HomeMy Public PortalAbout2019-03-04 18 - Assisted Living Overlay z83.
Watertown Town Council
Administration Building
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: 617-972-6470
ELECTED
OFFICIALS:
Committee on Economic Development and Planning
Report of the Meetings of March 4 and 18, 2019
Council Presid
Marks.sresid,ent Report Date: March 26, 2019
Vincent J.Piccirilli,Jr., The Committee convened on Monday, March 4, 2019 at 7:00 pm in the Louis P.
Vice President& Andrews Third Floor Conference Room. Present were Kenneth Woodland chair; and
District C Councilor > >
Vincent Piccirilli, secretary. Lisa Feltner, vice chair, was absent. Staff present were
Caroline Bays Steven Magoon, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Community Development and
Councilor At Large planning; and Andrea Adams, Senior Planner. Also present was Councilor Anthony
Anthony J.Donato, Donato and members of the public (see sign-in sheet Attachment A).
Councilor At Large
Susan G.Falkoff, The purpose of the meetings was the consideration of amendments to the Assisted
Councilor At Large Living Overlay District(ALOD) in the Zoning Ordinance to make the Affordable
A Large
t Large
Housing Requirement consistent throughout Watertown. The current ALOD zoning is
Councilor A
Anthony P section 5.11 (Attachment B). The newly passed zoning amendment for assisted living in
the R.75, R1.2,NB, LB, CB, I-3 and RMUD zones is for 5% (including services) for
Angeline B.Kounelis, projects up to 75 units, and 10% over 75 units.
District A Councilor
Lisa J.Feltner, Mr. Magoon provided a handout with the background of the ALOD, and the staff s
District B Councilor recommendation (Attachment Q.
Kenneth M.Woodland,
District D Councilor The discussion covered the following points:
a) The Brigham House is the only property with the ALOD applied, however this property is owned
by the Town and leased to the developer as a public/private partnership using HOME funds.
b) Since the ALOD with its 10%requirement was implemented in 1997, no private properties have
been developed using this provision of the zoning code.
c) The owner of the former Parker School, located in the T zone which does not allow assisted living,
purchased it from the Town under an RFP to develop it into office space. He now wants to
redevelop it into assisted living, but stated he is unable to obtain lending with the 10%ALOD
requirement, but can obtain it for the new 5%requirement. The Committee noted this proposed
change is not about any specific property.
d) Councilor Piccirilli felt the new assisted living inclusionary zoning developed by the Housing
Partnership and adopted by the Town Council, was well thought out and should be applied
uniformly, including in the ALOD.
e) Councilor Woodland felt that the ALOD should only be applied as currently written.
f) The discussion turned on why, and to what types of properties the ALOD would be applied by the
Town Council, such as applying it as an incentive for unique properties to be preserved and
creatively reused as assisted living, which is a relatively low intensity use.
Page 1 of 2
Committee on Economic Development & Planning Report - March 26, 2019
The Committee asked Mr. Magoon to consider these discussion points and bring back some revised
language for the Committee to review.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm
The Committee reconvened on Monday, March 18, 2019 at 6:30 pm in the Philip Pane Lower
Conference Room. Present were Mr. Woodland, Ms. Feltner, Mr. Piccirilli, and Mr. Magoon. Also
present was Councilor Anthony Donato and members of the public (see sign-in sheet Attachment D).
Mr. Woodland began with a summary of the prior meeting for the benefit of Ms. Feltner, who was
unable to attend.
Mr. Magoon provided a handout with proposed language change to reflect the discussion at the last
meeting (Attachment E). The two changes are:
1. Change the affordable housing requirement from 10%to the revised language of section 5.07
adopted as a zoning amendment in November 2018.
2. Change the purpose of the overlay to make it explicit that it should only be applied in unique
circumstances with a compelling public interest. It was noted that the term"Historically
Significant buildings"was purposely not defined, as it is sole authority of the Town Council to
consider that meaning when voting to apply the overlay to a specific property.
There was further discussion on the proposed changes, as well as the process for moving forward.
4 Action Item: Councilor Piccirilli made a motion, seconded by Councilor Feltner, to recommend
that the Town Council move forward with an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance for the
Assisted Living Overlay District section 5.11 with the proposed changes as presented.
Voted 3-0.
The meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.
Report prepared by Vincent Piccirilli
Attachments:
Attachment A- Sign-in sheet March 4, 2019
Attachment B - Current Assisted Living Overlay District section 5.11
Attachment C - Staff recommendation March 4, 2019
Attachment D - Sign-in sheet March 18, 2019
Attachment E - Proposed ALOD changes March 18, 2019
Page 2 of 2
Attachment A
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Attachment B
(e) Signs: For retail establishments permitted under §5.11(b)(i), the following signs shall be
permitted: one wall sign for each business located in the building and in the case of a business
which has more than a single department, one sign for each department provided such department
occupies no less than 550 square feet of the building and provided the aggregate of all such wall
signs on the building shall not exceed 500 square feet. For other uses, the provisions governing
signs in the underlying zoning district shall be applicable.
SECTION 5.11 ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT(ALOD)
(a) Intent and Puroose:To encourage and guide the redevelopment of land for residential purposes and
to promote its revitalization and value to the community.
(b) Permitted Uses: Any use permitted in the underlying zone and Assisted Living as defined in
§2.05, subject to special permit provisions under§9.04, 9.05, and 9.09.
(c) Dimensional Criteria:
Min.Lot Size: 10,000 sf Max.Building Coverage:35%
Min.Frontage: 80 ft Max.Height: 3 stories or the height allowed in the
underlying district, whichever is
greater, provided however that more
than 3 stories may be allowed within
existing structure.
