With Conditional MBTA Act Compliance Secured, City Council Works on Additional Zoning Measures

FRAMINGHAM - The Framingham City Council has moved to proceed with the conditional compliance for the MBTA Communities Act recently granted by state officials, as the body simultaneously began work to address other residential zoning measures.

The City Council’s Planning and Zoning Subcommittee met on Monday, February 3, while the entire body congregated the following night.

The pair of recent meetings between councilors came in the wake of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ (EOHLC) approval of a proposal from Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky to bring the city into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. The state zoning law, which mandates that municipalities with MBTA service must provide at least one multi-family housing district within its zoning by right, has been mulled by local leaders and residents for months.

Sisitsky’s plan contended that the Central Business (CB) district in downtown Framingham, an area approved by town meeting participants back in 2015, is able to sufficiently meet the legislation’s requirements. The EOHLC granted compliance on January 22 with a number of conditions; an economic feasibility analysis has to be submitted within the next few months, while state officials can monitor Framingham’s compliance moving forward and future permitting should not result in reduced capacities for multi-family units within the CB district.

During Monday’s Planning and Zoning Subcommittee meeting, District 6 City Councilor Phil Ottaviani called the conditional compliance a good starting point to further address local housing and zoning needs. The subcommittee approved the motion to recommend moving forward with the conditional compliance through the CB parcel, though members of the group did propose reducing the amount of land that the CB District covers, as shown below.

During the full City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 4, though, Planning and Zoning Subcommittee Chair Christine Long of District 1 pointed out that the mapping of the downtown CB district cannot be changed if the city is to accept the conditional compliance from the EOHLC; she said that changing the district’s boundaries would prompt the process to be restarted

Planning and Zoning Subcommittee members Tracey Bryant of District 9 and District 2’s Brandon Ward explained on Tuesday that their understanding of the prior night’s meeting was that local officials would utilize the next few months—while Framingham does have the conditional compliance—to look into both how shrinking the CB district would reduce Framingham’s capacity to zone for new units along with how other local parcels can be identified.

Framingham has to provide zoning for 4,355 multi-family units to be compliant with the MBTA Communities Act. Provisions for the CB district passed in 2015 permit up to 6,286 units in the area, but the state’s conditional approval accounts for less than 5,400 units in the downtown CB district. With that in mind, Ward expressed curiosity about how the CB district’s area can be reduced while keeping Framingham in line with the zoning legislation.

“I get that if we make any changes to the CB district, we fall out of compliance,” Ward continued.

“So let’s not do that until we have a plan that would be compliant.”

Ward suggested looping in local and state administrators to see how many units could be built in a smaller CB district in downtown Framingham while still meeting the number required to stay compliant. Bryant reiterated that she does not want to see all of the increased zoning within Framingham to be placed within the downtown area.

Long pointed out that the MBTA Communities Act is not for optional zoning, adding her belief that the proper action would be to accept the provisions of the conditional compliance—with the understanding that the conditional status will eventually become full-time compliance—before further addressing housing developments on Framingham’s terms.

“We want more housing, but we want to have the option to have our ability, under a special permit, to be able to craft the housing we want,” Long said.

“With this housing, under MBTA zoning, you lose all of that; you lose all of your ability to put special permits, to put conditions. So you’re going to get whatever the developer wants to come in, as long as the dimensional rates, the height rates, and everything else complies. That’s what you’re going to get, and I don’t want that.”

Long mentioned that she was also feeling cautious about restarting what she described as a “contentious” zoning process related to the MBTA law.

Ottaviani proposed having each section of Framingham addressed for residential zoning on an individual basis with additional community input utilized.

“Us being in compliance is wonderful,” Ottaviani said, “and then separately on another track: we look at what we can do in the CB district and then let the Planning and Zoning Subcommittee do what they need to do, one piece or one section of town at a time...No one’s going to be pleased 99% of the time, but if we can get 60% to 70% of everybody pleased in their areas, and it’s good for the city, I think that’s what we need to look at.”

The City Council eventually approved a motion made by Long to move forward with conditional compliance, as potential revisions to the CB district’s size will be referred to the Planning and Zoning Subcommittee.

Other areas and properties that had previously been considered for the plan to bring Framingham compliant with the MBTA Communities Act—like Shoppers World and Nobscot—are primed to have their individual processes start anew, as Ottaviani said that those spots would go “back to the drawing board” for residential consideration.