40R Mixed-Use Overlay Planning District

40R Update, January 19, 2024

Here is the presentation made at the December 13, 2023 Working Group meeting along with the video of the event.  Please submit any questions or comments to Paul DiGiuseppe.

40R Update April 25, 2023

Route 6/240 40R Visioning Process

  1. 40R Public Workshop #5 January 25 Slide Show Presentation.

  2. 40R Public Workshop #4 December 14, 2022 Slide Show Presentation

  3. 40R Public Workshop #3 November 16, 2022 Slide Show Presentation

  4. 40R Public Workshop November 4-5, 2022 Slide Show Presentations

    1. Friday November 4:- 40R Consultant Slide Show Presentation

    2. Saturday November 5: 40R Consultant Slide Show Presentation Case Studies

  5. Fairhaven 40R Working Group ScheduleThe 40R Working Group will meet in the Town Hall Auditorium at 40 Center Street on the following dates:
    1. Wednesday September 21, 2022 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm -                                                Working Group Sept. 21 Slide Show Presentation

    2. Wednesday October 5, 2022 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm -                                                       Working Group October 5 Slide Show Presentation

    3. 40R Public Workshop November 4-5, 2022 - Workshop Flyer- Additionally, a public workshop open to the public is scheduled to meet at the following times. Please join us and be a part of the discussion to help create new capacity for sustainable growth in appropriate locations with the right density and style. The public workshop is scheduled to meet at the following times.

      1. Friday November 4: Driving Tour (3:00 pm) and Listening Session at the Town Hall Auditorium  from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm

      2. Saturday November 5: Stations at the Town Hall Auditorium on Different Topics from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm .

    4. Wednesday November 16, 2022 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm - THIS WEDNESDAY

    5. Wednesday December 14, 2022 from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm

  6. Fairhaven 40R Project Overview

    The Town of Fairhaven is embarking on a collaborative effort to prepare a 40R Overlay District Bylaw with Design Standards for the 2023 Annual Town Meeting Warrant. A 40R Overlay District Bylaw and Design Standards could allow higher-density mixed-use development, such as apartments above storefronts, in specific locations for proposals that meet certain conditions and design standards.

    The project will have three phases. First, creating a shared vision for the study areas. Second, drafting the overlay zoning and design standards based on the vision. Third, bringing the overlay zoning and design standards through the process of adoption as a local law.

    Phase 1: Creating a Shared Vision
    In the first phase, a “40R Working Group” and the general public will undertake a collaborative process guided by a professional team of planning and design consultants to create a shared vision for the future of the study area. The vision will clearly articulate—in plans, words, and pictures—what it is that the town is trying to achieve. The Working Group is composed of about forty citizens who volunteered to represent the community’s diverse interests and perspectives. The 40R Working Group will meet with the consultants a handful of times between September and December 2022 to guide the development of the vision for the study areas. In addition, there will be a series of public visioning workshop events on November 4-5. Everyone is encouraged to attend the events to ensure that the vision reflects local knowledge, priorities, and values. 

    Phase 2: Drafting the Zoning Bylaw and Design Standards
    In the second phase, a legal expert will draft the proposed zoning language, while the planning and design consultants create the design standards. Both the zoning and the design standards will be designed to implement the community’s vision for the study areas.

    Phase 3: Adoption Process
    In the third phase, the zoning bylaw and design standards will be brought through the adoption process, including a Town Meeting vote. 40R zoning must be approved by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Housing and Community Development before it can be adopted locally. The adoption process includes the following steps:

    1. Town holds a public hearing about the proposed zoning

    2. Town submits an application to DHCD
    3. DHCD issues a Letter of Eligibility, declaring the proposed zoning as eligible for local adoption
    4. Local Zoning Adoption Process (this is the normal zoning adoption process that includes a vote at Town Meeting)
    5. Town provides Evidence of Adoption to DHCD
    6. DHCD issues Letter of Approval
    7. Local Project Approval (Zoning permit approvals by local boards)
    8. Ongoing reporting by Town and monitoring by DHCD

Why is the Town exploring 40R zoning overlay districts?

