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Needham working group proposes 250-sq.-ft. attic allowance, tweaks FAR formulas to limit unintended bulk
Summary
A Town of Needham zoning working group proposed counting attic area above 5 feet while excluding a 250-square-foot attic "bonus" from floor-area-ratio calculations and lowering base FAR formulas. The change aims to allow pitched roofs without creating larger low-pitched two-story houses; the package will go to the full committee Monday for consideration.
A Town of Needham working group on residential zoning spent its meeting debating how to count attic or third-floor area in floor-area-ratio (FAR) calculations, and advanced a draft that would both tighten base FAR formulas and exclude a 250-square-foot attic allowance from the FAR calculation.
The proposal, presented by Speaker 8, would count any attic floor area with an interior ceiling height of 5 feet or greater, measured to a maximum of 50% of the second-floor area, but would then exclude 250 square feet of attic area from the FAR total as a built-in allowance. "250 square feet of the attic space ... shall be excluded from the floor area ratio calculation," Speaker 8 said while showing example spreadsheets and diagrams to the group.
Why it matters: supporters said the combined approach—reducing the base FAR formula and applying a modest attic deduction—would preserve a two-story option while giving…
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