Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)

Citation: Town of Arlington, Fair Housing Action Plan (July 2021)
Jurisdiction: Arlington (municipal)
Source: Official source
Original Source: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/57214/637641171662530000 ↗

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Zoning Bylaw: Districts, Allowable Uses, and Dimensional Requirements
Zoning is a set of local regulations that describes what is or isn’t allowed on a given parcel of land: how the land
can be used (for example, for housing or for offices), the size and characteristics of buildings that can be built,
and requirements such as how much parking or open space must be provided. Because zoning determines where
and what type of housing can be built, it directly impacts housing costs and housing choices available in town.
Arlington’s Zoning Bylaw is no exception. The Town’s Bylaw defines 19 different zoning districts, including eight
residential districts and six business districts, each of which allow different types of housing at differing densities.
(See Figure 18: Zoning Map of the Town of Arlington on page 53 for a map of Arlington’s zoning districts.)
While the high number of districts implies that a substantial degree of housing variety is permitted in Town, the
share of land devoted to multifamily housing is far more constrained. Well over half of the Town’s land area
(61%) is devoted to single-family housing, and any type of multifamily housing greater than two units is
permitted on only 9% of the Town’s land.

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Arlington Fair Housing Action Plan

Table 3: Land area by zoning district

Zoning District Land Pct. Of
Area Total
Single-Family Districts (R0 and R1) 2,010 61%
Two-Family District (R2) 620 19%
Three-family and Townhouse Districts (R3 and
28 1%
R4)
Multifamily Districts (R5, R6, and R7) 131 4%
Business Districts (B1 through B5) 136 4%
Other Districts 360 11%
Total 3,284 100%