The selectmen are being asked by a Smart Growth Zoning Advisory Committee to recommend four smart growth zoning districts for the town.
LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen has continued until a future selectman’s meeting a public hearing to consider a proposal for four smart growth zoning districts for the town.
The next meeting of the Board of Selectmen is July 5.
Chapter 40R Smart Growth zoning districts, which can be adopted by communities, encourage a higher concentration of housing and mixed-use commercial and industrial developments to create a range of affordable housing options.
The selectmen are being asked by a Smart Growth Zoning Advisory Committee to recommend four smart growth zoning districts for the town.
They are the Ludlow Mills, an adjacent Riverside area just over the Ludlow-Indian Orchard bridge, an area off East Street referred to as downtown and the intersection of Holyoke and West streets known as Scott’s Corner.
Selectmen Chairman Aaron Saunders said he is concerned about the demand the proposed zoning districts would place on town services.
Selectman Antonio Dos Santos said there is the potential for 200 high density units at Scott’s Corner if the zoning district is approved.
Dos Santos said he has questions about whether the town would have the financial resources to educate the additional students. He said the high density area would be a marked contrast to the single-family homes in the Scott’s Corner area now.
Saunders said he wants time to find out how residents in the downtown East Street area feel about the proposal.
Selectman John DaCruz said the proposal would allow people with commercial businesses on East Street to add a residence on a second story.
If the town adds four smart growth zoning districts it could receive a $350,000 incentive from the state, Town Planner Douglas Stefancik said.
Planning officials are proposing to take a proposal for the smart growth zoning districts to an October special town meeting for approval by town meeting members.
The Board of Selectmen must first endorse the proposal, and then the Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning districts in August, Stefancik said.