  • 40R allows the Town to decide where to grow.
  • 40R allows the Town to create Design Standards.
  • 40R allows the Town to create new capacity for sustainable growth in appropriate locations, like areas served by transit or areas that have adequate infrastructure for additional development.
  • 40R allows mixed-use development, like apartments above storefronts.
  • 40R zoning is not “one-size-fits-all.” 40R Overlay Districts can have sub-districts within them enabling zoning and design standards to respond to varying local conditions (like the Plaza areas versus the Waterfront, or even between blocks in the Waterfront) and a nuanced local vision.
  • 40R helps with funding. It would increase our competitiveness for grants. The state provides incentive payments for adopting a 40R Overlay and payments to offset expenses from additional school children.
  • 40R achieves the Town’s Master Plan Goals & Objectives, including helping the town meet its housing needs.
  • 40R is only allowed if Town Meeting adopts it.

40R is not the same as 40B

40R allows communities to adopt zoning that gives the community increased local control over development, while increasing predictability for neighbors and permit applicants.

40B, or the Massachusetts Comprehensive Permit Act, is a different state statute that allows developers to override local zoning bylaws in order to increase the number of affordable homes in municipalities where less than 10% of the housing is defined as affordable. Currently, Fairhaven is below the 10% threshold for affordable housing and so developers could put forward 40B projects.  Adoption of a 40R Overlay District could help protect the Town from an unwanted Chapter 40B application.

In short, 40R and 40B both provide pathways for more affordable housing, but through 40R, the Town will gain more control, deciding where additional development should go and how it should be designed.

What is a Zoning Overlay District?

A Zoning Overlay District provides a second set of zoning requirements that an applicant can choose to follow. For example, an Overlay District may allow different uses or have different dimensional standards than the underlying zoning. The existing zoning, meanwhile, remains in effect. When applying for a permit, an applicant can choose to follow the standards in underlying zoning or opt into using the standards in the Overlay district.

  1. Fairhaven 40R Working Group Concept:
    1. A successful framework for establishing a 40R district for the Route 6/240 redevelopment area will be founded on a collaborative process between residents, landowners, business owners, town officials and other stakeholders, guided by a professional team of planning and design consultants. The purpose of this is to ensure that the new regulatory framework is supported by a shared vision for the future of the study area that clearly articulates – in plans, words and pictures – what it is that the town is trying to achieve.
    2. Designed to make sure that those who are most affected by the plan are involved in making it.  The result will not only be a better plan than we could come up with on our own, but also a plan that is clearly understood and enthusiastically supported by a broad spectrum of community stakeholders.  In broad terms, any successful consensus-building process includes:
      1. Convening Stakeholders who represent all those potentially affected by the plan and the various interests at play in the social and political life of the community.
      2. A Shared Fact-Finding Process that involves the stakeholders in vetting the maps, data and analyses about the site and determining whether the information is accurate, complete and trustworthy.
      3. Discussion of Shared Community Values and Vision for their community and the site.
      4. Shared exploration of alternatives, where all reasonable ideas are brought forward and tested against the community’s vision and values.
      5. Deliberation and decision making, where stakeholders participate in refining concepts and looking objectively at how best to balance the goals of the community with the needs of the landowners, businesses and institutions.
    3. The Working Group: At the center of this consensus-building process is a Working Group composed of 20-25 community stakeholders. This will include residents, business owners, landowners within the study area and surrounding neighborhoods; representatives of various demographic groups and business sectors; non-profits, service organizations, elected officials, board members, resident leaders, social service providers, and citizen volunteers from the general public.
    4. If interested please see the Volunteer Opportunities page or contact Paul DiGiuseppe
  2. 40R Working Group Press: See the Fairhaven Neighborhood News Article on August 3, 2022 (FNN 40R Working Group Article) and the New Bedford Standard Times Article on August 17, 2022 (S-T 40R Working Group Article).