Andover appears poised to consolidate a new zoning district in the Downtown area under a law aimed at increasing the state’s housing supply by loosening building restrictions near MBTA stations.
Under the requirements, Andover will need to change zoning rules to allow for as many as 2,301 new housing units within a half mile of its two commuter rail stations or risk losing Department of Housing and Community Development funding that amounted to $6.3 million for the town since 2015. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has also warned communities “must comply” with the rules.
Town Meeting would have final approval on zoning bylaw changes, which Andover has until the end of 2024 to enact.
Andover named a MBTA Communities working group in June. At its public forum Thursday, Jennifer Lemmerman, the group’s chair, said while the group will consider splitting the new zoning districts in areas between Andover’s two commuter rail stations, they had already voted 5-3 with four members absent to ask the planning board to take a closer look at creating a single zoning district to comply with the new law near the Andover station on Railroad Street.
That vote was informed, in part, by an online survey, but Lemmerman cautioned against making assumptions other plans would not be considered.
“We did take a vote to ask the planning board to dig into the Andover station area, to really look at those numbers, what would have to happen in order for us to comply with the law if we were to focus in on that area?” Lemmerman said. “We still, of course, can consider the other areas, but given all of the data and all of the information and community input so that is where the focus really seems to lie in terms of where can we do this.”
The focus on creating the district around one train station instead of spreading the potential for 2,300 new housing units around Andover’s two stations drew concerns from Downtown residents who attended Thursday’s forum.
“I found it interesting that [the discussion is] ‘Hey, let’s do the downtown station because that’s where we’ve got the data and we don’t have data for any of the other areas’,” Doug Cumings said during the public comment portion of the forum. “Is it appropriate to be making that decision without data? That’s diving into the pool without knowing how deep the water is.”
File photo: Dave Copeland/Andover News