September 30, 2016: The formal hearing process on the Oaktree Development proposal to develop the Mugar site began at the September 27th meeting of the Arlington Zoning Board of Appeals, with the ZBA asserting that the Town of Arlington has met one of the ‘safe harbor’ criteria provided by Massachusetts Chapter 40B.
If a community can demonstrate that 10% of its housing stock, or 1.5% of its land area, is devoted to qualified affordable housing then it can exercise greater discretion in handling of a 40B application. Such projects are empowered by 40B to request waivers from local bylaws regarding zoning, wetlands and other restrictions if those restrictions are more stringent than state law, and routinely do so. And local boards are required to grant them if the stricter local bylaws would render the project “uneconomic”. However, a Zoning Board can decline any such requests if the community has met one of the “safe harbor” criteria.
The ZBA’s calculations show that Arlington has slightly over 1.5% of its land area in qualified affordable housing. Oaktree disputes that calculation and announced at the hearing that it would appeal the claim to the state Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), which should be expected to render its opinion in roughly 60 days.