Waltham Inclusive Neighborhoods invites residents to discuss upcoming zoning input hearing

Waltham Inclusive Neighborhoods will hold an information session about Waltham’s ongoing review of its zoning laws this Thursday, May 29. 

The info session, which is open to the public, is being held a week before the city’s scheduled June 5 public input hearing on rezoning.The meeting will be held at 119 School St. at 6 pm, and organizers have an option for remote online Zoom attendance.

WIN is a community advocacy organization focused on housing in Waltham. It previously held public information sessions in advance of hearings on Waltham’s recent changes for accessory dwelling units and multifamily home construction to conform with the MTBA Communities Act.

According to its Facebook page, the group’s priorities include allowing people to build houses on smaller lots, allowing denser multifamily residences and lowering parking minimums as ways to support the creation of more affordable homes. It also wants to encourage green space on residential lots.

The information session as well as the city’s June 5 meeting both focus on plans to update Waltham zoning laws, which govern what and where people can build.

These are the latest steps in an ongoing reconsideration of Waltham’s zoning.

Last fall, the city commissioned CommunityScale LLC to review Waltham’s zoning laws and maps. The process calls for consulting with Waltham residents and various city officials and drafting a final proposal detailing how the city should implement suggestions. CommunityScale projects that it will deliver a final report this October.

As a part of the review process, the city is holding an input hearing on June 5, 6:30 p.m., at 119 School St. 

Waltham’s zoning laws were last reviewed in 2015 by a specially convened Zoning Advisory Committee. According to the committee’s final report, that was the first comprehensive zoning review in 25 years. 

The committee expressed a number of transparency and clarity issues in Waltham’s zoning laws, and described “broad dissatisfaction” with the city’s policies at the time.

The committee stated that the city needed a more defined process for maintaining its zoning laws and proactively planning for the future.

“We as a City should be planning our development, not reacting to proposals from Developers. We need to update our zoning and uses to reflect our City and the new generation of people who rely on public transportation,” the report continued.

It suggested the city hire a zoning enforcement officer and continue to review its zoning code annually or biannually.

However, the city adopted only one of the 2015 report’s suggestions: reducing parking requirements in the Riverfront Overlay District that surrounds the Charles River, a change originally vetoed by Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy.