| What you need to know: MBTA Communities refers to legislation passed in 2021 requiring communities served by public transit to re-zone for dense housing near transit options. For Reading to comply, the requirement is “a zoning district with capacity for a minimum of 1,493 units of multi-family housing (3+ units) at a density of 15 units per acre across a district of a minimum of 43 total acres.” 40% of these 1,493 units must be within a half mile of our commuter rail station. Here are a few maps proposed by town planners; the blue areas are proposed for dense zoning. It appears based on recent presentations they are going with the “smaller” one, which is still about 600 acres. |
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Some concerns: ● The zone proposed at the most recent financial forum (October 25, 2023) is 660 acres in about a half-mile radius around our commuter rail station and contains 343 developable acres. At a proposed density of 22 units per acre, it is too large and over-delivers on compliance. That density would allow nearly 8,000 housing units just in that half-mile radius around our commuter rail station, even though the MBTA communities law only requires about 750 additional units within the half mile. ● As a comparison, all of Reading has about 9,000 households. If housing is built in accordance with the MBTA communities zoning as proposed, this would dramatically increase Reading’s population, currently about 24,000, and stress town services and costs. For example, the elementary schools are already at capacity; where is the proposal about how to manage potentially 1,000+ new students? ● The proposal makes no reference to affordable housing. In fact, MBTA Communities does not require that there be any affordable housing in the new zoning. The risk is that, for every 10 units of market rate housing we add, another affordable unit is added to the total the town must provide. So, if additional market rate housing gets built under MBTA communities zoning, this increases the affordable total and makes the 10% affordable threshold harder to meet. If the town falls under the 10% affordable unit threshold, a hostile developer can swoop in and get fast-tracked to build more housing—and this housing could be built ANYWHERE in Reading. If there is no concrete plan to attain and maintain the affordable unit requirement, the town should scale down the proposal. What you can do |
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| If you want a say in these dramatic changes, take action now before the plans are finalized! 1. Pack the house! Attend a public hearing on zoning changes on December 18 at 7:30 pm. Previous meetings were dominated by a vocal group of housing expansion advocates. We need common-sense residents to represent. If you cannot make this meeting, there are future meetings coming up on January 22 and February 5, but attending this first one will allow the town to hear concerns and hopefully revise the proposal before the January and February meetings. Location: the Select Board Room at Town Hall and on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86594356224 Materials for this public hearing including the map and proposed zoning language will be published the week prior to the meeting. 2. Email the town planners: Andrew MacNichol amacnichol@ci.reading.ma.us; Mary Bendetto mbenedetto@ci.reading.ma.us; and the Select Board selectboard@ci.reading.ma.us: The new zone and density proposed to address the requirements of the MBTA Communities law are too large at 600+ acres, 343 developable. This proposal produces excessive unit capacity well beyond what MBTA communities requires. Instead, I feel strongly that the town planning staff needs to propose a new zoning district centered around the train depot that is no larger than 150 acres, with unit capacity that is in line with what is required by the law (1493 units), and with unit density as close as possible to the minimum required of 15 units per acre. For more information ● Read more about the plan and sign up for Town alerts here. ● Listen to the November 8 proposal and public hearing. Trash and Recycling Update Our last email covered proposed changes to service and increased fees. Unfortunately, these have come to pass: ● Everyone will be receiving taxpayer-funded new garbage and recycling containers—exact date TBD. $900k from free cash funds these. You will not be able to use your existing containers even if they are the same as the new ones. ● There will be a reduction from 128 gallons of trash and one big item to 64 gallons and no large items. ● Larger families, or those who discard larger amounts of trash, will have to lease another garbage bin for an estimated $200 a year or by buying special bags each time they need to discard more than 64 gallons. Will the additional funding from the $200 leases be enough to cover costs? No one knows. Be prepared for more increases. For more information, see the Reading Recap. Apply for Board Positions! If there’s one thing we learned since 2020, it’s that people in unelected positions can have tremendous—even tyrannical!—power over our lives. |
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That’s why reasonable people like YOU should have a say in how the town is run. To that end, please check out vacancies on the various boards in Reading and fill out the application for a position. There are openings on the Board of Health, Climate Advisory Committee, Council on Aging, and more. Please consider becoming a Town Meeting Member. Let us know if you apply. And please don’t hesitate to get in touch with questions, feedback, or suggestions. Until next time, Your friends at Reading Votes |
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