Lowell launches zoning audit; residents and councilors warn lot-size changes could alter neighborhood character

City planning staff and consultants presented the first public briefing on a zoning audit and potential rewrite to a joint zoning and neighborhood subcommittee meeting, saying the work will align zoning with the Lowell Forward master plan and seek to clarify rules for residents and developers.

"Today, we'll be talking about a very important topic, which is our zoning audit and potential rewrite," said Camilo Spiti, deputy director of the Department of Planning and Development, introducing the consultants and the process. He told the subcommittee the engagement will be phased and that the city secured state funding through the EOHLC office via a housing choice grant to support the work.

The consulting team from Community Scale, led by Nels Nelson, described their method of analysis and early observations. Nelson said the audit is an informational analysis, not a set of recommendations: "These aren't recommendations," he said; "this is just part of our analysis." The consultant flagged several recurring…