Zoning Rewrite | Reescritura de Zonificación
The City of Lynn is conducting a comprehensive rewrite of its citywide zoning ordinance. This project is a collaboration between the City and a team of urban planners from CommunityScale, with strategy and implementation support from Levine Planning Strategies and legal support from BBHS Law. The project is supported by a grant from the State’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. This project aims to align Lynn’s zoning regulations with the Vision Lynn comprehensive plan.
Previously, we created a survey about community priorities for the new zoning code, conducted interviews with frequent zoning code users, and analyzed existing conditions in our zoning audit. Throughout the process, we’ve been leading the work through the Zoning Working Group, a team made up of representatives from the Planning, Law, Inspectional Services Departments, Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, EDIC/Lynn, the Mayor's Office, and City Council.
Now, we are pleased to share the draft zoning code for public comment. This code better aligns with Vision Lynn, increases the predictability of development, supports high-quality development projects, and preserves what is already working in our community.
Review the Draft
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| Read the Code (PDF, English only) | Check out the Map (PDF, Interactive, or Comparison) | View the Video Coming soon! |
We’d like to hear from you!
Join us for Virtual Office Hours
| Wednesday, February 26 12:00pm Zoom - Register Here | Tuesday, March 4 5:00pm Zoom - Register Here | In Spanish: Tuesday, March 18 6:00pm Zoom - Register Here |
See us present at a public meeting or email Lauren.Drago@LynnMA.gov to request us to present at your upcoming meeting
Submit your comments or questions
Submit your comments or questions on this form by Sunday, March 23.
Next Steps
Once we have received your feedback and made any edits, we will be submitting to the Planning Board and City Council for their consideration.
What is Zoning?
Zoning is the city’s ability to regulate the use of land and buildings. It establishes zoning districts and their associated allowable uses (like housing, commercial, and industrial) and associated dimensional requirements (including how tall buildings can be). Zoning also establishes the approval process for developments and special regulations for particular areas and uses.
Other Zoning Topics
The City of Lynn has submitted zoning to be compliant with the MBTA Communities Act and is waiting for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to determine we are in compliance. Read more.
On February 11, 2025, the City adopted a zoning amendment to regulate Accessory Dwelling Units, which will be allowed by-right in Single Family Zoning Districts starting in February 2025. Read more at Mass.gov.
Reescritura de la Zonificación
La Ciudad de Lynn está llevando a cabo la reescritura integral de su ordenanza de zonificación para toda la Ciudad. Este proyecto es una colaboración entre la Ciudad y un equipo de planificadores urbanos de CommunityScale, con apoyo de estrategia e implementación de Levine Planning Strategies y apoyo legal de BBHS Law. El proyecto cuenta con el apoyo financiero de la Oficina Ejecutiva de Vivienda y Comunidades Habitables del Estado. Este proyecto tiene como meta alinear las regulaciones de zonificación de Lynn con el plan integral Visión Lynn.
Anteriormente, creamos una encuesta sobre las prioridades de la comunidad para el nuevo código de zonificación, realizamos entrevistas con usuarios frecuentes del código de zonificación y analizamos las condiciones existentes en nuestra auditoría de zonificación. A lo largo del proceso, hemos estado liderando el trabajo a través del Grupo de Trabajo de Zonificación, un equipo compuesto por representantes de los Departamentos de Planificación, Derecho, Servicios de Inspección, la Junta de Planificación, la Junta de Apelaciones de Zonificación, EDIC/Lynn, la Oficina del Alcalde y el Concejo Municipal.
Ahora, nos complace compartir el borrador del código de zonificación para comentarios públicos. Este código se alinea mejor con Visión Lynn, aumenta la previsibilidad del desarrollo, apoya proyectos de desarrollo de alta calidad y preserva lo que ya está funcionando en nuestra comunidad.
Leer el Código
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| Leer el código (PDF, Solo en inglés) | Mire el mapa (PDF, interactivo [¡próximamente!], o compare el antes y el después) | Vea nuestro video ¡Próximamente! |
¡Nos gustaría escuchar de usted!
