Mixed Use Zoning Toolkit (March 2006)

Prepared by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council with support from The Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination (MAGIC) and the Commonwealth’s Priority Development Fund

This basic guide to mixed use zoning presents the fundamentals you need to plan a mixed use bylaw:

• What is mixed use?
• What are the benefits to your community? To developers?
• What is the best process to plan mixed use zoning?
• What issues should you consider in designing a bylaw?
• How can you educate the public and address citizen concerns?

This guide is based primarily on the experiences of five suburban communities that have prepared bylaws with assistance from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), supported by grants from the state’s Priority Development Fund. MAPC also investigated the mixed use experiences of other communities in the region and elsewhere in the state. Preparation of this guide, a companion guide and technical appendix for citizens, and many of the public education materials used to shape the bylaws and educate the public were developed with additional funding from the MAGIC subregion [1].

Download a PDF of the Mixed Use Zoning Planner's Toolkit.

Download a PDF version of the toolkit that is geared towards citizens, the Mixed Use Zoning Citizens' Guide.

Download the supplement to the Mixed Use Zoning Citizens' Guide, titled "Things to Consider in Reviewing Mixed Use Proposals".

[1] MAGIC – the Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal Coordination – is a subregion of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). MAGIC consists of officials from Acton, Bedford, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, and Stow.