The Planning Board has proposed changes to six existing commercial district zoning bylaws that both simplify the bylaws and loosen their restrictions. The bylaws in question concern definitions; small-, medium-, and large-scale commercial uses; fire protection; and Ayer Road Village special permits. The board workshopped these bylaw changes at its Aug. 5 and Aug. 19 meetings.
“This bylaw, the Ayer Road Village special permit, is our opportunity to do quality development, and that’s the way it was always intended, but there are currently some things in that bylaw that make development unlikely,” said Director of Community and Economic Development Chris Ryan, explaining the rationale for the changes he has proposed.
The first such change is an increase of the maximum floor area ratio allowed by the permit. Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of the total interior floor space of all buildings on a given lot (including additional floors or basements) to the total land area in that lot. For example, a 10,000-square-foot lot with a two-story building with 500 square feet on each floor would have interior floor area equal to 10% of the lot size, for a floor area ratio of 0.1.
Harvard’s commercial district currently allows floor area ratios of up to 0.1 in general, and the existing Ayer Road Village special permit bylaw allows up to 0.2. The proposed changes would allow 0.4 normally under the Ayer Road Village special permit, and up to 0.5 as a reward for including affordable housing that meets the qualifications of the Massachusetts Subsidized Housing Inventory.
Another proposed change is reducing the frontage requirements from 300 feet along Ayer Road to 200 feet along any road, though the land itself must be within the commercial district. Yet another is allowing single structures over the current maximum size of 30,000 square feet provided they have multiple facades, giving the appearance of multiple, adjacent buildings. The remaining changes are not substantive in nature, consisting of rewording of existing information or explanations of various administrative processes.
Not feasible for development
According to Ryan, the current restrictions make new development economically infeasible, saying that even the newly loosened restrictions would be stricter than those in many other small towns. He also reminded board members that the Ayer Road Village special permit requires prospective developers to collaborate with the Planning Board before having the permit issued, a process that gives the board a lot of influence over final designs and gives time for public input.
The current fire safety bylaw requires all structures to have a source of water within 1,000 feet to supply fire trucks in the event of an emergency. The proposed change specifies that, for a water source to be counted, it must be located within Harvard. According to Land Use Administrator Liz Allard, this change was inserted at the request of the Fire Department.
Most of the Planning Board’s proposed changes to the bylaws enumerating small-, medium-, and large-scale commercial uses allowed in the commercial district amount to simple rewording. In some cases, several similar allowed uses are combined into a single item, while in other cases, a vaguely defined use is described in more detail. According to Ryan, these changes are an attempt to clean up the allowed-use bylaws, which have had uses added to them piecemeal over the years, resulting in current bylaws that are needlessly long, redundant, or confusing.
In addition to the aforementioned rewording, the changes would update the small-scale uses to include stand-alone automated teller machines and electronics repair shops. The medium-scale uses would now include general retail stores of up to 15,000 square feet, artists’ work spaces (not performance spaces), adult daycare, and commercial filming (defined as filming in the same location more than six days per year). Large-scale uses would be updated to include nurseries (for plants, not humans).
Immediate new business
According to Ryan, the provision allowing adult daycare services would let a new business open up immediately. Shirley resident Joanne Saprapasan has petitioned the Planning Board twice to be allowed to open her proposed business, Adult Day Health, at 16 Lancaster County Road. The Planning Board initially refused the request at its March 18 meeting, but Saprapasan argued in favor of her business at the June 17 meeting, persuading the board to accept. Despite the Planning Board’s positive recommendation, Building Commissioner Gabe Vellante rejected the proposal as not fitting within Harvard’s zoning bylaw.
The update to the definitions bylaw would add 17 new definitions, most related to businesses that would be allowed by the Rural Life Preservation special permit bylaw, such as a country inn. Other definitions would include adult daycare and day health, as well as general zoning terms such as lot coverage ratio.
These zoning bylaw amendments will be voted on at the 2019 fall Special Town Meeting and will be discussed at each Planning Board meeting between now and then. The town meeting will likely occur on either Oct. 21 or 28.
