ERVING — Although the Special Town Meeting warrant has only three articles, voters will be asked to weigh in on a slate of zoning bylaw changes, including a proposal to create a Mill Overlay District and guidance on accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Erving Senior & Community Center. A Selectboard meeting will take place immediately beforehand at 6:30 p.m.
The proposed zoning bylaw changes, which are recommended by the Planning Board and the Selectboard, come in Article 3. According to the warrant, these bylaws pertain to ADUs, townhouses, cottages, manufactured homes, backlots, common driveways and floodplain regulations. It also includes establishing a Mill Overlay District.
The largest addition to the zoning bylaws is the text detailing the Mill Overlay District, which would regulate the redevelopment of properties along the Millers River at parcels on Papermill Road, River Street, East Main Street and Arch Street. The overlay is intended to give the existing mill facilities options for future mixed-use development and allow for expanded housing options in Erving, among other considerations. Existing zoning regulations for these parcels, under the Central Village, Village Residential and Rural Residential zones, allow for certain residential, business and industrial uses among other categories, either by right or through a special permit.
Should the Mill Overlay District be adopted, a special permit from the Planning Board would be required for development. The bylaws outline what the development requirements would be, along with what exemptions the Planning Board may allow. One requirement states that at least 20% of the gross floor area of a pre-1920 building must include adaptive use, which means conversion of an existing structure must maintain “most or all of the original building envelope.”
Planning Board Chair Debra Smith explained Thursday that this proposed zoning change comes a few years after the town put forward a bylaw for a Planned Unit Development overlay district. However, the proposed overlay district was removed by voters in an amendment to a March 2022 Special Town Meeting article.
Smith said the feedback from voters during that 2022 Special Town Meeting helped inform the proposed bylaw creating a Mill Overlay District. She noted that this new bylaw would allow for greater flexibility in redevelopment for mixed-use proposals.
“I hope it’s something that residents will sit and read through, and bring any of their questions to Town Meeting,” Smith said.
The ADU bylaw changes, meanwhile, are meant to formalize state regulations that were put into effect in the 2024 Affordable Homes Act, Smith said. Additional definitions unrelated to ADUs, including kennels, data centers or scientific zoning uses, are also being added for the same purpose of bringing Erving’s bylaws up to date with state regulations.
In Erving, should the bylaws be adopted by voters, by-right ADUs could be a maximum of 900 square feet, regardless of the size of the principal dwelling, while any additional ADUs would require a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“This is a lot of truly fixing some corrections and mistakes from when we did our big zoning changes a few years back, and getting back into compliance with the state,” Smith said.
Article 2 comes at the request of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The article seeks voter approval to transfer a previously appropriated $200,000 from the Capital Stabilization Fund to the Capital Project Fund for the schematic design portion of Erving Elementary School’s roof and heat pump replacement project.
This $200,000 was first approved for the project at the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting, then reaffirmed for use at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, through an article seeking local authorization for the schematic design.
Article 1 deals with outstanding bills from the prior fiscal year totaling $4,504, to be funded from a variety of sources.
A copy of Monday’s warrant and the proposed zoning bylaw changes can be found at tinyurl.com/5f9jkyhx.
