Brockton City Planning Board recommends loosening fairgrounds parking rule, approves several site plans and releases a surety

Brockton City Planning Board members voted on a zoning amendment and a string of site-plan actions at a meeting where developers and neighbors spoke on several projects.

The board voted to recommend favorably to the City Council an amendment to the fairground zoning overlay that, according to the presenter, removes a requirement that would force a high share of parking to be provided below grade. Planning-board members also approved multiple site-plan modifications, authorized release of surety for two lots in a subdivision, and granted approvals for an accessory dwelling unit and a hotel expansion. Public comment on one site plan centered on stormwater, parking and green-space calculations.

Why it matters: Planning-board approval and a favorable recommendation to the City Council affect whether developers must include costly underground or structured parking in new projects near the fairgrounds. The change could influence project economics and the pace of housing and commercial development downtown. The other votes clear the way for several private developments to move to building-permit reviews and for the city to release a security instrument in one subdivision.

Fairgrounds overlay amendment Jim Burke presented the request to change language in the fairground overlay zoning amendment. Burke said the version approved earlier included a provision that effectively required developers to locate a large share of required parking below grade — he described the prior formulation as capping surface parking in a way that would have forced developers into garages or structured parking and made projects uneconomic. “They will not, develop because of the increased expense,” Burke said, summarizing feedback from several potential developers. Burke told the board that the ordinance committee voted to remove that language and instead to…