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Malden planning board backs locally tailored ADU rules, sends amended zoning to council
Summary
After a multi-hour joint hearing, the Malden Planning Board recommended that the City Council adopt draft zoning for accessory dwelling units with 12 specific revisions. The board’s advisory vote moves the ordinance to the council for final action before the state law’s Feb. 2 effective date.
The Malden Planning Board on Jan. 27 recommended the City Council adopt a local ordinance implementing accessory dwelling units — ADUs — with 12 amendments aimed at preserving neighborhood livability while complying with state law.
The advisory vote follows a joint hearing with the City Council Rules and Ordinance Committee and more than two hours of presentations, questions and public comment. Councilor Edward Linehan, sponsor of City Council Paper 13/20/25, told the joint session the change follows the state’s Affordable Homes Act and related guidance and warned that “if we don’t take any action, the state zoning does essentially override our local zoning.”
The planning board recommendation preserves the basic framework of the mayor’s proposal while adding clarifications and procedural changes the board said are needed to align with recent state guidance from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC). The board’s package asks the council to: delete dimensional figures from the Zoning Table and reference the “most permissive” dimensional standard called for in the new state…
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