{"id":18720,"date":"2024-10-14T22:42:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T02:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/?p=18720"},"modified":"2024-10-17T20:45:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T00:45:59","slug":"green-needham-endorses-the-neighborhood-housing-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenneedham.org\/blog\/2024\/10\/green-needham-endorses-the-neighborhood-housing-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Needham Endorses the Neighborhood Housing Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine a future Needham where single family houses still predominate, but a variety of new multifamily housing is available near commuter rail stations, giving seniors more options to downsize and making housing more attainable for our teachers, police, and young people.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On October 21, Town Meeting Members will make an important decision about the future of housing in Needham, voting on two zoning plans which are up for consideration. Both plans comply with the MBTA Communities Act, which requires cities and towns with an MBTA transit stop to adopt zoning that allows multifamily housing by right, predominantly in areas near transit. For Needham, this means allowing a minimum of 1,784 multifamily units.<\/p>\n

Currently, 90% of Needham is zoned exclusively for single-family residences, and that will not change. The zoning plans only affect commercial and mixed-use areas along Chestnut Street, as well as Highland and Hillside Avenues.<\/p>\n

Two plans — two different visions<\/strong>. The Base Plan meets minimum compliance with the MBTA Act. The Neighborhood Housing Plan is more ambitious, allowing for greater density and more units than the Basic Plan.<\/p>\n

Green Needham strongly endorses the Neighborhood Housing Plan, which has been carefully crafted by the Town-appointed Housing Needham (HONE) advisory group, after receiving public input at many community meetings. \u00a0It is important to remember that both plans allow<\/u>, but do not mandate<\/u>, development. A full build-out of the allowable units is very unlikely. Most of the affected parcels are currently being put to use, so the new housing that does get built will be done gradually over many years. Green Needham believes that the Neighborhood Plan, with its allowance of increased height and density, offers the incentives necessary to make development of much-needed new housing more financially feasible.<\/p>\n

Among the environmental benefits of multifamily housing:<\/p>\n