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Westborough moves to simplify downtown zoning, allow multifamily by right
Summary
Planning Director Jenny Gingras presented a sweeping downtown zoning rewrite to appear on the October town meeting warrant that would consolidate downtown districts, allow multifamily and other uses by right, revise dimensional controls (up to four stories/60 feet), and tighten design review boundaries; the board discussed parking, buffers, and nonconforming uses ahead of the Planning Board review.
Planning Director Jenny Gingras told the Select Board on Sept. 9 that proposed changes to the town—s zoning bylaw aim to "promote a vibrant mixed-use downtown" by consolidating overlapping districts and simplifying the rules developers and property owners use."We decided it was a good opportunity to simplify things and how the zoning was written," Gingras said, describing a shift from layered overlays to a single Downtown Business District.
The proposal would convert several parcels now zoned industrial or residential into the Downtown Business District, change multifamily and mixed-use from a special-permit process to a by-right use, and set dimensional standards of up to four stories or 60 feet with a 10,000-square-foot minimum lot and a maximum 10-foot front setback. Gingras said those standards are intended to encourage pedestrian-oriented buildings near the street and reduce surface parking in front of storefronts.
The changes would also: revise the use table and definitions to reflect modern categories such as "artisanal production" and "outdoor cafe seating," add bike-parking standards for residential and commercial projects, and replace a confusing 2,500-foot circular design-review boundary with a rule that applies across the downtown business and gateway districts.
Board members focused questions on several issues Gingras said were addressed by prior outreach: parking requirements, the four-story height limit, impacts on transitional single-family neighborhoods, nonconforming uses, and conservation-area permissions. Select Member Mark (surname not provided in the record) asked whether the four-story maximum might lead to all-residential projects without ground-floor retail; Gingras said the town—s downtown plan and outreach informed the height choice and that existing protections—including a 50-foot buffer where downtown abuts residential zones—are intended to limit impacts.
On nonconforming uses, staff and the community development director explained that existing uses would remain permitted as preexisting nonconforming uses and that the bylaw includes a specific carve-out allowing the Planning Board to grant dimensional relief under the standard Section 6 finding if a lot is nonconforming.
Gingras said the Planning Board has already recommended the amendments and that she planned to present the language to the Affordable Housing Trust and the Design Review Board before town meeting. The Select Board did not vote to adopt the bylaw at the meeting; Gingras asked the board to refer the article to the Planning Board and to support the article's placement on the October warrant for public hearing and vote.
Next steps: the zoning article will be considered through the Planning Board public hearing process and then returned to town meeting voters. The Select Board flagged potential follow-up on parking strategies and historic-design considerations during the upcoming review period.
