View source for Precinct 5 Meeting - April 12th, 2021

Conducted via remote participation, for the purpose of discussing the
spring town meeting warrant.

=Article 11 - Stormwater Management=

Emily Sullivan of the Department of Planning and Community Development
presents.  Stormwater runs off of land and buildings into the
stormwater system, where it's conveyed to water bodies in town.
Runoff can create localized flooding and pollute water bodies.

Arlington is updating its storm water bylaws to comply with
Massachusetts's MS4 requirements.  MS4 is a schedule of things that
municipalities have to implement.  The new bylaw will distinguish
between major and minor stormwater permits.  It will have requirements
for peak flow regulation, removal of total suspended solids, and
removal of phosphorous.

There were be additional MS4 requirements to implement in future
years.

=Article 24 - Ranked Choice Voting=

Greg Dennis of the Voting Modernization Committee presents.  Article
24 proposes home rule legislation to enact ranked choice voting for
town elections.  It's meant to counter the effects of vote splitting.
The winner has to receive votes from a majority of voters.

If town meeting votes in favor of Article 24, the state legislature
will have to adopt it, and the change will have to be approved by the
voters.  April 2023 is the first date where ranked choice could be
used for local elections.

=Article 38 - Energy Efficient Homes on Non-conforming lots=

Parke Wilde presents.  This warrant article came out of the Clean
Energy Future Committee's work, and looking for ways to reduce the
carbon footprint of homes.  You can't replace the building foundation
on non-conforming lots.  This article would allow the entire home
(including the foundation) to be replaced if the new home meets a set
of energy efficiency standards.

=Article 35 - Industrial Zoning=

Steve Revilak presents.  The master plan recommended reviewing and
updating zoning bylaws for the Industrial districts.  They comprise
1% of Arlington's land area, have little turn over, and generally
high land to value ratios.

The proposed changes would introduce a new set of allowed uses and add
performance standards related to stormwater management and
sustainability.  Auto parking requirements would go down, bike parking
requirements would go up, and we'd allow residential uses above the
first floor (the first floor would have to be completely devoted to
commercial and industrial uses).

There's a question about affordable housing.  Existing inclusionary
zoning provisions would apply to new housing in the industrial
district.

=Article 44 - Parking Reductions=

James Fleming presents.  A prior town meeting adopted a parking
reduction for the B3 and B5 districts.  Article 44 would extend the
same conditions to the other business districts.  This removes one
barrier to starting a new business in Arlington, and could provide
more tax revenue for a given lot size.

=Article 25 - Real Estate Transfer Fee=

Karen Kelleher presents.  This article would be filed as a home rule
petition, and it would be a way to fund affordable housing projects in
Arlington.  The idea is that property owners would leave a little bit
of equity behind when selling.  38 other states allow real estate
transfer fees; 6 other communities in Massachusetts have done this via
home rule petition.  If adopted by town meeting, it could take up to
two years for the legislature to pass, if they choose to pass it at
all.  It would also have to be approved by the voters.

The bylaw would establish a minimum safe harbor; a price below which
the transfer fee would not apply.  This would be no lower than the
median sale price in the state, which is currently around $435k.  The
fee could range from 0.05% to 2% of the sale price, and the select
board would set the specific rate.

=Article 21 - Affordable housing trust fund and Article 45 - Increasing the Percentage of Affordable Housing Units=

Laura Kiesel presents both articles.  Article 45 would raise
Arlington's inclusionary zoning requirements from 15% to 25%.
Arlington has produced much less affordable housing than surrounding
communities, and only added 0.1% affordable housing in the last 20
years.  We're losing income diversity as a result.  It's hard for low
income households to afford housing here, even with housing choice
vouchers.

Ms. Kiesel would also like to see the majority of Affordable Housing
Trust Fund monies spent for housing at or below 60% AMI.  Non-white
households often fall into this income bracket.

There's a question as to whether the 25% affordability requirement
was chosen to match 40B.  Ms. Kiesel says it wasn't.

=Article 43 - Accessory Dwelling Units=

Phil Tedesco presents.  ADUs are independent living spaces, and can
help homeowners to age in place.  They'd have to obey the same
dimensional regulations as the current bylaws.  They'd have to be
created by homeowners or non-profits.  Short term rentals would be
prohibited, and there wouldn't be any additional parking requirements.
Dozens of towns allow ADUs, and they typically produce 2--5 per year.

=Article 69 - School Committee Member Stipends=

Christa Kelleher presents.  This article would create a $3k/year
stipend for school committee members.  The finance committee hasn't
reviewed this article yet, or identified a funding source.

Several other boards receive stipends.  Members of the retirement
board get $4,500; members of the finance committee get $45; the town
moderator gets $500; and the board of assessors gets $4,900.

=Article 91 - Declare Climate Emergency in the town of Arlington=

Parke Wilde presents.  This article is a non-binding resolution that
would declare a climate emergency in the town of Arlington.  The goal
is to have town meeting state that there is an emergency, and to
influence future decisions.

[[Category:Public Meetings]]