Zoning Districts

See also: Floodplain Overlay Districts

Climate resilient language can be found in a wide variety of zoning districts reviewed below. Strategies include providing incentives for resilient development, restricting development, and adding requirements that improve resilience.

This page provides short summaries of key features of regulations based on desktop review. Links to the regulations are provided below. Conduct careful review when considering adopting new language. The resources included do not constitute legal advice. Municipalities should consult legal counsel when adopting new bylaws, ordinances, and policies.

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Strategies to Increase Climate Resilience Through Zoning Districts

Coastal Incentives for Elevation Restrictions on Development Planned Unit Development Districts Water Resource Protection Overlay Districts Cluster Zoning/Open Space Districts Smart Growth Districts

Coastal Incentives for Elevation

Saugus (XVIII) adopted its Waterfront Mixed Used Overlay District in 2014. Designed to stimulate development, its goals include promoting development that is resilient to flooding and future sea level rise. The overlay is an alternative to the underlying zoning. Incentives include an expanded array of allowed uses. It requires freeboard of one to three feet above FEMA base flood (the zoning was adopted prior to the state building code freeboard requirements). It also includes provisions for environmentally sensitive design and public access to the waterfront.
Marshfield (XIII, 305-13.05) adopted a Brant Rock Village Overlay District to reduce the impacts of actual and future coastal flooding and to promote mixed use development. The district provides alternate development options if structures are floodproofed at or above base flood elevation. Elevating above BFE is encouraged (the zoning was adopted prior to the state building code freeboard requirements).
Hull (III, 39B) adopted a Nantasket Beach Overlay District to encourage mixed use and multifamily redevelopment. Goals include protecting the barrier beach and dune system and incentivizing development that will be resilient to flooding and future sea level rise. Up to six feet of additional height is allowed in order to provide freeboard. The first floor must consist of non-habitable space; seasonal activities and parking are allowed on the first floor.

Restrictions on Development

Stow (3.1) established a Recreation-Conservation District for the purpose of protecting “persons and property against the hazards of flood water inundation”, among other reasons. The Recreation-Conservation District includes large areas of public open space, as well as private land along the Assabet River and other waterways. Construction of any buildings within 100 feet of a district boundary line is prohibited, and no residential uses are permitted within the District.
Gloucester (5.28) adopted an Atlantic Road Overlay District to protect an area of coastal shoreline “to minimize potential loss of life, destruction of property and environmental damage inevitably resulting from storm, erosion, and current and future flooding”. A Special Permit from the City Council is required for issue of a building permit.

Planned Unit Development Districts

Planned Unit Developments provide standards for mixed use development.

Cambridge (13.100) requires that projects in their PUD 7 address “expected vulnerability of the development to the effects of climate change, including increased precipitation, flood risk, temperature, and urban heat island effect, and strategies to promote resiliency within individual building sites and at a larger district-wide level, including natural stormwater management systems, increased vegetation and shade, and measures to withstand and recover from extreme climatological events.” Projects must be LEED Gold certifiable. (See also Article 22.00 on LEED requirements.) (13.90) Projects in PUD 8 must address “how the proposed development serves nearby East Cambridge community-wide needs for emergency refuge or shelter during heat or storm emergencies”. (13.100) In both districts, projects must address goals in the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan.

Water Resource Protection Overlay Districts

Many communities have adopted overlay districts to protect their ground or surface water drinking water supply. All of the districts have language designed to prevent hazardous materials from contaminating municipal water supply. Quite a few communities also include language that restricts impervious surfaces. This supports stormwater infiltration, which can reduce flooding and improve groundwater recharge.

The relationship between impervious cover and surface runoff. Imperious cover in a watershed results in increased surface runoff. As little as 10 percent impervious cover in a watershed can result in stream degradation. In Stream Corridor Restoration: Principles, Processes and Practices (10/98). By the Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group.

Stow (3.1) limits impervious surfaces in the Water Resource Protection District to 10% or the lot area of 5,000 sq/ft of the district, whichever is greater.
Scituate (520) limits impervious surface to 15% or 2,500 sq/ft of the lot, whichever is greater, unless an artificial recharge system meets standards that mimic hydraulic conditions and increases protection of sensitive resources. Bellingham (XX), Danvers (27), Duxbury (406), and Foxborough (9.0) have the same limits with similar protective language. In Scituate (520), a variance may be allowed for properties outside of Zone A or Zone II. Foxborough (9.0) requires a Special Permit for multifamily and non-residentials uses.
Sudbury (4100) limits impervious surfaces to 15% for new and existing structures in Zone II, unless allowed by Special Permit.
Topsfield (XI) requires a Special Permit for activities that exceed 2,500 sq/ft or 15% of a lot, which ever is less. Plans must show stormwater controls that leave neighboring lots unaffected by the project.
Walpole (12) generally limits impervious surfaces to 15% or 2,500 sq/ft of residential lots, whichever is greater. This applies to existing and potential water supply areas (outside of Zone 1). Additional requirements apply. Special Permits are required for expansion of existing uses, and for residential and non-residential uses that exceed 15% or 2,500 sq/ft of a lot, whichever is greater.
Wayland (16) requires Site Plan Approval for impervious surface of more than 15% of the lot, or 2,500 sq/ft, whichever is greater. Impervious surfaces cannot exceed 30% of the upland area of the lot. Residential developments utilizing septic and that do not require a Special Permit cannot exceed 1.5 units per upland acre being developed.
Wellesley requires a Special Permit for projects of more than 10,000 sq/ft of impervious surfaces.
Wenham allow projects that render impervious less than 20% of a lot (exclusive of wetlands and land in the Floodplain Overlay District).
Weston requires a Special Permit for projects with more than 15% of impervious surface on the lot.
Weymouth requires Site Plan Review for projects in the Watershed Protection District that propose impervious surfaces of 15% of the lot, or 2,500 sq/ft, whichever is greater. (This requirement does not apply to the R-1 Zoning District.) Site Plan Review is required for all projects in the Groundwater Protection District that propose impervious surfaces of 15% of the lot or 2,500 sq/ft, whichever is greater.
Ashland, Wilmington, and Woburn require a Special Permit for any use that will render impervious more than 15% or 2,500 sq/ft of any lot, whichever is greater.
Acton requires that in Zone 1, a minimum of 90% of every lot be Open Space, 50% be undisturbed open space, and no more than 10% be impervious. In Zone 2, a minimum of 70% of every lot must be open space, 40% must be undisturbed open space, and no more than 30% of a lot can be impervious.

Cluster Zoning/Open Space Districts

Smart Growth Districts