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Council reviews draft neighborhood-residential map and dimensional standards; debate over boundaries and impacts
Summary
Ennis Associates and city planners presented a revised draft that consolidates neighborhood residential subdistricts (NR1–NR3) and an urban residential category; councillors and residents raised concerns about potential downzoning in some areas and asked for parcel-level tables and clearer visuals of current vs. proposed conditions.
The Medford City Council Planning and Permanent Committee took a second look at a draft neighborhood residential zoning proposal on Jan. 29, reviewing a revised map and dimensional standards that would create three neighborhood residential categories (NR1, NR2, NR3) plus an urban residential category to guide future development and conversions.
Paola (presenter, Innis Associates) described the draft as an effort to align zoning with the 2023 comprehensive plan and the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (April 2022). The consultants overlaid current building typologies (single-family, two-family, conversions, three-family, small multiunit and 9+ units) on the proposed subdistrict boundaries to avoid “unintentionally downgrading the existing density in some areas,” she said.
The proposal’s core elements: NR1 would permit single-unit dwellings plus accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and historic conversions to two units; NR2 would permit single-unit dwellings plus ADUs and two-unit dwellings and some…
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