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Planning Board hears opposition but forwards zoning clarification for Route 1 to Town Meeting
Summary
After a lengthy public hearing on amendments to the Boston‑Providence Highway District use table, the Planning Board voted to send a favorable recommendation to Town Meeting on a clarification limiting multifamily housing to designated mixed‑use overlay districts.
The Norwood Planning Board on April 14 held a public hearing and voted to forward a zoning amendment to Town Meeting that clarifies multifamily housing is allowed only within the two mixed‑use overlay districts (MUODs) in the Boston‑Providence Highway (Route 1) District.
Attorney David Hearn Jr., representing multiple Route 1 property owners including Cross Point Associates, urged the board not to approve the change. Hearn said the existing zoning allows multifamily and mixed‑use development with a special permit and described the proposed amendment as "a very substantive and major change of the bylaw" rather than a simple correction. Several property owners and developers, including Cross Point representatives and site owners of the former Sky Restaurant parcel, said they oppose narrowing multifamily opportunities across Route 1.
Board members and some members of the public recounted the board’s multi‑year process that created MUODs and said their intent was to confine most multifamily development to those overlay districts rather than allow it up and down Route 1. Planning board members said they believed town meeting’s intent was to permit limited multifamily only in the MUODs created during the 2021 rezoning effort.
After hearing public comment, the board voted to send a favorable recommendation to Town Meeting. The recommendation will be presented at the town warrant; board members discussed submitting amended motion language to the select board prior to the warrant finalization so the floor motion aligns with the board’s intent. Town Meeting will make the final decision.
The hearing drew property owners, developers and town staff; major issues raised included whether the amendment is a clarification or a substantive rollback of rights, potential economic impacts along Route 1, and whether the town should preserve Route 1 as an economic corridor.
