Planning Board recommends halving parking minimums

In this report: Key decisions · Full report · Sources

What happened

The Planning Board voted 4-0 to recommend the City Council reduce minimum residential parking requirements from two spaces to one per unit, citing Census data showing about 58 percent of area households own one vehicle or fewer. The board separately approved a 74-unit apartment building on Chandler and Irving streets and a five-unit project on Dalton Street, and gave preliminary, non-binding feedback on a manufacturing campus redevelopment. Chairman LaValley urged the City Council to address the parking overhaul faster than typical municipal timelines.

Key decisions

• 📜 Recommend parking minimum reduction to one space per unit. The board voted 4-0 to favorably recommend the zoning amendment to the City Council, reducing base residential parking requirements from two spaces to one per unit for single-family, two-family, three-family and multifamily buildings citywide. The recommendation is non-binding; the City Council must still act. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• 🏢 Definitive site plan, 74-unit multifamily building. The board voted 4-0 to approve the definitive site plan for the five-story, 74-unit apartment building, subject to conditions including modified glazing in the trash-room door and direct bike-room access from the courtyard as proposed by the applicant. Construction may proceed once remaining conditions are satisfied. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Preliminary site plan, manufacturing campus redevelopment. The board voted 4-0 to approve the preliminary site plan with modified introductory language and item O struck. The approval establishes a zoning framework for future end users developing three speculative advanced-manufacturing buildings; it does not authorize construction, and a definitive filing would need to address extensive staff recommendations. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• 🏢 Definitive site plan, five-unit residential rebuild. The board voted 4-0 to approve the site plan for the five-unit residential project with conditions B, C, G and I removed, as the applicant had previously declined these conditions at the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing and they duplicated ZBA requirements or contained errors. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• 🏠 Definitive site plan, single-family home with lot-line adjustment. The board voted 4-0 to endorse the ANR lot-line plan and 4-0 to approve the definitive site plan for a new single-family home on 35 Second Street with lot-line adjustment to provide First Street frontage, subject to staff conditions including street trees, infiltration-system test results, and a pedestrian walkway. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• ● Definitive frontage subdivision for two-family home. The board voted 4-0 to close the public hearing and 4-0 to approve the subdivision of a 140-foot-frontage lot into a 59.2-foot-frontage lot for a new two-family home and an 80.2-foot-frontage lot preserving the existing multifamily building, subject to an added street-tree condition. (Vote 4-0). Read case details
• 📋 Two-year extension of time for hotel project. The board voted 4-0 to approve a two-year extension of time under Article 5, Section 3.F of the zoning ordinance for a definitive site plan approved on January 10, 2025. The applicant has applied for a building permit and is actively proceeding toward construction. (Vote 4-0). Read case details

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