Wilmington Makes Changes To MBTA Zoning Proposal Ahead Of Town Meeting

WILMINGTON, MA — The town is announcing revisions to the proposed zoning that will be on the docket for the May 4 Annual Town Meeting. The MBTA Communities law requires municipalities to have at least 50 acres of multi-family housing within a half a mile of a commuter rail station.

The town released the following statement regarding the MBTA zoning changes:

The Town of Wilmington is making last minute changes to the proposed zoning that will be proposed at the May 4, 2024 Annual Town Meeting to meet the requirements for MBTA Communities, Section 3A of the Zoning Act.

Section 3A requires MBTA Communities to have an as-of-right multi-family housing district in proximity to transit. The Town of Wilmington is required to create an as-of-right multi-family housing zoning district of at least fifty (50) acres that would allow for the possibility of at least 1,248 housing units in the future. Half of the district must be within a half mile of a commuter rail station.

The recent changes to the proposed zoning necessitated from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ (EOHLC) denial of the Town’s proposal to require commercial ground floor uses on Main Street within the proposed MBTA Communities Multi-family Overlay District (MOD).

The revised proposal includes the same four sub-district areas, but changes the Main Street Mixed Use Sub-district to provide a height increase incentive for ground floor commercial uses, to maintain the commercial, active nature of Main Street. With the revised zoning proposal, a height of two (2) stories is allowed within the Main Street Mixed Use Sub-district with residential only development. A height increase to three (3) stories is allowed in the Main Street Mixed Use Sub-district with development that includes ground floor commercial uses, encouraging development of mixed-use buildings with active commercial ground floors with residential units above.
The full text of the proposed MOD and maps showing the proposed sub-districts (Main Street Mixed Use Sub-district, Deming Way Sub-district, Burlington Avenue Sub-district, and West Street Sub-district) can be found on the Department of Planning & Conservation’s webpage https://www.wilmingtonma.gov/planning-conservation/pages/section-3a-mbta-communities-zoning or by calling the office at 978-658-8238.

The proposed zoning will be presented at the Planning Board’s joint public hearing with the Finance Committee held on March 19, 2024 at 7:00PM in the Town Hall Auditorium.