Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Rewrite topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission discusses zoning changes to comply with new state middle‑housing law (PA 25‑1) and parking limits
Summary
Town staff briefed the commission on changes needed to comply with PA 25‑1, including creating a middle‑housing definition (2–9 units), adding standards for mixed‑use (10+ units), and revising parking rules and optional conservation/traffic mitigation districts; no regulatory votes were taken.
Town planning staff used the March 3 meeting to outline proposed regulatory changes to implement recent state legislation (cited in the hearing as "PA 25‑1"), explaining the key elements the commission will need to adopt before the statutory deadline.
Staff said the statute defines "middle housing" as 2‑to‑9‑unit buildings and requires adjustments to local use tables and design standards to permit such housing in commercial zones; mixed‑use developments (10+ units) will need similar provisions. The new law restricts minimum parking requirements for developments of fewer than 16 units and caps mandatory parking at one space for studios/one‑bedrooms and two spaces for two‑bedrooms and larger. Staff proposed drafting middle‑housing definitions and site‑design standards (lighting, landscaping and parking) for the Town Center and Town Gateway zones and considering a conservation and traffic mitigation district for narrow‑street neighborhoods where on‑street parking is infeasible.
Commissioners debated whether the statute’s use of the term "commercial" could be read to include industrial zones; staff and legal consultants said the safer approach for Winchester is to explicitly add middle‑housing allowances to the Town Center, Town Gateway and Highland Lake Business zones and to leave P&I (industrial) zones unchanged unless further legislative clarification arrives. No formal vote was taken; staff will prepare draft regulatory language and maps for future hearings.
