Promising new zoning proposal

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Saw this in the Union Square main streets newsletter:

 

Anything that reduces car trips in Somerville and makes life better for non car owners is a good idea in my book, and I'm excited about the number of proposed changes.   Please show your support to your alderman.  

http://www.somervillechamber.org/pdf_files/08tableofuseschange.pdf

Comments

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Under the proposed ordinance, certain uses would be prohibited entirely due to their noxious character,
such as laundries using flammable solvents, kennels/pet boarding facilities, and all heavy industrial uses (e.g., abattoirs, foundries, refining or rendering facilities).

Yeah, it's really difficult hearing the screams of dying cattle on my morning commute.

Some of this seems like basic common sense (let's not let people store explosive items in an unsafe manner) and some of this seems pretty obnoxious. I doubt local restaurants are terribly enthused at the idea of getting a "Special Permit" from the zoning board.

[ron_newman]

Somerville used to have lots of meat-packing plants, believe it or not.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure it did. Feeding lots of people back in the day meant lots of meat, which means slaughterhouses. Still, these days, not so much. :-)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Chicago of the East!

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Really? I thought all of that was in Allston back in the day.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Not that I have a dog, but I've watched the fun my boss has to go through to get her dog to a kennel before she goes out of town. How is that friendly to non-car owners? I'm not sure how a responsibly run kennel or boarding facility is NOXIOUS, either. what a choice of words.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, everybody loves dogs, but nobody likes dogs barking at three A.M. Or dog turds.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

How is that friendly to non-car owners?

That's a good question. Can't walk to the nearest boarding place cause the city won't permit them - well, I guess there's Zipcar, or taxi, or a ride from a friend, but they all amount to car usage and therefore more car trips!

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

You're actually not supposed to take pets in Zipcars...

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Dogs are allowed on T trains and buses off-peak.

[ron_newman]

If you want to lobby to take that provision out, please hook up with the som|dog folks.

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

It seems to me these proposals have only tertiary impacts on cars, it is more like "we don't like these things 'cause they are ugly".

[bettyw.livejournal.com]

I think they are referring to the "Car Share" segment, which I'm understanding to mean it would be easier for Zip Car to position additional vehicles around town.

[cityofbeige.livejournal.com]

That's what I got out of this as well: a lot of ordinances on aesthetics and hazardous materials.

Personally, the bad aesthetics of the microindustries around Somerville doesn't bother me that much. Maybe having one in the middle of a bunch of condos is bad, but in the areas where there are several clustered together, you kind of expect those areas to be ugly.

I guess maybe that's the city wants businesses to get permits: to make sure the ugly stays with the ugly.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Either that or the tax base isn't up to snuff. That "Special Permits" for restaurants jazz makes me cock a VERY skeptical eyebrow.

[ron_newman]

One thing to keep in mind here: zoning laws apply only to future uses, not to current ones. Anything already there is 'grandfathered'.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Not according to the measure's language, though.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Kind of surprised by all the tangents and fixations on small provisions here, and lack of support for the measures. I guess since most posters on Davis Square live journal naturally live in West Somerville, Davis area, they are unaware of what its like to live in East Somerville, so they aren't used to thinking about these kinds of issues.

[ron_newman]

Most of the proposal seems reasonable to me, but I always want to see more restaurants and entertainment spots, not fewer.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I used to live in East Somerville and it's not THAT different. Honestly, making people clean up their sheds isn't going to do much for the aesthetics of, say, the intersection of Broadway and Main.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

It's hard to understand what the purpose of this is.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

I can't believe no one commented this:

"...a variety of uses that involve toxic, flammable, or otherwise environmentally unsound materials. Some of these uses -- eg. open lot storage of machinery, metals, coal, coke, junk...

Coke? Coke?!?

Okay, so after some googling, apparently it has a third definition I wasn't aware of: "The solid residue of impure carbon obtained from bituminous coal and other carbonaceous materials after removal of volatile material by destructive distillation. It is used as a fuel and in making steel."

Funny to call a softdrink that...

[ron_newman]

It was called that long before there was a soft drink with that name.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I forgot to mention how awesome that the city is straight up changing the zoning laws to discourage auto-related development. Consistent with the green line extension, etc.

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

This is basically snob zoning but since it isn’t requiring something like “all residence driveways must be of concrete and not asphalt” it will only bother business and only businesses that most would deem “noxious” anyway and unlikely to raise the publics interest. In other words is anyone going to raise a stink if an industrial laundry or salvage company is forced out of business due to zoning requirements? Probably not but what will almost certainly go in its place is a condo development and while that seems fine on the surface many of the businesses that will be lost provide low skilled jobs to a city that still has a largely low to medium skilled work force.

If and when the green line comes through most of these industries will leave on their own and will not need to be pushed out the door by the city or its zoning laws. That however doesn't seem good enough for the city though since this going to make every "unsightly business" apply for a permit to do almost anything on its property that it currently does and most likley doesn't bother anyone.