Habitat for All: Updates to Subdivision Rules and Regulations
The Planning Board met in a hybrid meeting on Dec. 16, some members at Town Hall and others on zoom. They reviewed the Subdivision Rules and Regulations informed by the vote at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting to make clustered housing (also called Planned Conservation Residential Community, or PCRC) the by-right zoning, one of the goals of the Habitat for All initiative. Chair Pat Clifford praised the work of the staff on the draft changes to the Rules and Regulations discussed at a previous meeting. “They’ve really put some time and effort into refining the regulations as they were drafted, and responding to the issues that were raised when we talked last time.”
Since the previous hearing, staff had done extensive outreach through flyers, a graphic in the Municipal Monthly newsletter, and an email to more than 250 residents who had expressed interest in Habitat for All.
Planning Director Kaila Sauer was encouraged by the outreach process. “I did receive some lovely emails back, which was nice to hear, saying ‘good work, keep it up,’ even if they weren’t necessarily attending,” she said.
Sauer explained, “The update to the Rules and Regulations stems directly from the Habitat for All zoning that was passed with roughly 80% voter support. The Regulations tonight are intended to implement and operationalize what voters have already approved.” She said this meeting would focus on expanding and clarifying environmental and resource land protections to align with the new zoning framework. The changes ensure that resource land, sometimes called the “open space” area of the development, is “intentionally selected, legally protected, and managed in a way that supports environmental goals over time.” The changes result in clearer, more predictable standards for subdivision review.
Sauer said, “The regulations now explicitly incorporate that 60% resource land requirement [voted in at Town Meeting] into the Subdivision Rules and Regs. So while that requirement was adopted through zoning, it did not previously appear in the Subdivision Regs themselves, so we have memorialized them there also. This update also clarifies expectations around configuration, emphasizing that resource land should be clearly delineated and functional, rather than fragmented and as leftover areas.”
In the new regulations, applications must identify the parts of the land that are environmentally sensitive, such as groundwater protection areas and land adjacent to existing open space. This information, and regional habitat mapping, help the design of a development protect the most environmentally valuable portions of a site “rather than simply what remains after the lots are laid out,” Sauer explained.
The updated rules clarify other aspects of the resource land such as how septic and other infrastructure is laid out and who owns, maintains, or is steward of the resource land. “The rules now also emphasize ecological restoration rather than conventional landscaping,” Sauer said. “Invasive species are prohibited, and planting standards are designed to support habitat function and long-term environmental health…These provisions help ensure that resource land actually performs as conservation land, rather than becoming lawn or ornamental space.”
At the previous meeting, Board Member Ron Beck had commented on the requirement that subdivision owners keep meadows mowed to prevent them from reverting to forest. “Is that actually enforceable?” he asked. Sauer now commented, “The way Town Counsel is putting it, we’re really pushing the boundaries of the subdivision control law in typical Acton fashion, and that was really looking to overstep that, so she really suggested that we remove that requirement.” At the present meeting, Board members and other residents present seemed to take the Counsel’s comment as a challenge and ultimately reversed the decision and kept the mowing requirement in.
Chair Clifford said, “We need a bumper sticker that says, ‘Mow your meadow,’ or something.” Another member added, “‘But only no more than twice a year during these months. And do it quietly.’” Another said, “‘Don’t use any kind of … blowers––’”
Member James Fuccione joked, “So, six stickers.”
The Board voted to close the hearing, which means they can no longer consider public input, and they voted to accept the updated Subdivision Rules and Regulations, with a change about leaching fields recommended by the Design Review Board and with the re-addition of required mowing of meadows in the resource areas.
15 Charter Rd. cell tower
A representative of TowerCo and Verizon, Mike Rosen, came to the continuation of a hearing about an application for approval for a 150-foot-tall monopole wireless telecommunication facility at 15 Charter Road, in the woods just behind the old Merriam School (now the ABRSD Administration building and AB Community Compass’ Resource Center).
The facility will consist of four shorter towers on top of each other, three for the three major carriers (AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile), and one for the Town, totaling 130 feet. The 150-foot height approval would allow for the future addition of another carrier.
Much of the discussion focused on the expected view of the tower from various points in Town, and the Board requested additional view analysis from the vantage point of parts of Route 27, including from the historic Hosmer House, and from the Kelley Rd. neighborhood. The Board asked the applicant to look at the view from the rear of the Administration building to be sure the tower is surrounded by enough landscaping. The tower will have a barbed wire fence and a lit sign warning passersby to keep away. He said that telecommunication companies pay seven figures ($1-10 million) to build a tower, and it is imperative to avoid costly vandalism.
One couple who lives nearby called in to ask about radiation risk. Rosen said these towers are regulated by the federal and state governments. “The facilities generally generate 1-2% of their allowable emissions, so they’re, like, 98% below where the regulations even allow them to be. They’re safer than a microwave in your house.”
Another caller had similar concerns about radiation and wondered what happened to the work that a past committee had done on a by-law about where cell towers could and couldn’t be built.
The Board voted to continue the hearing to January 20 and asked the applicant to get those further images of potential views. Sauer said she would find another room, as the Select Board and Finance Committees will be holding budget hearings in Room 204 that night.
Regular business
Planning Director Kayla Sauer mentioned two issues discussed at a recent joint meeting of the Planning Board with the Acton Community Housing Corporation and the Select Board: potential upcoming zoning changes to the MBTA Zoning Overlay District and a presentation by Assistant Town Planner Nate Ryan on nonconforming lots.
Regarding the MBTA Overlay District, Sauer said she is working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) on the changes, specifically deeper affordability requirements, and hopes to come back in January with a more formal proposal that focuses on the one preferred option from that meeting.
Regarding nonconforming lot requirements, Sauer explained, “If you’re on a non-conforming lot and you’re a residential home, you’re [now] only allowed to add on 15% of your existing floor area. The Select Board … has asked us to look at that, and so we’re proposing a thousand square-foot allowance, as opposed to a percentage. In addition, you’re allowed to go up if you’re staying within your existing footprint, and then [we] add a provision for commercial non-conforming lots, because right now they’re not allowed to expand at all. So, a special permit option for them.” She said the Select Board was in unanimous support of the proposed changes to nonconforming lot requirements.
Sauer said the Planning Department is also working with the economic development director on zoning changes that would help promote economic development throughout town. There will be public hearings on any proposed changes.
A hearing scheduled for a special permit for a sign at Aldi’s at 100 Powder Mill Rd. was continued to a future meeting. The staff is working with the store’s consultants on that issue.
Chair Pat Clifford described a “mega-meeting” she had attended at MAGIC, the subregion of the MAPC, where the focus was on transportation funding.
Franny Osman is Editor-in-Chief at the Acton Exchange and writes some articles, too.
Editors’ Note: The Acton Exchange would welcome a volunteer to write about Planning Board meetings on an ongoing basis; if you might be interested in becoming this beat reporter, please email info@actonexchange.org. Franny wrote this article by requesting pertinent documents and the Zoom recording from the Planning Department, reaching out to the chair of the Planning Board, then watching (and re-watching), and reading the automatically created transcript of the Zoom recording of the meeting. This is to say, while it is best to attend meetings in person when you are covering them for the Acton Exchange, you can do it from home.
