Report Excerpt:In 2020, Special Town Meeting voted to give Special Permit Granting Authorities the ability to reduce or eliminate the amount of parking required for a business in the B3 or B5 Zoning Districts through the granting of a special permit, should the applicant be able to demonstrate that there is adequate on-street or municipal parking nearby and no ability to create additional parking onsite. Article 44 extends this provision to the remaining business districts (B1, B2, B2A, and B4). The B1, B2, B2A, and B4 Zoning Districts are primarily located along Massachusetts Avenue and Broadway, with a few scattered parcels on Chestnut, Summer, Mystic, and Lowell Streets.
The existing parking requirements in the Zoning Bylaw can create a situation where the space required for off-site parking for a development or change of use can be almost as large the use itself. Private onsite parking also works against the Town’s commercial development goals. The bylaw requires approximately 153 square feet of parking space per vehicle—255 square feet if a driving aisle is required. Under this requirement, the owner of a 1,700 square foot property without on-site parking who wanted to change an existing use to “other retail or service use” would be required to provide six off-street parking space. The resulting parking lot would need to be 1,530 square feet, or 90% of the total Gross Floor Area (GFA) of the property.
Further, the current supply of on-street parking is often sufficient to meet or even exceed demand, even in the three primary commercial districts. The B1, B2, B2A, and B4 districts are located along the periphery or between of these busier commercial areas, with an adequate supply of on-street parking.
This article does not grant a reduction or completely remove parking requirements by right. Applicants must demonstrate a shared parking, off-site parking, and/or Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan per Section 6.1.5 of the Zoning Bylaw. Shared parking and TDM measures can help address employee parking; off-site parking can help address the need for customer or visitor parking. Through a Special Permit request, the ARB or ZBA can assess the applicant’s proposals, determine whether an applicant’s plan will offset the parking requirements, and evaluate over time if there will be a cumulative effect on parking availability in the business districts. This Article simply provides the Boards with greater flexibility and case-by-case consideration of parking adjustments beyond the currently allowable parking reduction, especially for a commercial change of use within existing storefronts.