At a Special Town Meeting held on Monday evening, September 29th, at Mudge Auditorium at Dover Sherborn High School, Dover residents voted, 250 in favor and 29 opposed, to pass a new zoning bylaw and overlay district in order to comply with the MBTA Communities Act.
The zoning amendment will add an MBTA Communities Multi-Family Overlay District of 9.957 acres at the area known as County Court, or Tisdale Drive. The zoning amendment was the single article set before voters at Monday's Special Town Meeting.
Generally speaking, the MBTA Communities Act requires municipalities with public transit hubs to create one zoning district of reasonable size that allows multi-family housing "by right." It applies to 177 communities in Massachusetts.
Dover is one of 19 "adjacent small towns" that has until December 31st to submit an application to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities that shows compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. Under the act, an "adjacent small town" has less than 100 acres of developable station area and has either a population density of fewer than 500 people per square mile or a total population of 7,000 or less.
By September 29 when residents approved the MBTA Communities Act Multi-family Overlay District, Dover's planning board members and others had been reviewing the compliance issue for about three years.
In discussion at the Special Town Meeting, one stated motivation for passing the zoning bylaw was the town remaining eligible for significant sums of state grants. It was said that Dover applies for and receives about $1.3 million annually in state grants. Dover voters were also cognizant of the possibility of losing a $13 million earmark for replacing its Center Street Bridge.
According to remarks at the Special Town Meeting by Dover Board of Selectmen member Robyn Hunter, the loss of $1.3 million in grants would add about $600 per year in taxes to owners of the median home in Dover, valued at $1.6 million. Loss of the $13 million earmark would result in adding $425 on top of the $600 for the tax bill of a typical Dover homeowner, she said.
Sunny, with a high of 27 and low of 9 degrees. Sunny in the morning, overcast in the afternoon and evening, clear overnight.
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