Planning discusses density bonus

The Norwood Planning Board met on Monday for a session that ran slightly longer than an hour and focused exclusively on discussions regarding zoning amendments for Fall Town Meeting.

Of the five being reviewed and prepared, three were listed as agenda items: density bonuses for developers, clarified parking definitions, and a zoning bylaw regarding data centers.

More than half of the meeting was spent on the density bonus – specifically the affordable housing density bonus available for new developments in the MBTA Communities Multi-family Overlay District. It grants an extra story of building height in exchange for the designation of an additional 5 percent of its units for households making no more than 50 percent of the area median income (AMI). The state requires 20 percent of a qualifying project’s units to be offered at 80 percent of AMI, so the bonus would bring its below-market-rate total up to 25 percent.

In its working sessions, the subcommittee had been deliberating whether to keep the bonus as it is now, increase the developer’s give from 5 percent to 7 percent, or eliminate it altogether.

Vice Chair Ernie Paciorkowski spoke in favor of keeping it as is and used two diagrams of hypothetical developments – copies of which he gave to his colleagues – as visual aids. One was of a four-story building with 100 units designating 20 affordable units, and the other was of a similar building with an extra story and 125 units – 31 of which (25 percent) were affordable.

Referring to those diagrams, he concentrated on specific elements of the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing requirements for municipalities. He noted that, at the 20 percent baseline, only those 20 affordable units could be credited to the Town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory (SHI). However, at the 25 percent threshold, all of that hypothetical building’s 125 rental units – affordable and market rate – would be credited to the Town’s SHI.

“By adding the 125 units, that would put us well over the 10 percent required,” he said, citing the SHI minimum. “So we’d be covered on 40B on two fronts: land and housing.” Meeting 40B land and housing minimums allows for greater zoning control over incoming development, as the Town previously learned when it was found to be out of compliance about 10 years ago.

As the discussion unfolded, the Board eventually reached consensus on keeping the existing bonus, rather than upping the requirement to 7 percent. The point was also raised that no project application had yet exercised the 5 percent affordable housing option, leading to some expressed uncertainty as to whether it would be utilized at all. That noted, the stormwater management and heat island impact, as well as the structured parking bonuses are being recommended for removal, which would leave the affordable housing density bonus as the only option remaining.

While the 40B benefits were recognized, the additional story – and its potential impact regarding parking, density, and daily life – was also touched on by Robert Bamber, while Debbie Holmwood expressed her own concern. “The extra floor is kind of what’s sticking in everybody’s craw, and I understand that,” she said at one point, while alluding to the citizens petition and Town Meeting. “So I think we should acknowledge that.”

Regarding parking definitions – the other subcommittee amendment – Dixon explained a minor change to an existing use table footnote regarding enclosed single-family mechanical parking. However, there was more discussion about whether to include parking space diagrams as part of the draft bylaw article. Dixon advised against it to remove the possibility of any sort of conflict as to the legal enforceability of the definition itself. The compromise was reached that, for any bylaw diagrams, a disclaimer would be included giving precedence to the bylaw definitions.

Data centers – most famously known as huge, resource consuming facilities housing computer server infrastructure – are quickly becoming ever more essential to keep the large language model (AI) wheels turning, as more experiences are coming to light regarding the toll they are taking on the communities in which they are based. Many large data centers are powered by diesel or natural gas generators, creating pollution in the local area, or have increased electricity demand and prices in the process.

With that in mind, Dixon proposed the data centers amendment. There is nothing in the zoning bylaw that specifically addresses data centers, so the goal is to create guidelines to protect against an incoming proposal that might exploit the lack of one at the expense of the Town.

Data centers’ newness has also influenced the drafting process, as the Planning Board and staff have been familiarizing themselves with the concept. Other municipalities have been doing this in the form of their own bylaws, as has the Office of the Attorney General in its review of them.

Advertisement

As Dixon explained it, the AG intends to come down with a decision in early August regarding Mansfield’s near total ban of data centers this past May. Moving forward, this will help to determine the Board’s options regarding what sort of a bylaw can be drafted for Norwood.

For now, however, the consensus was to go with a draft moratorium that – if approved by Town Meeting – would freeze any data center project applications for one year, while giving the Board the opportunity to better get its collective feet under it before finalizing an amendment.

Discussions regarding the draft amendments will continue at the next Planning Board meeting on Aug. 10. Public hearings are penciled in for all five proposed amendments (Urgent Care Facility Definition and Parking Waivers are the other two) at the Aug. 24 Planning Board meeting.

For information or to comment, go to https://gvimes.link/zngamnds

The Planning Board meets every other Monday at 7 p.m. at the Senior Center (275 Prospect St.).