Members of the Planning Board and petitioners seeking to limit the construction of multifamily housing in Lexington have reached a compromise. The updated version of the citizen petition known as Article 2 reflects a give-and-take between what petitioners and the Planning Board envision for Lexington.
The new motion calls for the town to amend section 7.5 of its zoning bylaw — that is, land designated for village and multifamily dwellings. It asks the town to reduce the number of acres in that section of the zoning bylaw from 227 to approximately 90, on which an estimated 1,314 new multifamily dwellings could be built.
The revised article also allows Lexington to pursue the nine proposals it received from developers before the first of this year, which would bring approximately 1,000 new dwellings to town.
And approximately 4,000 dwellings could come online due to property owners applying for zoning freezes, which are temporary exemptions from certain zoning amendments that ‘freeze’ existing provisions in place.
Those numbers are based on estimates from the state’s compliance model. But so far, the ten developments the town is considering have 36 percent fewer dwellings than estimated, so the total number of dwellings that could be developed might fall short of what is predicted.
The revised motion, on which Town Meeting will vote on Monday, could bring MBTA Communities Act compliant housing to most of the section 7.5 districts. But not Lexington Center.
Article 2 removes the Center from the section 7.5 districts, because in those areas, multifamily housing can be built by right, or without certain permitting from the Planning Board. Carol Sacerdote, the originator of Article 2, told LexObserver she and fellow petitioners did not want there to be such lax control over “a special part of town.”
Many residents, however, disagree.
“Lexington Center is the town’s transportation hub,” Jerold Michelson, chair the Center Committee, said during the Planning Board’s March 12 meeting. “If any place has the opportunity for housing, Lexington Center should have that opportunity.”
At the end of its meeting on March 12, the Center Committee passed a vote to request that petitioners keep the Center in the bylaw so developers can build MBTA Communities Act-compliant housing in that zone. Article 2 petitioners did not accept the Committee’s request.
Just about all of the residents who spoke up during the Planning Board’s public hearing on March 5 expressed gratitude that Board members and petitioners could come to a compromise. But like Michelson, many were upset that the compromise excludes Lexington Center.
Jay Luker, who represents Precinct 1 on Town Meeting, and Betsey Weiss, Precinct 2, said they won’t vote for Article 2 if the Center is excluded.
“We need housing, we’re in a crisis, this is a mandate from the state,” Weiss said. “Those smaller, more diverse units are needed in town.”
During that hearing, Russ Tanner, a board member of Lexington’s Housing Assistance Board and professional in multifamily housing development, argued bringing housing to the Center could boost vibrancy, which residents have been calling for.
“I think [the Center] needs more intensity and people who are there all the time,” he said. “Over time it will make it more lively and more diverse.”
Like Michelson, other Committee members and attendees argued the Center should be included in the bylaw because doing so will help younger generations that have less income move to town. It also supports Lexington NEXT’s vision of having multifamily housing within walking distance of the Center.
Many residents support leaving the Center out of the bylaw, arguing that including that zone could harm the town’s character and bring more traffic to an already congested area.
“There’s a way to do it where we don’t lose control of what things look like and how things function,” Lisa Newton, who represents Precinct 8 on Town Meeting, argued during the Planning Board’s March 5 meeting. “There’s no need to use a sledge hammer when you can use a regular hammer as a tool.”
“Let’s remove Lexington Center from the list because I think it should remain as a community hub, not as a high density residential hub,” Meng Yang, a Lexington resident, said during that March 5 meeting. “I think that will change its flavor.”
Background
More multifamily housing will come to Lexington as a result of the MBTA Communities Act, which calls for Massachusetts’ 177 municipalities served by (or bordering municipalities served by) the MBTA to encourage the development of multifamily housing near transit corridors. After the Act was written into law, the state decided how much land each municipality should zone for housing of the like.
Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, or EOHLC, decided Lexington should rezone at least 50 acres of land on which to build a minimum of 1,231 new dwellings.
Despite the state’s recommended target, Lexington’s Planning Board drafted Article 34, which calls for the town to amend its zoning bylaw so multifamily housing could be built on over 227 acres of land in 12 districts. Town Meeting voted on that motion during its annual session in 2023. It passed with approximately 63 percent support.
