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Planning staff reports 2,100+ net new units since 2019 zoning update; Central Broadway zoning study proposes MR‑6 and intermunicipal coordination
Summary
Planning presented permit and unit data since Somerville's 2019 zoning reform and a Central Broadway corridor zoning study recommending targeted upzoning, coordinated permitting with Medford and updated pedestrian‑street guidance; staff offered to provide more granular unit counts by district on request.
Somerville planning staff provided an update on transit‑oriented development (TOD) and post‑2019 permit activity at the May 1 Land Use Committee meeting and presented a separate Central Broadway corridor zoning study that recommends coordinated upzoning and regulatory fixes for parcels split between Somerville and Medford.
Samantha Carr, legislative analyst, summarized permit data since the 2019 comprehensive zoning update: the city recorded a peak volume of permits in 2021 and staff counted "the total coming to slightly over 2,100 units since December 2019." Most permitting activity by count has taken place in the Neighborhood Residential (NR) district (about 83% of permits), with smaller percentages in Urban Residential (UR) and Mid‑Rise districts. Carr cautioned the committee that the permits dataset includes many categories (repairs, renovations and new building permits) and that the raw permit count does not map one‑to‑one to net new units without additional processing; staff offered to provide a district‑level breakdown of net new units for the committee at a future meeting.
Separately, city staff and consultants presented the Central Broadway Corridor Zoning Study. The study examined 30–36 parcels along Broadway (the north side) and recommended harmonizing Somerville and Medford zoning where parcels straddle the municipal boundary, adjusting pedestrian‑street frontage requirements to reduce the likelihood of vacant ground‑floor storefronts, and testing targeted increases in permitted height and density. The study's preferred Somerville recommendation is to upzone key parcels to Mid‑Rise 6 with reduced pedestrian‑streets frontage; it also recommends joint pre‑submittal and neighborhood meetings and a memorandum of understanding with Medford to coordinate permitting. The study includes massing diagrams and visualizations at 4 and 6 stories to help illustrate outcomes for different choices.
Why it matters: the presentation provides the committee with baseline permit and unit data after the 2019 zoning reform and a corridor study that offers a template for harmonized, transit‑oriented upzoning that the committee can use in future agenda items and map amendments.
What staff will do next: Carr offered to produce a district‑level unit‑by‑unit breakdown and the study team said it will continue outreach; staff also offered to convene additional public meetings to present study results to residents.
