The Administration has officially submitted the proposed Zoning Overhaul to the Board of Aldermen. To review a timeline of the steps required for adoption, see our Adoption Process Infographic.
The Board of Aldermen will continue to accept written public testimony until noon of May 25th, 2018. Email us any and all comments, supportive statements or concerns to planning@somervillema.gov. You can also go to our CiviComment Page to add notes directly to any section of the proposed code document.
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 Hearing and Meeting Materials |
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| January 31, 2018, Document Organization Review – Slides January 31, 2018, Document Organization Review – Video February 13, 2018, Proposal Overview – Slides February 13, 2018, Proposal Overview – Video March 27, 2018, Article 15 Explained Pt 1 – Video March 28, 2018, Article 15 Explained Pt 2 – Video April 3, 2018, Public Testimony – Video April 3, 2018, Written Testimony – Document May 1, 2018, Somervision Numbers – Link May 1, 2018, Capital Improvement Plans – Document May 1, 2018, Fiscal Impact of Proposed Code – Document May 1, 2018, Debt Summary – Document May 15, 2018, NR District Discussion – Slides |
| January 2018 BOA Submittal |
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| Zoning Atlas (updated 02/14/2018) Pedestrian Streets Atlas (updated 01/09/2018) Transit Areas Atlas (updated 01/09/2018) Article 1 – Introductory Provisions (updated 01/09/2018) Article 2 – Overview & Guide (updated 01/09/2018) __Standards & Measurements Article 3 – Residential Districts (updated 01/09/2018) __3.1 – Neighborhood Residential __3.2 – Urban Residential Article 4 – Mid-Rise Districts (updated 01/09/2018) 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 01/09/2018) Article 6 – Commercial Districts (updated 02/01/2018) __6.1 – Fabrication __6.2 – Commercial Core __6.3 – Commercial Industry __6.4 – Commercial Business Article 7 – Special Districts (updated 01/09/2018) Article 8 – Overlay Districts (updated 01/09/2018) Article 9 – Use Provisions (updated 01/09/2018) Article 10 – Site Development (updated 02/01/2018) Article 11 – Parking & Mobility (updated 01/09/2018) Article 12 – Development Benefits (updated 01/09/2018) Article 13 – Public Realm (updated 01/09/2018) Article 14 – Nonconformance (updated 01/09/2018) Article 15 – Administration (updated 01/09/2018) Article 16 – Definitions (updated 01/09/2018) |
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| Change Log |
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| 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 |
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| Pervious Code Versions (Archive Only) |
| BOA Submittal, January 2018 |
| Article 6 – Commercial Districts 01/09/2018 (out of date) Article 10 – Site Development 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) Article 16 – Definitions 06/16/2017 (out of date) |