Somerville Zoning – Zoning Overhaul Somerville MA

The Proposed Zoning Ordinance has been submitted by the planning staff to the Board of Aldermen and the Planning Board and a Public Hearing was held on October 30th, 2018.

You can still provide written testimony to the Planning Board by November 26th and to the Board of Alderman by December 13th. Comments and questions can be emailed to planning@somervillema.gov. You can also write us feedback directly on the document at somerville.civicomment.org.

Below is the current draft of the new Somerville Zoning Ordinance. A change log and previous drafts are at the bottom for reference. To see what district your property is located under in the proposal check the Zoning Atlas.

Article 2: Overview & Guide explains how the ‘building type’ based system of the proposed Ordinance functions, describes each line item from the building type tables, provides instruction for how to measure each requirement, and includes other standards and reference information.

Public Hearings, Meetings, and Presentations
Proposed Ordinance Presentation (10/16/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video Proposed Zoning Ordinance Public Hearing (10/30/2018) – Video Land Use Committee Meeting (11/13/2018) – Video This meeting primarily pertained to zoning amendments of the existing code and developing a work plan with the board for future zoning overhaul meetings. Land Use Committee Meeting (11/27/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video (starts 2h 35m in) This meeting pertained to a zoning amendment of the existing code, primarily recreational marijuana, and a discussion about the density differences between the station areas in the zoning overhaul. Land Use Committee Meeting (12/04/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video This meeting pertained to a zoning amendment of the existing code related to open space requirements. However, the meeting encompassed a broader review of open space planning in the context of the existing zoning and the zoning overhaul.

Public Hearings, Meetings, and Presentations

Proposed Ordinance Presentation (10/16/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video
Proposed Zoning Ordinance Public Hearing (10/30/2018) – Video

Land Use Committee Meeting (11/13/2018) – Video
This meeting primarily pertained to zoning amendments of the existing code and developing a work plan with the board for future zoning overhaul meetings.

Land Use Committee Meeting (11/27/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video (starts 2h 35m in)
This meeting pertained to a zoning amendment of the existing code, primarily recreational marijuana, and a discussion about the density differences between the station areas in the zoning overhaul.

Land Use Committee Meeting (12/04/2018) – Presentation Slides, Video
This meeting pertained to a zoning amendment of the existing code related to open space requirements. However, the meeting encompassed a broader review of open space planning in the context of the existing zoning and the zoning overhaul.

September 2018 BOA Submittal
Zoning Atlas (updated 09/27/2018) Pedestrian Streets Atlas (updated 09/27/2018) Transit Areas Atlas (updated 09/27/2018) Article 1 – Introductory Provisions (updated 09/27/2018) Article 2 – Overview & Guide (updated 09/27/2018) __Standards & Measurements Article 3 – Residential Districts (updated 09/27/2018) __3.1 – Neighborhood Residential __3.2 – Urban Residential Article 4 – Mid-Rise Districts (updated 09/27/2018) 4.1 – Mid-Ride 3 __4.2 – Mid-Rise 4 __4.3 – Mid-Rise 5 __4.4 – Mid-Rise 6 Article 5 – High-Rise Districts (updated 09/27/2018) Article 6 – Commercial Districts (updated 09/27/2018) __6.1 – Fabrication __6.2 – Commercial Core __6.3 – Commercial Industry __6.4 – Commercial Business Article 7 – Special Districts (updated 09/27/2018) Article 8 – Overlay Districts (updated 09/27/2018) Article 9 – Use Provisions (updated 09/27/2018) Article 10 – Development Standards (updated 09/27/2018) Article 11 – Parking & Mobility (updated 09/27/2018) Article 12 – Development Benefits (updated 09/27/2018) Article 13 – Public Realm (updated 09/27/2018) Article 14 – Nonconformance (updated 09/27/2018) Article 15 – Administration (updated 09/27/2018) Article 16 – Definitions (updated 09/27/2018)
Change Log
09/27/2018 – September 2018 BOA Submittal released (all Articles) 02/01/2018 – Article 6 & Article 11 updated (Document export errors were corrected) 01/09/2018 – January 2018 BOA Submittal released (all Articles) 11/05/2017 – 2nd Discussion Draft released (all Articles) 06/24/2017 – Partial version of Article 12 released (Shared Parking still in progress) 06/22/2017 – Partial version of Article 2 released (Standards & Measurements only) 06/21/2017 – Temporary PDFs for Articles 7 and 8 uploaded 06/21/2017 – Articles 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, and 15 released. Article 16 updated. 06/21/2017 – Zoning Atlas released 06/16/2017 – Article 16 of the Discussion Draft released
Previous Code Versions (Archive Only)
BOA Submittal, January 2018
Zoning Atlas 02/14/2018 (out of date) Pedestrian Streets Atlas 01/09/2018 (out of date) Transit Areas Atlas 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 1 – Introductory Provisions 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 2 – Overview & Guide 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 3 – Residential Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 4 – Mid-Rise Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 5 – High-Rise Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 6 – Commercial Districts 02/01/2018 (out of date) Article 7 – Special Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 8 – Overlay Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 9 – Use Provisions 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 10 – Site Development 02/01/2018 (out of date) Article 11 – Parking & Mobility 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 12 – Development Benefits 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 13 – Public Realm 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 14 – Nonconformance 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 15 – Administration 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 16 – Definitions 01/09/2018 (out of date)
Draft Ordinance, November 2017
Zoning Atlas 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 1 – Introductory Provisions 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 2 – Overview & Guide 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 3 – Residential Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 4 – Mid-Rise Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 5 – High-Rise Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 6 – Commercial Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 7 – Special Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 8 – Overlay Districts 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 9 – Use Provisions 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 10 – Site Development 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 11 – Public Realm 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 12 – Parking & Mobility 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 13 – Development Benefits 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 14 – Nonconformance 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 15 – Administration 11/05/2017 (out of date) Article 16 – Definitions 11/05/2017 (out of date)
Draft Ordinance, June 2017
Article 1 – Introductory Provisions 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 2 – Overview & Guide 06/22/2017 (out of date) Article 3 – Residential Districts 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 4 – Mid-Rise Districts 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 5 – High-Rise Districts 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 6 – Commercial Districts 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 9 – Use Provisions 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 10 – Site Development 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 12 – Parking & Mobility 06/24/2017 (out of date) Article 13 – Development Benefits 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 14 – Nonconformance 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 15 – Administration 06/21/2017 (out of date) Article 16 – Definitions 06/21/2017 (out of date)