New Housing & A Robust Small Business Community
Andover approached MBTA Communities compliance with the mindset of 'how can encourage the production of new housing options in town while also enhancing our already robust downtown.' They seized this opportunity to concentrate the majority of their new zoned capacity around the downtown Commuter Rail station, conveniently located next to the town's commercial center. Limiting some zoning 'poison pills' shows the seriousness of this plan to actually see new housing. In a community where, like many in Eastern Massachusetts, much of the housing consists of single-family homes, this initiative offers a chance to introduce diverse housing types at various price points. This approach not only welcomes new residents but also accommodates the life changes of current residents, such as aging, illness, or divorce. State Senator Barry Feingold, an Andover resident, stated at town meeting; “I did vote for this because it is the right thing to do. It has become impossible to afford to come to this community.”
After a relatively short public debate, the new resolution passed at Town Meeting this spring by a vote of 434 to 196. The approved zoning eliminates minimum lot requirements, increases heights while allowing for a variety of housing types, by right, at a density between 15 and 35 units per acre depending upon the district.
While a significant portion of the new capacity is concentrated near Downtown, the advisory team aimed to use this opportunity to establish a new live, work, and play neighborhood in the River Road District, an area currently predominantly industrial. Members of the advisory group express hope that this new zoning will result in the creation of a mixed-use district, allowing people to live near their workplaces and enhancing the quality of life for both residents and workers in the commercial/industrial neighborhood. Much of this land is underutilized and overparked, presenting ample opportunities for new infill production based on the updated code.
Bulk Of New Capacity Near Downtown
Andover has one of the more robust small-town downtowns in the region bookended by a prestigious boarding school on one end and Merrimack College on the other. A major goal of this plan was to build more housing in close proximity to the Downtown and adjacent commuter rail station while gradually transiitoning from a modest density downtown to the surrounding single family neighborhoods.
This area has been targeted for redevelopment by the Town for many years and updates to the zoning in the area are aimed at not just complying with the requirements of the law but making it easier to produce modest density housing in this transition zone.
Avoiding 'Poison Pills'
Having evaluated numerous proposed zoning amendments from communities throughout the Commonwealth, Andover's reforms stand out in several ways. While some communities selected existing districts where the current built environment would not realistically support redevelopment—resulting in what could be described as 'paper compliance'—Andover took a different approach. They chose districts and defined dimensional requirements that facilitate housing production while addressing the community's needs and preferences. In most of these districts, they reduced the town's parking requirements to a 1:1 ratio near transit and demonstrated greater flexibility by permitting 'shared parking facilities,' which allow up to 50% of the required parking to be shared among different uses.
Besides reducing parking requirements, Andover also limits or completely removes typically overly restrictive dimensional requirements such as frontage, minimum lot sizes, and open space requirements, all of which can make it nearly impossible to finance development on small infill lots.
Transformative Project in The Pipeline
Andover recently greenlit a 165-unit mixed-use development in their Downtown Commuter Rail Station district, located on a sizable municipal works yard adjacent to a Commuter Rail station and a highly walkable, mixed-use, downtown. This project will include a spacious new public plaza and is part of one of its MBTA Communities zoning districts. Despite years of planning, the project received its final approval this August.
For more details on the process Andover went through to come into compliance, a detailed overview can be found here.
Check out how previous Gold Star honoree Watertown paired MBTA Communities rezoning with a holistic redesign of Watertown Square. This series will continue over the coming months. If you'd like to nominate a community to be included please shoot me a note at Jonathan@remainplaces.com.
Jonathan Berk is an urbanist and advocate who’s focused his career on building and advocating for walkable communities with vibrant public spaces, abundant housing choices and robust local small business communities. As the Founder of re:MAIN, he's building a platform to accelerate the production of abundant housing options in walkable, transit-oriented neighborhoods, through innovative, action-oriented, matchmaking programs. Jonathan@remainplaces.com
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