Tewksbury Receives Technical Assistance For MBTA Zoning Compliance

TEWKSBURY, MA — The Town of Tewksbury on Monday received technical assistance from the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMOC) to help with the town's MBTA zoning compliance modeling, according to NMOC.

The assistance, for an undisclosed amount, is part of $800,000 in grants to local municipalities from NMOC, the regional planning agency (RPA) for Tewksbury and eight surrounding communities.

According to NMOC, all of the projects supported by this round of funding prioritize one of the following areas: regional collaboration, economic recovery, housing creation and choice, transportation planning, and sustainability.

Tewksbury's MBTA zoning compliance modeling project will help the town get into compliance with the state's MBTA Com­munities legislation.

According to the Tewksbury Town Crier, the legislation is designed to encourage the production of multi-family housing.

The legislation requires MBTA communities to provide, through zoning, a least one reasonably sized district with a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre that is located less than half a mile from a commuter rail station, subway station, ferry terminal or bus station.

MBTA communities are categorized by level of service, including those directly served by rapid transit or commuter rail lines, and adjacent communities and small towns. Tewksbury is considered an adjacent community because of commuter rail lines in Billerica, Wilmington, Andover and Lowell, according to the Tewksbury Town Crier.

Last December, the Tewksbury Town Crier reported that NMOC is providing technical assistance to help Tewksbury get into compliance with the MBTA Communities project, including documenting existing zoning, investigating potential development scenarios and evaluating sites, recommending and drafting zoning amendments, and assisting with community engagement and participatory processes.

The recent round of technical assistance provided by NMOC also includes MBTA Communities zoning compliance projects in Billerica, Chelmsford, Tyngsborough and Westford, in addition to other projects.

"We are looking forward to continuing to assist many of our municipalities as they work toward compliance with the multi-family zoning requirements required for MBTA Communities," said Jenny Rait, executive director of NMOC. "We will also be providing assistance to municipalities on projects that find ways to reuse vacant municipal property, create more climate-friendly transportation alternatives, and make streets and roads safer and more usable for all modes."