Littleton Common Overlay District Study
UPDATED - The discussion continues at the Planning Board meeting on Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 7 PM. See MAPC presentation on proposed zoning amendments. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has now submitted its report on the Littleton Common Overlay District study, which it prepared under the District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) program. Read the report.
The Board of Selectmen and Planning Board have held numerous meetings on the Littleton Common Overlay District study. See revised draft Village by-law (Area A) and revised draft concepts for Area C. MAPC is now proposing a separate Business Zone (Business A) for the Common Area only, with other areas currently zoned Business to be re-named Business B. MAPC believes this is the best way to require specific uses (Mixed Use projects) and enhanced design guidelines for the Common Area in order to meet Littleton’s goals for this area. See also Consensus Points for Area A and Area C; discussion points for Area C, and a draft by-law for Area C.
See September 24, 2009 updates for Area B Zoning and Area C concepts. See draft from August 24, 2009 meeting. See notes of July 23, 2009 joint meeting.
| Littleton Common Overlay Districts - Proposed Areas A, B, and C - October 2009 |
 |
June 17, 2009 Public Forum. The Planning Board and Board of Selectmen hosted a Littleton Common Overlay District Public Forum on Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at the Middle School. See the results. The forum was led by Mark Racicot of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to begin setting the stage for creating a potential overlay district for Littleton Common, the nearby properties to the west, including those owned by IBM and Cisco, as well as possibly areas to the east of the existing business district. Mr. Racicot used a PowerPoint Visual Preference Tool that MAPC has successfully used in Bedford, Millis and other communities in preparation for discussions of mixed use bylaws. See the results of the June 17, 2009 exercise. See Tables and Charts summarizing June 17, 2009 Forum Results
The Town requested assistance from MAPC to prepare a draft of a mixed-use bylaw for the three subareas of the potential overlay district, which would allow for a special permit review process to allow for retail, office and residential construction within the designated area (although not all uses would necessarily be allowed in all three areas). A public forum regarding the potential overlay district is now scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, 2009 from 7 to 9 PM at the Littleton Middle School. The Planning Board will also hosted a follow-up meeting on Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 8 PM.
Input received from the public, along with the materials presented at the public forum, will be available on this webpage after the forum so that those who could not attend may be able to provide continuing input to the town Boards. Questions? Please contact Planning Administrator/Permit Coordinator Maren Toohill at toohill@littletonma.org
| |
|
| Three Sub-areas |
|
 |
|
| Littleton Common Sub-area A - business district |
|
 |
|
| Cisco/IBM Western Sub-area B - industrial districts west of IBM |
|
 |
|
| Eastern Sub-area C - residential district east of village |
|
Overlay District Scope. Using District Local Technical Assistance Funds, MAPC will assist the Town of Littleton to prepare an Overlay District bylaw for the Littleton Common area. The future development of the Littleton Common was a major focus of the residents participating in a previous economic development forum held by the town (and facilitated by MAPC).
The DLTA assistance to Littleton will begin with the hosting a visioning session to determine the residents’ goals for the "Littleton Common" downtown area of Littleton, roughly defined as the properties bordering both sides of the Great Road (Route 2A/119) and bounded on the west by Beaver Brook Road and on the East by Powers Road, and including such major areas as the Cisco Systems site, IBM site, Littleton Common business district and the farmland east of the business district. .
This visioning session will include a discussion of goals of the community regarding the mix of uses that will be allowed, and also a "Visual Preference" discussion to determine the types of structures, heights, bulk, density, setback, public amenities etc that would be associated with any development in the downtown. For purposes of this discussion, the potential Overlay District will be divided into 3 sections.
Based upon the input from the first session, MAPC will undertake (in consultation with the Planning Board) preparation of PowerPoint slide images of at least two streetscapes that illustrate how structure styles and pedestrian amenities preferred during the Visual Preference program could be incorporated into the study area. MAPC will undertake an analysis of the zoning and other regulations to determine if changes would be necessary to incorporate the types, locations and density of developments "preferred" by the participating public.
MAPC will then work with the Planning Board to prepare an Overlay District bylaw that will be designed to meet the community goals outlined during the community Visioning session, for the portion or the entirety of the study area that the Board feels is ready to be brought to Town Meeting in Fall 2009.
At a joint meeting with the Planning Board on April 13, 2009, the Littleton Board of Selectmen vote to approve a revised scope of services with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) under the District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) program program for preparation of an overlay district by-law for the Cisco/IBM/Littleton Common area. Next steps will be to engage the affected property and business owners in this planning process. Our target is to prepare an overlay district proposal for a Fall 2009 Special Town Meeting. On December 8, 2008, the Board had voted to authorize the submission of a request to MAPC under the DLTA program. MAPC had announced on February 5, 2009 that it wished to proceed once a scope of services has been worked out.
MassDevelopment Transportation Study. MassDevelopment and BSC Group have produced a traffic and transportation analysis of the Town’s Priority Development Sites, IBM and Cisco. See presentation. Read more.
|