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Home My WebLink About2023-07-17 Planning Board Minutes Town. of North Andover PLANNING BOARD Eitan Goldberg, Chair Ger)lntrr Wilkens Simons s� � _'• Christol)her Koskores, Peter Boynton Assoc. Sean I(evltrlran Tuesday Jrrly 17, 2023 7.30 P.in., 120 Main Street Torvn Hall, North Andover,MA 01845 Joint Meeting with Planning Board & Select Board Present/Select Board: J. Phillips, R. Connelly Smedile, L. Bates, R. Vaillancourt,B. E, Roache, Present/Planning Board: J. Simons,P. Boynton, S. Kevlahan, G. Wilkens, C. Koskores, Assoc. Absent: E. Goldberg Staff: L. Burzlaff, A, Shapiro, J. Enright Discussion Itein VI on Select Board Agenda: MBTA Communities 3A Compliance: Jerrard Whitten,Exec. Dir., MVPC: Provided an overview of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission's mission. Explained that the goal is to achieve compliance with State Legislation and increasing Housing production by creating zoning districts to allow for multi-family housing by-right(MBTA Communities Legislation). The initiative is to work with staff to review areas for North Andover for compliance with this mandate and to provide as much information in order to proceed with legislation. Ian Burns, Community&Economic Dev. Program Coordinator,MVPC: Reviewed State regulations requiring all cities and towns zone for and identify potential qualifying districts to address State Dousing production. A shortage of 200,000 housing units occurred between 1990-2020, including"rniddle housing"; 2,3,4-unit complexes and starter hornes due to restrictive zoning. This is an effort to Ioosen zoning restrictions. Legislation requires(1) district of reasonable size,permitted as-of-right, 15 units per acre minimum and be proximate(not more than a half mile)from a commuter rail station. (Wetlands excluded).North Andover is considered an Adjacent Community-due to proximity to rail stops in Lawrence and Andover.Noted this is a zoning mandate, not necessarily a production mandate.North Andover needs to accommodate approximately 1200 units; as an Adjacent Community the town needs to provide 10% of the exiting dwelling units. P. Boynton: Explained that the formula used to derive these numbers is proximity to a train station and doesn't take into account how many multi-family units that already exist in the community. It does not differentiate the community's housing stock break down between detached single-family and multi-family homes. 1. Burns: This looks at your housing stock, mandating a percentage of that to be zoned for in that area. The State doesn't expect cities and towns to build out their maximum production at 15 units per acre; it's a target. Building out 1,191 units is impractical, building in ideal fixture scenarios is. The State has not said if they will be refining their requirements after the 2030 census,this a static number. J. Whitten: Imagine the district you're considering and zoning for this already contains 500 units in that district; the net you'd need to produce is the difference if it were all to be built out. B. Roache(SB): Theoretically, if a zone of the appropriate size already exists in the town that was already at that density you could simply overlay and be compliant. Zoning by-right eliminates the risk retention for the developer who may wish to entertain that type of project. R. Vaillancourt(SB): Questioned how by-right will this impact our 40B numbers? Would this reduce the percentage?If no 40B permit is required to build these multi-family homes wouldn't this lower our numbers? I. Burns:North Andover now has Inclusionary Zoning. Any developments over the threshold of 7 units will require affordability; you won't skew your balance. Theoretically, if you are producing more units with Inclusionary Zoning in place,you'll be getting closer to your requirements. Proposed districts are preliminary; must be 50-acre minimum or 1.5% developable land (whichever is less), zoning must allow for minimum 15 units per acre. Districts must have capacity for multi-family units equal to either 10%of the community's entire housing stock or be equal to unit capacity in the district given the 15 units per acre requirement(whichever is greater). Zoning districts should be within reasonable access to a transit station. 1, Town of North Andover PLANNING BOARD Eitan Goldberg, Chalr Ge�trrtra Wrllreris Joh11 Simoids CIz►rstophef'I(askr oes, Peter'Boy,rtorr Assoc. Semi Ifevlahaii Tuesday July 17, 2023(a, 7.30 p.na., 120 Mrrrn Street Town Hall, North Andover', MA 01845 J. Enright, Dir. Planning,No. Andover: Provided context to 15 units per acre: Princeton Properties-21 units per acre,Avalon Bay/Phase I-West Mill=18 runts per acre, MINCO/Sutton St.=42 units per acre, 90 Sutton St—29 units per acre and the recently permitted 149 Main St./forrner Santander lot=38 units per acre. Had zoning for a proposed redevelopment passed, Royal Crest would have been 17 units per acre. 1. Burns: Reviewed timeline for implementation starts with guidelines from State: 12/15/2021 Town submitted interim compliance allowing town to continue applying for State grant programs, 12/31/2024 town must demonstrate compliance. Town will be going for passage of new bylaw at May 2024 Town Meeting. A. Shapiro,Dir. Community&Economic D_ev.,No, Andover: We are on target for refining the draft bylaw by fall of this year. We need feedback from DHCD to ensure compliance and then will go through a public process prior to Town Meeting. We'd like to confirm the potential districts, get community feedback, develop dimensional standards, complete the EOHLC's Compliance Model spreadsheet,complete the draft zoning bylaw-confirming compliance with the EOI L.C, and consider public hearings in advance of Town Meeting 2024.Noted State funding obtained for significant recent projects. D. V_aillancourt(B): What happens if this is not approved at Town Meeting? I. Barns: Communities who don't comply will face penalties and be ineligible for State grant programs. The Atty. Genl, released guidance stating"this law is not optional". Communities who opt out snake themselves vulnerable to civil litigation if they don't comply with the law. R. Smedile SB : Stated it's unfortunate that our legislators feel it necessary to penalize towns financially when many communities are still just getting by with covering the needs of their community; it's disappointing. J. Enright: Potential district locations were evaluated on acreage,developable land(50 acres-25 contiguous), walkability, pedestrian access and access to commercial centers. Various sites may be considered to meet the criteria. Provided an overview of the proposed district locations: 200 Sutton Street(from roughly 231 Sutton St. to the 495 on-ramp),Market Basket Plaza-350 Winthrop Ave.-1 parcel due to wetlands,& 1600 Osgood St.-Osgood Landing. Choosing any 2 of these Districts could maintain compliance with State requirements; Overlays may be considered;other parcels may also be considered. Although the term `by-right' has been used often,there would still be a Plan Review process with the Planning Board, J. Simons: Stated that there were 37 single family residences built in the last 8 years and over 600 apt. units.We consider this a single-family residential town,but it's not that simple. We have built more multi-family units than other towns in the Merrimack Valley over the last 10 years. P. Boynton: Communicated that North Andover is 55% single family residences. According to MAPC this is low compared to 79% in maturing, suburbs. The algorithm used is proximity to MBTA &total number of residences. We are ahead of the game after building a lot of multi-family housing of different sizes over the years,but it's not considered. Boards discussed various aspects ofparcel(s)and concluded Osgood Landing was a logical choice with 40R zoning in place, Winthrop Avenue is a good candidate providing owners are willing to redevelop. Sutton Street location(s) may require additional work to piece together various parcels; may be more appropriate as part of the Downtown revitalization plan. Planning Board mecting Adjourned from Select Board meeting a 9:40 p.m. MEETING MATERIALS: Select Board Meeting Agenda July 17, 2023, Presentation by Merrimack Valley Planning Commission regardinLy MBTA Communities 3A Compliane : MBTA Communities Status Update- MVPC. 2