While some speakers at the meeting on March 26 warned of “analysis paralysis,” others urged town officials to pump the brakes on the Belmont Center overlay project and allow more time for parking and traffic studies and a fiscal impact analysis.
“This is way too fast,” Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Kathy Keohane said, comparing it to the years spent analyzing the MBTA Communities Act zoning. “Most of this work started in earnest, substantively and updated to today’s standards, in January of this year.”
According to Keohane, the Leonard Street overlay has generated more comment from constituents than any other issue.
The meeting was the third installment of the Planning Board’s public comment sessions dedicated solely to the project, which seeks to create an overlay district in downtown Belmont, allowing for more diversity in use and greater density.
Previous coverage
- Belmont Center Rezoning ‘Tricky On So Many Levels’
- Town to Host Workshop on Belmont Center Zoning Project
“We’re looking at the center for a zoning overlay and not changing the base zoning because we think we should provide options for property owners,” said Director and Town Planner Chris Ryan. “This is just another set of options that will be available to property owners.”
He explained that the work stems from the 2008 report, “A Planning Vision for Belmont Center,” which recommended establishing an overlay zoning district, possibly using form-based zoning that provides guidelines to influence the physical design of a new development. Unlike use-based code, which establishes zoning districts based on uses the town wants and backfills dimensional criteria, form-based code pre-establishes the dimensional and structural or design elements the town wants to see.
According to Ryan, the work is also influenced by a 2010 draft of the comprehensive plan for Belmont.
More recently, the Office of Planning and Building surveyed the community, garnering 585 responses over the course of 3 ½ months. In addition, the project consultant hosted a design workshop in January, offering participants the chance to work together and offer input. Planning officials have also attended meetings of the Belmont Center Business Association to gather feedback on the proposed changes.
“Right now, we bleed cash to the outside,” Ryan said. “We’d like to recapture that and bring it here.”
Part of the draft language allows increased height to buildings on Leonard Street, with plans for mixed use. On March 25, the Planning Board voted to remove the Claflin Lot from consideration in the overlay, given significant pushback from businesses on Leonard Street. Other considerations include traffic calming measures and “strategic signalization.”
The goal, he said, was to have everything ready in time for a spring Town Meeting, whether in May or June. On April 17, an “open house” for the second draft of the overlay is scheduled.
While many speakers supported the project, some pushed for more studies and analysis. The impact of construction on businesses was a key concern among speakers, as was the threat of higher rents from new development that wouldn’t be affordable to small businesses. Abutters worried about traffic and increased building height blocking the light and air to their homes.
“We have asked again and again, and we have no useful numbers,” said Rena Fonseca, an abutter to the project. “Show us the costs, show us the revenue, show us the proportion of residential to commercial, and if you can’t provide those numbers…this zoning plan is irresponsible, it is dangerous and it will destroy Belmont Center. We really cannot let that happen.”
The ratio of housing to commercial was particularly a concern because part of the area is included in the MBTA Community Act 3A zoning, which Town Meeting approved late last year. According to Ryan, no concrete housing proposals have cropped up.
Others at the meeting expressed support for the efforts, arguing for the benefit of mixed use and the need for change to increase the commercial tax base and improve the town’s financial situation.
“We have to have housing,” said Precinct 6 Town Meeting member Karen Bauerle. “This is part of an organic process where businesses need customers and people need homes. It creates a virtuous cycle.”
Precinct 4 Town Meeting member Helen Bakeman countered those who said Belmont Center is a charming district as it is.
“I think it’s tired, and Concord Avenue is random,” she said. “I’m happy to see ideas for Concord Avenue… If we want to increase our commercial base, we cannot do it by just filling the empty storefronts on Leonard Street. I don’t think that will do it. It means we have to do something new or different.”
Echoing sentiments made by Matt Taylor at a recent Select Board meeting, Wendy Etkind, a member of the Economic Development Committee, told residents at the Beech Street Center that “analysis paralysis is real.”
“I just don’t think we can afford that,” she said. “We’ve heard from speakers talking about our financial situation. I’d love for us to work together; I’d love for us to trust in the process.”
