For more information, please visit: www.newtonma.gov/zbahearings

APPLICATION OVERVIEW

The Sponsor will be seeking permitting under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B.

Request for Project Eligibility and Supplemental Docs

City Notification from MassHousing

Initial Traffic Impact Assessment dated 12-17-19

APPLICATION

Application to Zoning Board of Appeals submitted 1-6-20

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

• Drainage Report dated 12-11-19

• Revised Drainage Report dated 3-13-20

• Revised Site Development Plans dated 3-13-20

• Revised Site Development Plans dated 4-17-20

• Revised Architectural Plans dated 4-21-20

• Sustainability Report dated 4-22-20

• Supplemental Narrative to Plans 4-22-2020

CDP Land Acquisition Company, LLC has filed an application for Project Eligibility with MassHousing for a Comprehensive Permit/40B on a site encompassing 15 Riverdale Avenue. As currently proposed, the development would consist of two separate buildings with a total of 204 units of rental housing, 4,600 square feet of retail, and 17,782 square feet of office / innovation space. Fifty-one (51) units will be made affordable to households earning 80% of the area median income (AMI), and 153 units will not have any income restrictions. The Project Eligibility application is a prerequisite to filing with the Zoning Board of Appeals for a Comprehensive Permit/40B. Once the project has received a Project Eligibility letter from MassHousing the applicant will file for a Comprehensive Permit/40B with the ZBA and a public hearing will be scheduled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 40B/COMPREHENSIVE PERMIT

Chapter 40B is a state statute that encourages the development of low- and moderate-income housing by providing a streamlined permitting process and relief from local zoning requirements.  Also known as the Comprehensive Permit Law, Chapter 40B was enacted in 1969 to help address the shortage of affordable housing in Massachusetts.  The law requires that at least 20-25 percent of units in a development have long-term affordability restrictions.  Under Chapter 40B, the local Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) is the permit granting authority.  The ZBA must review and make decisions (approve, approve with conditions, or deny comprehensive permits) in a public hearing setting.  The State Housing Appeals Committee hears appeals for projects in communities that have less than 10 percent of their housing affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

A prerequisite to filing with the ZBA for a comprehensive permit is the issuance of a Project Eligibility Letter from a subsidizing agency.  The Sponsor has submitted an Application for Project Eligibility to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (the Subsidizing agency). The City's response will available to view here in the future.

RESOURCES

Chapter 40B Fact Sheet

Rules of the Newton Zoning Board of Appeals