Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Tod topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning Board backs expansion of two transit-oriented overlay districts to spur reinvestment at North Quincy, Crown Colony
Summary
The board recommended that City Council expand the North Quincy and a Crown Colony Transit-Oriented District overlay to give developers zoning tools for mixed-use redevelopment of older office parks and station-area parcels; the recommendation passed unanimously.
Deputy Planning Director Rob Stevens briefed the Planning Board on a city-council order to amend Quincy’s zoning (Title 17) by expanding two existing transit-oriented overlay districts: North Quincy and a proposed Crown Colony TOD area adjacent to Quincy Adams station and the Crown Colony office park.
Stevens said the expansion would bring older office properties and surface-parking parcels into the TOD overlay so they can be considered for mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment with design guidance and site-plan review mechanisms the city uses in other station districts. He noted the change is intended to provide flexibility for redevelopment of properties built during earlier office-park eras, many of which are now multi-decade old.
The Planning Department provided historical context showing how the arrival and later extension of the MBTA Red Line shaped redevelopment patterns. Stevens said the department would prefer a small technical clarification to how the amended map labels the Center Street/Crown Colony boundary (a naming suggestion to combine or clarify the districts for administrative clarity), but otherwise recommended the board endorse the council order.
The board opened the public hearing; Councilor James Devine expressed support and several other attendees—mostly stakeholders and council staff—spoke in favor of allowing reinvestment in aging office parks. No opposition statements were made on the record. The board voted unanimously to recommend adoption by City Council and asked staff to forward a minor map-label clarification to council.
