I strongly support the proposed zoning that will promote sensible development in Belmont Center. However, I understand there are sincere concerns about profitability and parking and hope the following observations will somewhat allay those worries.
The Warrant Committee’s fiscal impact analysis on the proposed zoning states that profitability will largely depend on how many school-age children the zoning will produce, which will turn on how many bedrooms will be in the units constructed. In a 2025 focus group, several developers told Town Planner Chris Ryan that the most profitable housing types in municipal centers are studio and one-bedroom units. The developer who will be building a five-story structure at 41-43 White St. in Waverley Square (around the corner from Tatte) will fill its four residential floors exclusively with studios and one-bedrooms. The Warrant Committee’s financial projection that lines up most closely with what developers are saying – and doing — would generate a net increase of over $800k per year for Belmont – money that could reduce the frequency and size of tax increases and/or service cuts.
As for parking, developers in the focus group emphasized that no developer will construct a building with less parking than it needs to make money. Consistent with that thought, Salem recently eliminated parking space minimums for many new developments, and Melrose just waived all parking requirements for an all-studios and one-bedrooms development. The White St. developer will construct more than one parking space for every two units, even though he is only required to build one for every four. Depending on the economic climate, the proposed zoning may trigger lots of development or none. However, given developers’ profit motive, it’s extremely likely that any structures that get built under the proposed approximately one parking space for every three units requirement will have adequate parking.
Dan Barry, Goden Street