writethefuture3 OP t1_ixjsjtu wrote
Reply to comment by IC_Design in The lack of homes could strangle our life sciences industry: Why the concentration of biopharma in Cambridge and Boston would ratchet up costs, exacerbate the housing crisis, and pitch the region from its throne. by writethefuture3
All height minimums, lot setbacks, and "historic" restrictions should be immediately removed.
CorbuGlasses t1_ixklkvz wrote
Architect here. I wouldn’t go this far, but changes need to be made. The funny and sad part is that some towns have changed their zoning recently but there are still holdouts on most boards who will vote down projects that are as-of-right under the rules they wrote.
Master_Dogs t1_ixorg78 wrote
Interesting. If something is by right, why would the zoning board be involved? Do they still approve/disapprove by right proposals?
CorbuGlasses t1_ixov2mh wrote
It depends on the municipality but in the case of that particular project it’s technically a planning board so it’s both design review and zoning review. The hearing is for all projects of a certain size and also serves as the public meeting. They wrote the zoning and oversee it, but because it’s not strictly a zoning board there is subjectivity in the approvals.
It’s a joke and the night before our hearing and a month after we submitted all the required documentation the deputy planner sent us a list of questions that pretty much showed they didn’t know their own zoning rules nor did they spend the time to thoroughly review what we submitted. Every response was basically “see submission” or “that’s not actually what the zoning code states”.
dny6 t1_ixmbj6w wrote
These boards shouldn’t even exist. They’re filled with people with no professional qualifications other than being old and wealthy
IC_Design t1_ixju2b5 wrote
Agreed. Desperate times call for Desperate measures
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