You may have previously heard it described as the Brighton Street Corridor.
Now, as planning officials move forward with the zoning project, it’s going by a new name: the Hill’s Crossing Overlay District.
“This whole area is owned by Henry Hill of the Henry Hill Farm going back to the 1800s,” said Planning Division Manager Conor McCormack. “There was a Hill’s Crossing Stop on the Central Mass Railroad in the location of Brighton and the railroad crossing today, so we figured we would lean into that and give [the district] a sense of identity.”
The Hill’s Crossing Overlay District is the next project in the town’s efforts to encourage more commercial development, easing the tax burden on residents.
“Anything we can do to maximize the amount of housing and maximize it in a way that’s not only market rate, which obviously the developer needs to make money … but really try to emphasize the affordability option and making more of it affordable is a big deal, because obviously we have a lot of seniors in town who want to downsize and can’t and we have a lot of young people moving out of town,” Precinct 7 Town Meeting member Michael McNamara said at a recent Planning Board meeting, during which a public hearing for the project was opened.
At least one resident at the hearing expressed frustration— not with the overall goal of the project, but with the logistics and planning so far.
“I’m very grateful for all your hard work, and the goal you want to have happen … I’m totally on board with that,” said Rebecca Franco, who lives in the project area. “I’m hearing the details … and I’m deeply dismayed.”
Franco said more attention and time need to be given to environmental and water issues in the district, and traffic and transportation should play a greater role in conversations. She also argued the project is “not feasible” without another train stop.
“It has to be put together with the MBTA,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s a fantasy that’s going to result in a gridlock.”
The Hill’s Crossing Overlay District follows in the footsteps of the town’s first two projects, the Belmont Center Overlay and the Center Gateway Overlay District, which were approved by Town Meeting in March. Additional zoning bylaw changes were made in the most recent annual Town Meeting to improve the site plan approval process.
“This is zoning, not redevelopment,” Planning Board Chair Thayer Dunham clarified at the June 9 meeting.
In other words, the overlay expands upon what is allowed by right or development, but does not guarantee development will occur. The 27.6-acre district centered along Brighton Street and the Community Path is zoned Single Residence, Local Business, and General Business. Purecoat North, which owners have expressed interest in redevelopment, is also located in this district.
“Overlay districts are a tool to provide options or opportunities where the underlying zoning is too restrictive or where a specific development vision or goal is sought,” Ryan said in an email to The Voice.
Simply changing the base zoning of a district could result in nonconforming lots, or properties that conflict with the zoning, and legal challenges. Overlays, by comparison, leave the base zoning in place.
“I think that as we proceed with additional overlays for specific districts, there is the risk that the bylaw can become even more cumbersome and complicated, and more difficult to administer,” he said, pointing to the Leonard Street area where there is the base zoning, plus two additional overlays in place. “The way we are trying to limit the complexity is to establish overlay or form-based zone typologies that can be used in multiple locations. Instead of each overlay having a unique set of subdistricts with its own set of dimensional standards, we would essentially use the same subdistrict typologies where they would fit the area and purpose.”
Belmont isn’t quite there yet, he said, but is “trying to begin that process with the Hill’s Crossing Overlay District.”
According to McCormack, the Hill’s Crossing Overlay has five proposed subdistricts: Flex Commercial; Community Path; Street Front Crossings; Hill’s Crossing Center; and finally, the Estates District.
“One of the things we’d like to do is create form-based typologies that could be used elsewhere,” said Building and Planning Director Chris Ryan. “Each of the ones we approved for [Belmont Center] have broad applicability for other areas of town. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel each time we do an overlay.”
McCormack explained that the Flex Commercial subdistrict would be a small-scale mixed-use area, intended to support creative commercial, artisan, and light industrial uses — “a setting that is compatible with adjacent neighborhoods,” he said. Buildings would max out at two stories, with smaller-scale buildings as it transitions to the residential areas to the north and south.
The Community Path subdistrict, then, is intended to promote compact, walkable, mixed-use development, oriented toward the planned community path.
“We’re looking to encourage building frontages, entrances, and active uses to face the path,” McCormack said.
He described the Streetfront Commons subdistrict as the “most similar to Belmont Center.”
“This would be more of a mixed-use building with ground floor retail, and smaller two-to three-story buildings above,” he said.
The “center” of the overlay district would be the Hill’s Crossing Center, which aims to provide some of the highest densities, allowing up to 6-story buildings with street-level retail required along Brighton Street.
“This is intended to create a critical density and vibrancy for the overall district,” McCormack said.
And finally, the Estates subdistrict would provide mid-rise residential buildings and limited mixed-use commercial.
“We’re very sensitive to the existing residents of this area. We don’t want to feel like we’re threatening them in any way,” Ryan said.
Including the public hearing, which opened last week and will continue on future dates, planning officials hope to hold several meetings throughout the summer and fall, with the goal of each meeting focusing on a particular topic, such as housing, transportation, traffic, or the environment. Additional public input sessions are also expected, as is a parking and traffic study.
“We are still working on development buildout analysis,” McCormack said. “Our contractor, AbleCity, has a subcontract with a company called Tangible Impact… that we’re pretty happy we’re able to work with on this. They have a tool that allows us to put a wide range of parameters for a buildout. We can provide all the dimensional requirements and what could be on any parcel in this district, and attach other variables to it.”
Precinct 6 Town Meeting member Doug Koplow asked how Belmont would determine the fiscal impact of such a zoning change, given that several analyses have been provided by three different groups: RKG Associates, the Harvard Kennedy School, and, more recently, an MIT startup.
“The MIT model, at this point—they’re only doing a buildout analysis for us under contract,” Ryan responded.
A more advanced tool would provide 3D modeling, fiscal impact analysis, water-use analysis, and parking and traffic generation analysis, according to Ryan. Such a contract, however, would cost the town about $3,000.
“We want to see how Tangible Impact performs doing the buildout analysis first, then we’re going to make our decision as to whether we feel comfortable contracting with them,” he said.
