FRAMINGHAM - Members of the Framingham City Council’s Planning and Zoning Subcommittee met on Monday, September 23 to continue the discussion regarding the MBTA Communities Act.

Discussions on the state law, which mandates that cities and towns with MBTA service must provide zoning as of right for at least one multi-family housing district, have been ongoing for months. Framingham is currently in line with the MBTA Communities Act, but the city could be out of compliance by the end of 2024; being out of line with the law could result in the loss of state funding for a variety of local projects.

The MBTA Communities Act does not dictate that anything specifically be built; it just accounts for the zoning within a municipality.

Director of Planning and Community Development for Framingham Sarkis Sarkisian reminded subcommittee members on Monday that the city has to zone for 4,355 units in order to be in line with the legislation. Multiple ideas for zoning have been presented over the past few months, but one of the most recent proposals brought forth accounts for zoning for 4,506 units across a variety of neighborhoods and areas in Framingham Sarkisian’s presentation to the Planning and Zoning Subcommittee showed that over half of the zoned units would be within a half mile of the city’s Commuter Rail station.

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A pair of downtown plots comprise 70 acres of zoning and about 2,700 units. Zoning for buildings in that area would stretch between 2.5 and 3.5 stories.

Meanwhile, districts in Saxonville, in Nobscot, at Shoppers World, at 9-90, and along Speen Street were outlined to city officials. Those zones would make up between 5.4 and 32.4 acres while providing enough room for anywhere between 81 and 486 units. More details on those specific proposals can be found below and in the slideshow presented on Monday, which can be accessed by clicking here.

Sarkisian said these proposals came following multiple rounds of community feedback received regarding housing density. He contends that the presented plan takes pressure off of the downtown area.

“We had to increase and create other districts within the community,” Sarkisian told City Council members on Monday.

“If you look at the map, we tried to basically spread this out so that everyone would absorb a little bit of the MBTA districts.”

Sarkisian added that during a recent Planning Board meeting, members of that body voted to recommend increasing the zoning density in the Saxonville and Nobscot areas while further decreasing zoning downtown. He explained that the recommendation was made in an attempt to make zoning density more consistent across Framingham. Those plans for expanded zones in Saxonville and Nobscot will be presented for consideration during public hearings held by both the Planning Board and the City Council. The City Council, through a simple majority vote, will eventually have the final say on what parts of the MBTA zoning plan are approved or rejected.

While District 1 City Councilor and Chair of the Planning and Zoning Subcommittee Christine Long said she’s not opposed to spreading out the local zoning districts, she pushed back on the idea of increasing density in the Nobscot district. She described it as a “backdoor approach” to benefit developers in that area.

"40% of this is supposed to be in the downtown area, because that’s where the T is…I think most folks in this community want to keep the community character, not change it to something we don’t want,” Long continued.

Additional comments from residents during Monday’s meeting expressed more concerns regarding increased density in certain Framingham neighborhoods, especially in Nobscot. Some members of the public questioned if it was worth legally pushing back against the state instead of complying with the act.

At-Large City Council member Janet Leombruno vouched for cooperation across the city, expressing an understanding about worries that residents in different areas hold while simultaneously calling for a solution to be found.

“We have no choice in this matter, so I’m hoping that we can find a way to compromise where needed so that we can get this forward—otherwise, we’re going to be in trouble,” Leombruno said.

Long mentioned that the City Council is aiming for a late October date for their public hearing on the MBTA Communities Act. Prior to final approval, City Councilors will be able to make amendments to the plan on the floor.