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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surface water management, site circulation and transportation impacts, open space design, and relationship to
the existing context (including use, scale, and architecture, and shadow impacts), among other standards.
Assessment: Discretionary review processes, particularly robust ones such as Arlington’s, can pose a barrier to fair
housing for two reasons. First, the discretionary authority afforded through the Special Permit and EDR processes
increases risk for developers, which can in turn make the housing more expensive for future residents. The
challenge of pursuing discretionary review can also prompt developers to simply build fewer units to avoid the
review altogether. The resulting units are often built to be larger and more expensive in order to recoup land
costs. Because multifamily uses are only permitted along the Town’s main corridors, the requirement that any
project along a main corridor undergo EDR effectively means that every multifamily project greater than two
units must undergo EDR. This is an exceptionally low threshold for such a rigorous review process.
Second, largely subjective discretionary processes provide an opportunity for discrimination against protected
classes, whether intentional or unintentional. While some of the EDR review criteria, such as the provision for utility
service, are specific and well-defined, other criteria such as heritage or relationship to the environment are
subjective and allow for broad discretionary authority. References to neighborhood character are particularly
problematic. A requirement that new housing be based on the existing character of a neighborhood may limit
housing types to what has already been built there, it may not allow for new and needed housing types, and it
references a built form that has been