Framingham planning subcommittee recommends approval of CB district submission with conditions

The Planning & Zoning Subcommittee of the Framingham City Council voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council approve the Central Business (CB) District submission that the mayor sent to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), provided the city meets conditions and submits required follow-up materials within the state’s timeline.

The vote came after a lengthy review of an EOHLC conditional-compliance letter that identified discrepancies in the city’s submitted compliance model, asked for an economic feasibility analysis, and warned that the state office could rescind conditional compliance if subsequent information reduced the district’s estimated multifamily unit capacity.

EOHLC’s review flagged multiple technical issues. The letter said the city’s footnote on unit capacity requires a special permit for multifamily development under 30,000 square feet; accounting for that cap reduces a previously submitted unit estimate from 6,286 units to 4,275 units. EOHLC also noted that Framingham’s dimensional rules permitting greater height and lot coverage on parcels of at least 20,000 square feet…