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Westborough planning director outlines downtown zoning rewrite ahead of town meeting
Summary
Jenny Jingers, the town planning director, presented proposed downtown zoning changes to simplify rules, expand by‑right retail, restaurants and multifamily, consolidate dimensional tables, and set limits (max 4 stories, 60 ft; min lot 10,000 sq ft) to be decided at October town meeting.
Jenny Jingers, Westborough’s director of planning, asked the Economic Development Committee to support a package of zoning amendments that would restructure downtown zoning ahead of the October town meeting.
Jingers said the proposal would eliminate the existing Downtown Planning Overlay District and replace it with a single expanded downtown business base district that consolidates dimensional requirements and updated use definitions. She said the change aims to allow more downtown retail, restaurants, mixed‑use and multifamily development by right, while preserving site plan review and design review board oversight for exterior design and signage. Jingers said special permits would still be required for new auto‑related uses and that preexisting nonconforming uses (so‑called grandfathered uses) could remain.
She outlined specific dimensional standards proposed for the district: a maximum of four stories, a maximum height of 60 feet, a minimum lot size of 10,000 square feet, required frontage of 100 feet and a maximum front setback of 10 feet to encourage a more walkable street edge. Jingers said the changes implement recommendations from the town’s 2024 downtown plan and are intended to simplify interpretation by staff and predictability for developers.
Jingers also discussed outreach and next steps: the planning office has been meeting with property owners and businesses, completed a parking utilization study and collected resident input. She said the zoning article will go to town meeting in October and that staff will continue outreach (design review board oversight and site plan review would remain part of the local process).
During committee discussion Jingers clarified that the changes do not remove design review; they move the district boundaries to include parcels already used commercially but zoned residential and do not change permit requirements for new auto uses.
Jingers closed by asking the committee for support for the town meeting article and offering to provide the consolidated tables and definitions online.
