[Massplanners] Everything Old is New Again - Floating Zones

[ruralplanningassociates at crocker.com]

Hi, Chris:

 

My understanding of floating zones is they are a scheme that  "floats"
around up in the ether until the right set of circumstances occurs on the
ground. Then they come down and take effect. 

 

One thing I wouldn't worry about is if floating zones are "authorized" in
the MA Zoning Act. As we are a home-rule state, all zoning authority is
presumed to be derived locally, unless contradicted by either the MA
constitution or statutes. So, you'd be looking for prohibitions in the
Zoning Act, not authorizations. One place to look would be chapter 40A,
section 4 Uniform Districts.

 

Happy holidays,

 

Jeff Lacy

Rural Planning Associates

896 Graves Road

Conway, MA 01341

ruralplanningassociates at crocker.com

(413) 230-9693

 

 

 

From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Ryan,
Christopher via MassPlanners
Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2024 1:00 PM
To: 'Mass Planners' <massplanners at masscptc.org>
Subject: [Massplanners] Everything Old is New Again - Floating Zones

 

Rather than resuscitate Performance Zoning (sorry Lane Kendig) or Equity
Planning (sorry Norm Krumholz), I thought it might be interesting to see if
floating zones have any relevance today for specific applications.

 

First of all, does anyone know if this tool is explicitly permitted as per
40A?

 

If so, is anyone using it in MA?

 

I know it is used in Connecticut and NY but can't find any MA examples.

 

Thanks in advance.

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