Planning director outlines MBTA '3A' housing mandate requiring overlay capacity for 2,631 units; councilors press for urgent action

The Woburn Planning Department told the Planning Board on March 26 that the state's MBTA-community statutory amendment (commonly referenced as '3A') requires communities like Woburn to establish one or more overlay districts that together can accommodate significant multifamily capacity, and that the city must act quickly to prepare ordinance amendments and mapped districts for state review.

Director Cashel framed the briefing as preliminary but said the statute, as the department is interpreting it, compels the city to provide overlay district(s) sufficient to allow the development potential of up to 2,631 three-bedroom-plus units in Woburn. "For Woburn, the statute dictates ... that we are to provide for at least 1 overlay district that can handle the development potential of upwards of 2,631 apartments," Cashel said, and noted that 75% of that capacity (about 1,900 units) must be within a half-mile of designated stations such as Anderson (and possibly Mishawam under map definitions).

Board members and councilors raised numerous implementation questions: whether existing developed land can count toward the 50-acre minimum overlay requirement, how the city would handle water, sewer and off-site infrastructure costs, and how the planning board should coordinate with the city council and the mayor. Cashel said the overlay district(s) may include developed land (subject to state review) but that wetlands and steep slopes would be excluded from the acreage calculation.

Councilor Darlene Mercer Bridal and others urged immediate, collaborative work between the council and planning board, formation of an ad hoc committee, and outreach to the state and regional planning agencies. Cashel said he had already begun drafting materials and working with MAPC and the mayor and recommended the planning board begin preliminary work while the council forms any formal committee; he emphasized that the statute currently contains no built-in waiver and that the city faces a December 31 compliance date.

What happens next: Cashel will prepare a fuller report for the planning board and city council and recommended an ad hoc or council-formed committee to develop ordinance language and mapped overlay district(s) for state review; board members and councilors volunteered to participate in collaborative work.