MBTA Communities 3A Zoning Compliance & Technical Assistance

Working through the Mass Housing Partnership, DREAM is helping the City of Fitchburg with its 3A compliance. Fitchburg is a progressive community that wants to encourage adaptive use of its historic buildings and bring more housing downtown to support local businesses.

The Commonwealth’s new law, Section 3A, requires communities with or near MBTA transit service to include zoning districts for as-of-right multi-family residential, with minimum land areas and housing capacity requirements.

DREAM tested numerous downtown zoning districts for compliance, and identified necessary zoning changes, including density, parking regulations, and bulk standards. In helping the Fitchburg take advantage of a new provision for mandatory mixed-use (MMU), DREAM has been instrumental in helping the Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities to clarify how 3A overlays work with existing 40R Smart Growth districts.