Front Setback: 25 ft Min.Lot/unit: 1,200 sf
Side Setback: 20 ft Max.FAR: 1.0
Rear Setback: 20 ft Min.Open Space: 20%
(d) Parkina Requirement: For Assisted Living,one space per every 4 units plus one per employee
on largest shift. All other uses must follow the provisions of§6 of this Zoning Ordinance.
(e) Signage: The provisions of§7.05 of this Zoning Ordinance shall apply.
(f) Affordable Housing Requirements: A total of 10% of the units must be set aside as affordable
pursuant to the provisions of§5.07 of this Zoning Ordinance.
SECTION 5.12 ARSENAL OVERLAY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT(AODD)
(a) Name: Arsenal Overlay Development District(AODD)
(b) Intent and Purpose: To create a zoning overlay district to assist, promote, and guide the orderly
conversion and redevelopment of former US Army Materials Technology Laboratory (AMTL)
property in a manner which is beneficial to Watertown.
(c) Obiectives: The establishment of the AODD overlay district is intended to accomplish the following
objectives:
(1) To permit the expeditious and efficient redevelopment of the AMTL property which will enhance
the community's quality of life and economic well-being;
(2) To provide for compatibility of land uses within the AMTL property and with respect to abutting
properties;
(3) To promote the preservation of the historic resources and character of the property, including
the rehabilitation of existing structures to the maximum extent practicable;
(4) To allow for a density which is appropriate for economic revitalization while not burdening the
surrounding neighborhoods;
(5) To allow for greater flexibility and discretion in planning and design by the Town of Watertown,
in accordance with the "Arsenal on the Charles Signage Guidelines", prepared by Sasaki
Associates, Inc., dated September 2000, as may be amended; and
58
Attachment C
Assisted Living Overlay District (ALOD) request for
information
Background:
In 1997, Ordinance 0-97-033 was adopted by the Town Council for an overlay
district to allow residential redevelopment of certain land for assisted
living. Since it was an overlay, the underlying use of the land was also allowed to
continue, and the overlay provided a mechanism to allow additional uses where it
is applied. The overlay allowed flexibility for reuse of existing structures, new
buildings, and identified the various zoning requirements that would be
required. Specifically, a 10% affordable housing requirement was included and
was a separate requirement than the Ordinance's affordable housing
requirements. The initial overlay was proposed for the former Baptist Church site
and a subsequent map amendment (0-99-79) applied the overlay to the former
East Junior High School. Both of these properties were proposing the reuse of
existing institutional buildings.
Draft Language:
If the review process determines that the overly should be amended to be
consistent with WZO Section 5.07, the amendment would be fairly simple, within
WZO Section 5.11 (f), the current sentence would be modified to reflect assisted
living requirements within Section 5.07 as follows:
"5.11(f) Affordable Housing Requirement: A total of 10% of theunits must be se
aside ask ny__project developed under this section shall.._meet
the affordable housinq requirements pursuant to provisions of Section 5.07 of
this Zoning Ordinance."
Recommendation:
The DCDP Staff suggests that the original creation of the overlay was intended to
be applied to properties to allow for a unique and often more intense use than the
underlying zoning would allow, and was initially discussed for existing
buildings. This would allow for greater control of assisted living projects as it
requires the application of the overlay through a rezoning process. Under this
overlay zone, assisted living redevelopment provides a significant allowance for
developers with the primary purpose to create this type of housing with the
revitalization of existing buildings, thereby adding value to the community. The
current property where the overlay was applied was developed successfully into
an assisted living project with significant affordable units within the preserved
former school building. Based on the successful application of the overlay for the
Brigham House with the requirement of 10% affordability, staff believes that
having this separate overlay with different requirements with respect to zoning
and affordability is appropriate and should remain in place. Therefore staff would
recommend no change to the existing zoning.
Attachment D
C�rb
Attachment E
DRAFT REVISED LANGUAGE FOR ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT
SECTION 5.11 ASSISTED LIVING OVERLAY DISTRICT(ALOD)
(a) Intent and Purposes:
• To encourage and guide the redevelopment of land for residential purposes and to
promote its revitalization and value to the community...
• To encouraqe the adaptive reuse of Historically Significant buildinqs and/or former
municipal buildings; and
• To facilitate voiects that involve public/private partnerships.
(b) Permitted Uses: Any use permitted in the underlying zone and Assisted Living as
defined in §2.05, subject to special permit provisions under§9.04, 9.05, and 9.09.
(c) Dimensional Criteria:
Min.Lot Size: 10,000 sf Max.Building Coverage:35%
Min.Frontage: 80 ft Max.Height: 3 stories or the height allowed
in the underlying district,
whichever is greater, provided
however that more than 3
stories may be allowed within
existing structure.
Front Setback: 25 ft Min.Lot/unit: 1,200 sf
Side Setback: 20 ft Max.FAR: 1.0
Rear Setback: 20 ft Min.Open Space: 20%
(d) Parking Requirement: For Assisted Living, one space per every 4 units plus one per
employee on largest shift. All other uses must follow the provisions of§6 of this Zoning
Ordinance.
(e) Signage: The provisions of§7.05 of this Zoning Ordinance shall apply.
(f) Affordable Housing Requirements: A total of 10% o t,\nito mt,�t be set aside a�A&n i
proiect developed under this Section shall meet the affordable housinq requirements
pursuant to the provisions of§5.07 of this Zoning Ordinance.