In a four-hour marathon joint meeting of the Malden Planning Board and the City Council’s Rules and Ordinance Committee on August 12, the Planning Board voted 6-0 to recommend disapproval of City Council Paper 335, an overhaul of the city’s 2021 Inclusionary Zoning ordinance. The changes are designed to spur residential development.
In declining to support the IZ ordinance changes, the board accepted the recommendation of City Planner Michelle Romero, whose position sits within the city’s Inspectional Services group and who advises the Planning Board. They cited concerns over parking, developer profits, neighborhood density and procedural issues.
The core objection focused on a proposal by the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) that included a provision to reduce the mandatory affordable housing requirement for new multifamily projects of eight or more units from 15% to 10%. The idea is to get some new development moving in the face of skyrocketing costs for borrowing, labor and materials…