules and Ordinance Committee and more than two hours of presentations, questions and public comment. Councilor Edward Linehan, sponsor of City Council Paper 13/20/25, told the joint session the change follows the state’s Affordable Homes Act and related guidance and warned that “if we don’t take any action, the state zoning does essentially override our local zoning.”

The planning board recommendation preserves the basic framework of the mayor’s proposal while adding clarifications and procedural changes the board said are needed to align with recent state guidance from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC). The board’s package asks the council to: delete dimensional figures from the Zoning Table and reference the “most permissive” dimensional standard called for in the new state guidance; require site plan review for ADU proposals and locate the submission requirements in a codified city administrative section rather than in the zoning text; delete the special-permit pathway for second or subsequent ADUs; and shorten the committee decision timeline from 90 days to 14 days, among other technical edits.

City planner Michelle Romero described the ADU definition and key limits drawn from state law: an ADU must be a self-contained housing unit on the same lot as the principal dwelling, must maintain a separate entrance and may not exceed 900 square feet or half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling, “whichever is smaller.” Alex Pratt, director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, said staff prioritized compliance with the statute while seeking measures to address parking, safety, privacy and other neighborhood impacts. Pratt told the board, “we cannot require any affordability requirement. We cannot require any owner occupancy” and that the city’s ability to set parking requirements is constrained where parcels lie within a half-mile of an MBTA station or bus stop.

Supporters and opponents submitted written comments and spoke at the hearing. Mayor Gary Christiansen sent a letter urging retention of the site plan review process, saying it provides “a transparent decision making platform” and calling the review “the lowest threshold group decision making process we have.” Other submitted comments included support from residents who said ADUs would help families and provide additional housing options, and letters raising concerns about increased density, parking, and effects on affordability.

After discussion, the planning board moved — and approved by majority vote — a recommendation that the council adopt Paper 13/20/25 with the 12 staff and board revisions the board outlined. The board recorded the vote as 6 in favor, 2 opposed and 1 abstention. The City Council is scheduled to consider the ordinance at its Jan. 28 meeting; planning board members and the ordinance committee said that adopting local rules before the Feb. 2 state effective date gives the city some regulatory clarity even though the state law sets minimum parameters.

What the recommendation does and does not do: the board’s suggested edits aim to keep an ADU pathway available across the five residential districts specified while using site plan review to address project-specific impacts (siting, screening, trash, exterior changes, circulation). The recommendation removes proposed numeric dimensional tables from the zoning text and instead points to the requirement in state guidance to apply the dimensional standard that results in the most permissive regulation among the principal dwelling, a single-family standard, or an accessory structure. The draft also retains Malden’s existing prohibition on short-term rental of ADUs.

Next steps: the planning board’s vote is advisory; the City Council controls final adoption. Councilors on the Rules & Ordinance Committee said they planned votes at committee and full council on Jan. 28. If the council enacts local rules that comply with state law, those local provisions will apply alongside the state’s changes; if the council takes no action before Feb. 2, the state law establishes baseline allowances for ADUs in single-family districts.