<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">This is a great question! We keep hearing about what developers can do and can’t do financially but never any numbers to support these claims There is a 3 story mixed use building just proposed in Florence (a village of Northampton) and I presume it’s economically viable.<div><br></div><div>If Belmont goes to 4 floors, consider requiring a step back to keep a human scale street feel and compatibility with surrounding buildings. <div><br></div><div>Janet McGowan</div><div>Amherst, ex-Planning Board member<br><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jul 16, 2024, at 10:54 AM, Ryan, Christopher via MassPlanners <massplanners@masscptc.org> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><meta charset="UTF-8"><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Good morning planners<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I am having a lot of trouble finding resources to verify an assumption that mixed use buildings are generally not viable at 3 stories and require at least 3 stories of residential in addition to the ground floor commercial to be feasible to develop in the current market. We’ve been counseled on this by several consultants but have not been able to find any journal articles, newspaper pieces, memos, white papers, or anything else that definitively provides evidence for this.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Since we are seeking to establish a mandatory mixed use zoning subdistrict in Belmont, we’d like to be able to provide information to our citizens who are skeptical about this assumption and would rather we limit MMU to 3 stories total. Does anyone have information which could help us with our outreach for this provision?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thanks in advance,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Chris R.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">====================================================<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Christopher J. Ryan, AICP, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Director of Planning & Building<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Town of Belmont<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">19 Moore Street<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Belmont, MA 02478-0900<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Tel: 617.993.2658<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Email:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:cryan@belmont-ma.gov">cryan@belmont-ma.gov</a></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Web:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.belmont-ma.gov/office-of-planning-building">https://www.belmont-ma.gov/office-of-planning-building</a></span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">===================================================<o:p></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></div></div><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">--<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; float: none; display: inline !important;">MassPlanners mailing list</span><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="mailto:MassPlanners@masscptc.org" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">MassPlanners@masscptc.org</a><br style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">http://masscptc.org/mailman/listinfo/massplanners_masscptc.org</a></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>