Únase a nosotros en el horario de oficina
| Wednesday, February 26 12:00pm Zoom - Register Here | Tuesday, March 4 5:00pm Zoom - Register Here | In Spanish: Tuesday, March 18 6:00pm Zoom - Register Here |
Envíe sus comentarios o preguntas
Envíe sus comentarios o preguntas en este formulario antes del domingo 23 de marzo.
Próximos Pasos
Una vez que hayamos recibido sus comentarios y realizado cualquier edición, los presentaremos a la Junta de Planificación y al Concejo Municipal para su consideración.
¿Qué es zonificación?
Zonificación es la capacidad que tiene la ciudad de regular el uso de terrenos y edificios. Establece los distritos de zonificación y sus usos permitidos asociados (tales como vivienda, comercial e industrial) y requisitos dimensionales asociados (incluyendo la altura de los edificios). La zonificación también establece el proceso de aprobación para desarrollos y regulaciones especiales para áreas y usos particulares.
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Accessory Dwelling Unit Policy
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The Massachusetts Legislature recently passed a law that makes Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) allowed by-right in single-family housing districts, and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities subsequently issued draft regulations providing further guidance. The new law will be in effect on February 2, 2025. You can read more about the changes in rules and the draft guidelines at Mass.gov.
Municipalities are allowed to adopt regulations governing ADUs in their communities, but there are limits. The Zoning Working Group - which is made up of representatives from the Planning, Law, Inspectional Services Departments, Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, EDIC/Lynn, the Mayor's Office, and City Council - has been working with a consultant team to create local rules that align with the regulations as proposed.
The Lynn City Council set down a public hearing to consider this proposed amendment for Tuesday, February 11. You can review the draft regulations here, or tune in for the public hearing to learn more.
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MBTA Communities Compliance
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About the MBTA Communities Act
In January 2021, the Massachusetts legislature passed the MBTA Communities Act, often referred to as Section 3A. The idea is that, if a community benefits from MBTA service, it must accommodate some level of multifamily development by right. Since passing, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) has released and refined specific regulations about how communities are expected to meet these requirements. You can read more about the regulations on the MBTA Communities website.
Compliance in Lynn
According to the regulations, Lynn is a Commuter Rail community and must be compliant by December 31, 2024. The City has achieved Interim Compliance by meeting all deadlines so far. We await to hear our final determination from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Lynn intends to fully comply with the MBTA Communities Act.
Fortunately, the City has historically allowed by-right multifamily development near our Central Square Commuter Rail station. To be compliant, communities must submit a 3A District to the state that meets requirements for size, location, and density. In Lynn, we are proposing a 3A District made up of parcels in three different zoning districts:
- CBD: Allows Mixed-Use Street Level by right, which offers up to 10 stories of development with the ground floor being reserved for commercial uses. Because of the requirement for commercial uses in these by-right projects, this is considered a “Mixed-Use Development District” in the language of the 3A regulations, and can only contribute a small amount of units to our total requirements.
- R4 + R5: These districts allow Apartment Buildings by right up to 5 stories.
For Lynn, the creation of our 3A District is about describing to the state how we are compliant with the rules, NOT changing underlying zoning or creating a new zone. Whether or not a parcel is in the 3A District in no way changes what’s allowed on the parcel, or the process by which it is developed.
Lynn’s Proposed 3A District
Lynn needs a 3A district that allows 5,517 dwelling units by right. Based on EOHLC’s methodology, this proposed district allows 9,429 dwelling units.
One Change to the Zoning Code
In order for our proposed district to be compliant with 3A regulations, we need to make one edit to our zoning code. We need to strike footnote 18 on page 14 from the code: “Residential units with greater than two bedrooms shall be allowed in not more than ten (10%) percent of all residential dwellings in the CBD.”
This provision of our zoning code is not enforced, as the City does not track the number of bedrooms per dwelling unit in the CBD. 3A guidelines require that our 3A District not limit the number of bedrooms in order to ensure that communities are not precluding housing that could be suitable for families. However, the City does–and is still allowed to–incentivize fewer bedrooms per unit by requiring more parking for units with three or more bedrooms.
The City Council adopted this amendment on Tuesday, December 17, and City Staff submitted our request for a determination of compliance soon after. We await a determination from EOHLC at this time.
