EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow Center Town District Steering Committee hosted its third informal talking session as part of the committee’s summer community outreach at a gathering on Aug. 29 at Brew Practitioners. This event welcomed MassInc Consultant André Leroux for a discussion on smart growth and 40R.
During the event, Leroux talked about different smart growth strategies, explaining how they relate to East Longmeadow’s current discussions around the Center Town District. Additionally, Leroux answered questions from residents and community members about considerations for the town.
Smart growth refers to utilizing specific strategies in order to create a community that gives residents access to greater choices about their town, including housing, transportation and local businesses, Leroux stated. With these strategies, East Longmeadow residents can decide what aspects of their community are most important to them to implement, such as “drivability versus walkability,” access to affordable or different sized housing, sizes of yards and lots, or other conveniences.
Additionally, smart growth could assist the town with attracting specific age groups, such as young people looking to move into town after higher education or providing space for retired residents to downsize, Leroux noted. This is done through analyzing the preferences of each age group and implementing them.
He emphasized the concept of social infrastructure, or how created infrastructure impacts how residents interact, as a consideration for East Longmeadow residents during the Center Town District process. Examples of social infrastructure include parks, playgrounds, community centers and other public gathering spaces that bring residents together, Leroux said.
Another discussion at the talking session concerned 40R, the Massachusetts law that encourages the use of smart growth strategies, with Leroux highlighting the difference between 40R and 40B. While 40R relates to utilizing different levels of density within housing to increase access and reduce costs, 40B allows developers to override local zoning laws to create units that meet an approved percentage of affordable housing, he said.
Leroux explained that 40R is “local opt-in and local directed” and provided examples of 8 units per acre, 12 units per acre and 20 units per acre density levels. This density level corresponds to the sizes of units, such as eight small cottage units or 20 apartment-style units.
In addition to the varying number of residents that each density level can support, another consideration is the location of the units which can significantly affect the value of the property, Leroux stated. He explained that that main streets often receive higher demand, which can lead more dense properties to “maximize” tax income for the town.
Following the Aug. 29 talking session, the next step in the town’s process will be to select the boundaries of the Center Town District, Deputy Town Manager Rebecca Lisi said. This discussion and preliminary mapping will occur at the Center Town District Steering Committee’s next meeting on Oct. 21.
“All of these ideas matter and they are all going to go into the final product,” Town Manager Tom Christensen emphasized. He noted that the town was still working to gather community input and had not made any firm decisions on boundaries or priorities for the Center Town District.
In addition to the summer talking sessions, the Center Town District Steering Committee also released a survey to give residents the opportunity to express their ideas and preferences for the district. The survey is available online at surveymonkey.com/r/ELCenterTownPlanning until Sept. 22.
