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Needham planning board seeks public input on updating decades-old parking minimums
Summary
The Needham Planning Board hosted a community session where Stantec consultants reviewed why the town's zoning parking minimums are being re-evaluated and outlined options including lower ratios, in-lieu fees, bike parking standards, TDM measures and EV-ready design; no bylaw changes were adopted. (Stantec contract ends June 30; planning board may consider bylaw drafts for a future town meeting.)
The Needham Planning Board on Tuesday gathered residents and consultants for a community session to collect input on modernizing the town's zoning parking minimums, which planning board Vice Chair Justin McCullen said in many cases have not been reviewed in nearly four decades. McCullen said the effort focuses on off-street private parking requirements in the Needham Zoning Bylaw and does not change municipal lots or on-street parking.
Consultant Michael Clark of Stantec told attendees that parking minimums in zoning require a developer to provide a set number of spaces per thousand square feet and that many communities are rethinking those standards. Clark said Stantec's work will look at alternatives such as shared parking, Transportation Demand Management incentives, and design standards that include electric-vehicle readiness and bike parking.
"In a review of five years of waivers in Needham Center, about…
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