Wilmington Town Meeting To Vote On MBTA District

WILMINGTON, MA — Voters will weigh in on a proposed multi-family housing zoning district at the annual town meeting May 4.

The town released the following statement regarding the proposal:

The Town of Wilmington is required by a new state law (Section 3A of MGL Chapter 40A) to create an as-of-right multi-family zoning district of at least 50 acres, half of which is required to be located within a half mile of a commuter rail station. The district must allow for at least 1,248 units of multi-family housing units and is required to have a density of at least 15 units per acre. The new zoning must be in place by December 31, 2024.

Following a two-week online community survey and public outreach, the Wilmington Planning Board has drafted a multi-family zoning district proposal for consideration at the May 4, 2024 Annual Town Meeting. Text and maps for the “MBTA Multi-family Overlay District (MOD)” can be viewed on the Town’s Planning & Conservation webpage: https://www.wilmingtonma.gov/planning-conservation.

The MOD is proposed as an overlay district that adds an option of future multi-family housing development on top of the existing zoning. Three story multi-family development would be allowed as-of-right within the following four sub-districts, the exact boundaries of which can be viewed on the Town’s Planning & Conservation webpage:

• Main Street Mixed Use Sub-district – West side of Main Street from 433 Main Street (corner of Burlington Avenue and Main Street) north to 271 Main Street (McGovern Hyundai). This sub-district requires a ground floor commercial use in order to have residential on the upper two floors.
• Burlington Avenue Sub-district – 10 Burlington Avenue (Metro apartments site).
• Deming Way Sub-district – Deming Way Wilmington Housing Authority site.
• West Street Sub-district – 121 West Street (Regency Apartments site), 114 West Street (storage facility), 108 West Street, and 100-104 West Street (Approved 40B development at the corner of West Street and Lowell Street).

If passed with a majority vote at Town Meeting, the proposed MOD zoning would meet the new Section 3A requirement, keeping the town eligible for grant funding, keeping the Wilmington Housing Authority funding intact, and avoid enforcement action by the State.

Please visit the website for more information about the Section 3A requirement and how the Town is proposing to address it. Do not hesitate to contact Valerie Gingrich, Director of Planning & Conservation at 978-658-8238 or [email protected] with any questions.