Somerville Planning Board Makes Positive Recommendation for Somernova Zoning Amendments
On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the City of Somerville’s Planning Board held a meeting where it discussed four proposed zoning amendments based on the Central Somerville Ave. planning that took place during the Fall of 2024.
At the meeting, the Planning Board made a positive recommendation for all four zoning amendments.
The zoning amendments are as follows:
Ordainment of an amendment to Articles 2, 3-6, and 9 of the Zoning Ordinance to revise the regulations for arts and creative enterprise, office, and residential uses.
This will amend the current Arts and Creative Enterprise (ACE) zoning to include art studios, arts education, art exhibition and sales, and artist housing, as well as recategorize co-working spaces and incubators to office uses.
Ordainment of an amendment to Articles 2, 4-6, 8, and 9 of the Zoning Ordinance to revise the regulations for laboratory uses and buildings.
This will amend the research and development category by separating biomedical lab uses from general R&D and removing “lab building” designations.
Ordainment of an amendment to Articles 6, 9, and 10 of the Zoning Ordinance to establish a new Research & Development zoning district.
This will generate a new R&D zoning district that supports mid-scale commercial development for climate tech innovation, including Greentown Labs and MIT’s The Engine.
Ordainment of an amendment to Articles 8 and 12 of the Zoning Ordinance to establish a new Arts & Innovation sub-area of the Master Planned Development Overlay District.
This will establish an Arts and Innovation Subarea within the Master Plan Development Overlay District that would allow for growth and scale at Somernova.
This is a part of a multi-step process in which the Planning Board makes a recommendation to the Land Use Committee.
A video recording of this meeting can be viewed here.
More information on the four relevant zoning amendments, including the Arts & Innovation Subarea Zoning as put forth by the City of Somerville, can be found in our previous blog posts “What’s going on with the Somernova zoning? An update on the Arts & Innovation zoning overlay” and “Somerville Presents Zoning Amendments to Advance Local Arts, Climate Tech, and Innovation.”
