Planning Board Unanimously Backs Transfer of Development Rights Bylaw Fixes

FRAMINGHAM — May 11, 2017 — Framingham Planning Board votes 3-0 to recommend passage of TDR bylaw fixes at Special Town Meeting. The board endorsed Special Town Meeting Article 2 Thursday, backing four narrow wording changes to the Transfer of Development Rights bylaw that supporters say will make the 2015 law functional for the first time. Attorney Arthur White, presenting for the Agricultural Advisory Committee, told the board that more than half of the roughly 52 eligible receiving parcels have been automatically disqualified because they once received zoning variances — a result he called unintended. The Standing Committee on Planning and Zoning had earlier voted 6-3 to recommend approval. Two Town Meeting members, Sue Bernstein of Precinct 7 and Standing Committee Chair Steven Schill of Precinct 2, urged additional language changes at the hearing, but the board's chair noted those sections fell outside the article's advertised scope.