When members of the Large House Review Study Committee gave an update on its work to the Planning Board on Sept. 2, it was back to school week and the committee had clearly done its summer reading and then some. Over the course of several hours, committee members presented a deep dive into their work, with three notable components. First, the committee has developed three potential sets of new home building guidelines for smaller lots and commissioned a consultant to develop renderings of their impact on changing the bulk of new homes. Second, they showed their work: the calculations that accounted for size, livable area in the home, overall building height and the height of the walls at the setback from the adjacent properties.
The third and most dramatic component was a comparison of the guidelines for building on similar lot sizes in Wellesley, Concord, Lexington, and Newton. In Single Resident B (SRB) districts, where there are many lots of 7,000-10,000 square feet, Needham’s current rules allow houses 20-40% larger than our comparable neighboring towns.
For example, on a 9,000-square-foot lot in Needham, a developer could build a house that measured 4,900 square feet (including the garage and any livable third floor area). In Wellesley, a lot that size limits houses to 3,600 square feet unless a larger plan is approved by a design review board. In Concord, the limit would be 3,360 square feet; Lexington, 3,862 square feet; and Newton, 3,870 square feet.
The presentation was a preview of the one the committee will bring to its Sept. 15 community meeting at Powers Hall. Co-chair Moe Handel said that, given the importance of the issue to every homeowner, whether for aesthetic, community or financial reasons, the committee is hoping for a large turnout and a lot of public comment. “There will be visualizations so people can see what the effects of reducing bulk might be,” said Handel.
With a goal of presenting actual recommendations to the Planning Board in November, the study committee needs enough public input to know its proposals will be widely supported. A non-scientific survey conducted by the review committee drew both a large response (1,155 residents) and considerable support for adjusting the building guidelines to limit the size of new construction on SRB lots, the only type of lot that the committee is considering.
In addition to the public input, committee member Oscar Mertz said there is another critical step before the November final report: An economic impact analysis that will examine the ways the guidelines would likely affect the major stakeholders — current property owners, developers and home buyers. Essentially, the question is whether revising the building requirements would reduce SRB property values (and the tax base), make it unprofitable for developers to build new houses or make it any easier for young families to buy homes in Needham.
The committee’s analysis of other towns’ rules not only highlighted the gap between their limits and Needham’s, it also gave the committee insight into the formulas each town uses and potentially a preview of a new approach for Needham.
“Look at Concord,” Mertz told the Planning Board. “It’s one line. Super simple. And our mantra has been, it’s got to be really easy and clear.” In Concord’s formula, the house dimensions are in proportion to the specific lot size, so houses can grow as lots grow.
Monday’s community meeting will be the Large House Review Study Committee’s chance to hear a range of feedback and get a sense for public support for each of its three guideline recommendations. They will hold another community meeting once they have the fiscal analysis, and Town Meeting members may have the opportunity to vote on new SRB-lot homes in the spring. Seems super simple.
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