NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A preliminary public hearing on adopting the state's 40R zoning for two areas of the city is set for Wednesday at 6 p.m.

 

The hearing will be held by the Community Development Committee over the Zoom platform.

 

"This is really the sort of the first step on a long, long path toward determining whether or not to adopt 40R officially," said Zachary Fleury of the Community Development Office. Feury gave a presentation to the Planning Board last month.

 

The state instituted so-called Smart Growth Zoning about 15 years ago to incentivize developers to largely utilize existing structures to create market-rate housing that also provided a percentage of affordable-housing units and space for retail or commerce. 

 

The statute provides certain incentives for developers — such as access to capital and lower predevelopment risk for permitting — while also giving municipalities funding, or "density bonus," to acknowledge the impact of increased housing and traffic. 

 

Mayor Thomas Bernard said there were a number of benefits to the city in pursuing 40R, and two in particular for doing it now. 

 

"One, it's signaling in a clearer and more public way that the work we're doing is something that we see tremendous benefit to and then the other is activating and then taking advantage of an instrument available to us that will provide a financial benefit to the city," he said. 

 

Adopting the zoning would provide incentives to the city in the form of direct revenues of $600,000 and a density bonus of $3,000 for each unit built. These state funds are to provide capital for infrastructure improvements to accommodate a rise in population that could affect roads, schools, water systems, etc.

 

The Smart Growth zoning would overlay two districts — the downtown and the Union Street area. 

 

"We did a study that says we have a shortage of housing, or a gap, so this would be something that would help to incentivize the development efforts to close that gap," said Bernard. "As well as to provide through this effort state state funding that would let us make improvements in downtown." 

 

Feury said the housing assessment by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission showed that the city was lacking suitable affordable housing. 

 

"Smart Growth zoning legislation requires that it be encompass an area of what they call an area of concentrated development," he said. "Those boundaries were drawn not just that there is housing already there but because the analysis says there's opportunity for new housing development in that area."

 

Smart Growth encourages a mix of affordable and market-rate housing as well as commercial development. Any development would have between 20 and 60 percent affordable housing that, in North Adams, would be for incomes no more than 80 percent of the median of $80,900, or $64,720, for two people. Housing costs cannot be more than one-third of the monthly income, which for North Adams would be the maximum of $1,618 a month.

 

The goal is to look at a zoning district in totality for underutilized property rather than just at specific buildings like the city-owned Windsor Mill or the privately owned Hoosac Mill. 

 

 "But those those present opportunities for future residential development," Feury said. "Smart Growth zoning may be the appropriate tool to kick start some activity in that area."

 

Feury will provide a presentation of 40R and the two districts outlined for the Smart Growth overlay and a time line for the process. Should DHCD give preliminary approval to the application, there will be more public hearings and it will require Planning Board and City Council approval. 

 

"I think we're looking at it as part of a collection of initiatives that are happening through Community Development," said the mayor. "The ones that we see as having advantage to the to the city as we're seeing another cycle of development, and as we're seeing some places where we see opportunities for development."

 

More information on the Smart Growth zoning is available on the city website.