With that increased land commitment, Lexington can now host up to 12,546 new dwelling units across 12 districts in town — that’s approximately ten times as many units as the state’s original goal for the town.
Amid Town Meeting’s 2023 sessions, former state Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, Mike Kennealy, who’s also a Lexington resident, said, “this is a chance for Lexington to lead…isn’t that what we want to do? Be out there early and show what’s possible.”
Almost two years later, the town is now considering ten proposals for new multifamily developments, with one already under construction.
Out of concern that Lexington is hastily considering adding a lot of multifamily housing to the town, which residents worry could put stress on town services and infrastructure, petitioners created a citizen petition at the end of 2024 that became Article 2.
Lexington’s community has been divided on how many dwellings the town should commit to bringing online.
The town’s Affordable Housing Trust sent a memo disapproving of the original Article 2 on Feb. 21. The Trust argues that reducing the number of multifamily dwellings that could come to Lexington limits the town’s ability to provide diverse, inclusive, and affordable housing, contradicts Lexington NEXT, and suppresses demand for increased public transportation, among other arguments.
During the Board’s first two public hearings, residents used harsh language and intonation when expressing views about Articles 2 and 34. Ahead of the third hearing, Melanie Thompson, a member of the Planning Board, read a memo stating residents had made “personal attacks” in recent weeks. She said some of the unfriendly discourse was “directed at Abby McCabe,” the director of the Planning Board, and other town staff. Thompson urged residents to “treat each other with respect and dignity even when we disagree.”
Since Thompson read that memo, many residents have expressed gratitude that members of the Board and petitioners could come to a compromise.
Town Meeting will vote on the updated Article 2 motion on Monday, March 17 during a special session at 7:30 PM at Cary Hall. The session can also be streamed on LexMedia.
We need to create a separate zoning plan for Lexington Center, and not shoo it into this MBTA zoning initiative. Lexington Center adds zero acres and zero units to Lexington’s MBTA compliance.
One chief concern with including the Center is that the current zoning act does not provide guidelines for design and is thus unable to ensure that new developments will respect the history and character of our town Center. It would be misguided to “plan” for our Historic Districts commission to make one-off judgments on every detail of every development in the Center as they come up for review.
Let’s please come up with a separate, holistic zoning plan for our Town Center that supports the building of additional residential units. Shooing it in to just “get it done” is not the right thing for our town.
Then let’s come up with an historic overlay district for the parts of the center which we like (as opposed to the strip-mall single-story buildings on the north side of Mass Ave). That doesn’t mean that we have to do away with the density.
Lexington could have rezoned the center for denser housing years ago – but we didn’t. And given that the Article 2 proponents specifically sliced the Center out of the MBTA zoning from the outset, will we ever see any denser zoning there if Article 2 is passed?
Article 2 conflates two separate sets of zoning regulations. The zoning for the center is not an MBTA overlay district. The center was specifically not included in one of the overlay districts. So, the center already has a separate zoning plan. I believe the gripe the proponents of Article 2 have with the zoning for the center is that it allows for up to four stories — which is less than the number of stories allowed in the overlay districts. They want the zoning in the center restricted to two stories, ie, status quo.
I agree. And when using other zoning tools in the town center let’s get a greater percentage of affordable units than the 15% in the MBTA Communities Act.
I support Article 2 AND I support prioritizing revitalization of the town center, including multi-family housing, but not as an amendment to Article 2. The town center deserves its own careful planning to preserve its historic character while boosting vibrancy. We should use other available zoning tools to design and control new building in the center, rather than be tied to the requirements of “by right zoning” from the MBTA Communities Act. As multifamily housing in the center wouldn’t meet or count towards the MBTA act’s requirements anyway, why be hand-tied by that particular and limiting zoning instrument? We can do better than that. As to concern that if Article 2 passes will we ever see denser zoning in the center, I’m hoping that we will if we residents stay engaged and vocal that this is a priority. The uptick in engagement of residents around how to increase housing has brought this issue to the forefront, and the planning board now knows that people want to revitalize the town center and increase housing density there. To get a center-focused proposal in the future will require continued public engagement to encourage the planning board to prioritize it. Let’s make that happen.