Woburn staff outlines MBTA 3A overlay work and formally adopts master plan
May 14, 2024 | Woburn City, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
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Planning staff provided updates May 14 on zoning work to comply with Chapter 40A §3A (the MBTA communities requirement) and on the city’s master plan status.
Planning Director Cashel said staff and the mayor are working with consultant Jeff Davis of Horsley & Whitten to draft overlay-district boundaries and densities that comply with MBTA 3A requirements. Cashel said the city must include at least 50 acres in its planning calculations; the draft overlay being discussed would concentrate the district east of the commuter rail line with Anderson Station as its center. He also noted that staff is preparing several alternative overlay boundaries with associated densities that would show theoretical capacity to allow up to 2,631 units — a capacity exercise required by statute rather than a prediction of actual development.
The board also formalized an apparent paperwork omission: members present in 2015 confirmed their recollection of the 'Woven Plan for Progress' master plan work and Claudia moved to adopt the master plan nunc pro tunc to close the record and allow staff to use the plan when applying for state grants. The vote carried with no opposition recorded in the transcript. Cashel reminded the board the master plan update is statutory groundwork for future zoning and grant work.
Next steps: staff will continue to work with the state consultant to produce draft overlay district maps and a recommended zoning amendment; those drafts will be brought back for public hearing and city council review ahead of the statutory deadline.
Planning Director Cashel said staff and the mayor are working with consultant Jeff Davis of Horsley & Whitten to draft overlay-district boundaries and densities that comply with MBTA 3A requirements. Cashel said the city must include at least 50 acres in its planning calculations; the draft overlay being discussed would concentrate the district east of the commuter rail line with Anderson Station as its center. He also noted that staff is preparing several alternative overlay boundaries with associated densities that would show theoretical capacity to allow up to 2,631 units — a capacity exercise required by statute rather than a prediction of actual development.
The board also formalized an apparent paperwork omission: members present in 2015 confirmed their recollection of the 'Woven Plan for Progress' master plan work and Claudia moved to adopt the master plan nunc pro tunc to close the record and allow staff to use the plan when applying for state grants. The vote carried with no opposition recorded in the transcript. Cashel reminded the board the master plan update is statutory groundwork for future zoning and grant work.
Next steps: staff will continue to work with the state consultant to produce draft overlay district maps and a recommended zoning amendment; those drafts will be brought back for public hearing and city council review ahead of the statutory deadline.
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