Planning board reviews ADU, multifamily and workforce housing options, plans public outreach

Steve Whitman, a contractor with Resilience Planning and Design, told the Brentwood Town Planning Board that the town’s $60,000 Housing Opportunity Planning grant will fund a year of work to explore possible regulatory changes on accessory dwelling units, multifamily zoning and workforce housing.

The presentation, led by Crystal Kidd, a planner with Resilience Planning and Design, summarized options the consultant team reviewed and said the immediate goal is to get direction from the board before public engagement. “We don’t need to craft an actual regulation yet. We want to start to get some direction, some understanding, and before we go out and engage with the public,” Kidd said.

Why it matters: Brentwood must reconcile its zoning with recent state housing guidance and its own Master Plan housing chapter, board members and staff said. The consultants recommended exploring detached ADUs, changes to size and parking requirements, zoning updates to enable “missing middle” multifamily near Route 125, and workforce-housing mechanisms the state toolkit describes.

On accessory dwelling units, Whitman said Brentwood currently allows only attached ADUs and the consultants suggested allowing detached units and streamlining approval for conversions and by-right ADUs. He noted options discussed with staff included removing a separate occupancy-permit reference from zoning because building regulations already address that requirement. “You could streamline the approval process and allow ADUs by right,” Whitman said.

Board members pressed practical issues. Member Doug Marino asked about financing for ADUs; Kidd said outreach often links municipalities with local lenders and that some towns have worked with credit unions to develop contractor financing programs. Marino also raised whether developers could build detached ADUs contemporaneously with single-family homes in new subdivisions; planners said ordinances can be written to allow that and that simultaneous construction can produce cost savings.

On size and parking, planners noted common limits such as “one-third of primary dwelling” with a floor-area cap and described alternatives some towns use (example: 30% of primary dwelling with a maximum around 1,200 square feet). The team recommended considering a decision tree for parking and driveway rules to preserve neighborhood character while allowing ADUs in garages, carriage houses or converted basements.

Multifamily and mixed-use: Kidd and Whitman said Brentwood’s current multifamily provisions do not produce “missing middle” housing and recommended drafting a fresh multifamily ordinance, tied to specific districts such as the Route 125 corridor and selected nodes on Route 27 and Pine Road. “We could create something that's much more user friendly and really clarifies what you can do in the 125 corridor,” Whitman said. Board members flagged wetlands, septic capacity and DES requirements as limiting factors in some locations.

Workforce housing: The consultants told the board that under the state toolkit a for‑sale workforce unit in Brentwood would need to be priced at or below about $392,000 to meet the state benchmark shown in the presentation. The team described density-bonus examples in other towns — Wakefield’s model was shown as an example where a developer could get up to a 25% density bonus if a portion of units meet workforce standards — and warned such bonuses typically produce a modest percentage of workforce units (consultants cited 6–10% as common in practice). Kidd cautioned there is no guarantee a developer will build workforce units just because the zoning allows them.

Public outreach and next steps: The board and consultants agreed to hold an informational public meeting before the end of school year; planners suggested an open-house format (4–7 p.m.) with both in-person posters and an online component. Kidd said the consultants will prepare concise materials for the town newsletter and a poster-based open-house format. Mark Kennedy, the town’s land-use administrator, and Glenn Greenwood, town planner, will help coordinate dates and locations.

Board response: Letty Bedard, Select Board representative, and other members asked for careful attention to stormwater, impact fees, and septic capacity. Greenwood and Kennedy were asked to provide relevant maps and constraints for the next meeting so the consultants can prepare an outline of a revised multifamily zoning approach.

Ending: The board did not take regulatory votes; members directed staff and the consultant team to prepare outreach materials, a draft ordinance outline for multifamily zones and ADU options, and to return with a proposed public meeting date in May or June.