Photo: Select Board Chair Matt Taylor (left) and Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne offer congratulations as the measure creating the Belmont Center Overlay District passes at the March 4 Special Town Meeting

After an hours-long debate, a Special Town Meeting on March 4 approved creating a Belmont Center Overlay District, which town officials and supporters believe will spur needed development and revenue growth and housing opportunities in the town’s business hub.

The vote margin on Article 2 – 172 in favor, 82 opposed, with 7 abstentions—was surprising to many who attended the meeting in the Chenery Upper Elementary School auditorium and online believed a late social media push by those opposing the measure would result in a long night with an uncertain outcome that Kalshi would have given even odds.

But a healthy majority of Town Meeting Members rejected the attempt by critics to indefinitely postpone the vote and see the article return in the fall, after undergoing an extensive revamping to further modify down the height of structures and identify “realistic” parking solutions allowing Belmont to continue to uphold its “our small-town feel.”

But the maneuver was dismissed by backers, with one overlay supporter saying it “[was] just a warm and fuzzy way to kill [the plan].”

“All of us, regardless of which side we’re on, should want to get back to [our constituents] with a yes or no answer,” urged Julie Crockett (Precinct 5), saying that “[Town Meeting] wouldn’t be voting on this proposal that we’re all intimately familiar with. It would be something else.”

And just before 10:30 p.m., Town Meeting stood behind the town’s and the Planning Board’s construct.

“I’m shocked [at the size of the yes vote],” said Chris Ryan, Belmont’s town planner and chief architect of the form-based plan, who counted himself as one who felt the decision would be a nail-biter. “I’m pleased and proud of the citizens for their vote of confidence,” said Ryan as he accepted praise from supporters on Wednesday.

A day later, on Thursday, March 5, the Special Town Meeting voted approval of Article 3, which places an overlay on three parcels along Concord Avenue that could open a way for a lodging house to come to Belmont, which hasn’t been home to one since the Wellington Olmsted Tavern, which was demolished in 1897.

The lopsided margin of the 261 members voting yes over the two nights is being touted as a historic vindication of those who developed and campaigned for the Overlay District, revealing that residents are eager to take bold steps to revitalize other areas of town.

“I think we are now living in a different dynamic,” said Taylor Yates, the Select Board’s vice chair, who spearheaded the board’s efforts supporting the measure. “Belmont is saying ‘yes’ to things.
I think we’re trying to be more positive and proactive as we watch the surrounding communities change.”

Thayer Donham, chair of the Planning Board, said the members decision proved the body has faith in the board’s deliberative process, which will benefit future projects.

Dionne echoed Yates and the Planning Board on the importance of passing both bylaw measures.

“This is an inflection point,” Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne said of the articles’ sweeping passage. “This is pivotal. And I don’t want to say that it’s only symbolic. It’s a relatively simple plan because it’s small and contained. If we couldn’t get this across the finish line, we couldn’t get anything across the finish line.”

“Every time we try to create one of these plans, it requires a huge investment of time, staff, and money for consultants; we can’t justify investing that again if we were unable to finish this. So this lays the groundwork for everything else that the town wants to do,” said Dionne.

‘Yeah, we get it’

In the view of supporters, not many voters were swayed by the two nights of debate, as campaigners had made a successful pro-Overlay pitch to undecided members months previous. 

“There was one constant since January 2025. The more we talked to residents about the plan, the more they said, “Yeah, we get it,” said Yates. 

Dionne – who held informational meetings at her house for members from each precinct to explain the plan in late 2025 – was also not surprised by Town Meeting’s sweeping endorsement of the new bylaws.

“I thought we’d get there because my experience was that once people came into my house and I explained the plan, it wasn’t this big, scary plan. A lot of people came in skeptical but left saying, ‘I like that. That could actually be really nice.'”

The Belmont Center Overlay is designed to address three main concerns of the town, said Donham, who presented Article 2 to the assembly: maintain Belmont Center as a vibrant downtown, meet the needs of downsizing seniors and others who want smaller housing options, and begin addressing the financial challenges of a town with a minimal commercial tax base. 

“[T]onight, we’re presenting a real opportunity to begin generating more revenue. More effective zoning will attract private investment into our community while the town maintains control of the finished product,” said Donham.

The overlay district allows structure heights within the four zones varying from two-and-a-half stories in Zone 1 to five stories in Zone 4. At least two stories of commercial space are required in all zones, with limited residential development required, helping establish a built-in customer base for Belmont Center businesses.

While presenting details of the district, Ryan noted the center’s existing zoning code is limiting, allowing by right only two-story structures and 28 feet in height, “and that’s why nothing happens here.” 

The new form-based zoning code will give Belmont “more control over the appearance of the buildings and the streets. It’s a proven planning tool that’s been used around the country and in communities across Massachusetts” including Brookline, Watertown, and Littleton.

Ryan told members the Planning Department and Planning Board held 30 public meetings and listening sessions in the past 14 months, incorporating public input and altering major aspects of the plan, including reducing maximum heights and excluding the Claflin Street Parking Lot from development. Traffic and parking studies and a financial analysis were conducted.

When debate commenced – with nearly 30 members waiting before two microphones – those opposing the zoning change were the first to speak, and they sent out one of their heavy hitters, former Town Moderator Mike Widmer (Precinct 5).

“I’ve never seen an issue with this scope come before Town Meeting with so many questions,” Widmer told the 140 members who attended in person, adding that “[n]o comparable town in Massachusetts has undertaken anything of this magnitude in such a concentrated geographic area.” 

Widmer said the main concern focused on the proposal’s financial viability, pointing to the analysis from three financial experts that a fully built-out district will produce, at best, modest revenue gains.

“If we delay, we might be able to develop a viable proposal that actually produces financial benefits in the short term,” he said. We owe it to the town to try to come together in the fall and approve a plan with reduced scale and questions answered.” 

One area of the opponent’s concern was the impact of increased housing and retail development on the Center’s parking and traffic. Larry Lenk (Precinct 1), a former member of the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee, focused on cars, saying it was highly unlikely that only a third of those living in the new residential units, at 500 units and 750 new residents, would own a vehicle. He envisions 400 residents’ vehicles and about 1,000 additional cars driven by employees of new retail under the new zoning.

“The only real place for parking the excess cars will be the two to three residential blocks surrounding this new village,” said Lenk. 

A vote for a win, win, win, win

Supporters argued the status quo or a watered-down overlay plan would condemn Belmont Center to limited to no growth potential for years to come. Rachel Heller (Precinct 3) said the district proposal placed in front of the members was “a win, win, win and actually a fourth win”: for housing production – “the number one issue in the state”- as it provides a range of options including for downsizing elders wanting to stay in town; reliable foot traffic for the new Center businesses; a magnet for state grants to improve infrastructure as state goverment provide funding to towns with growing mix-use developments; and a win for Belmont to stay in the drivers seat by achieving the 10 percent affordable housing threshold on the Subsidized Housing Inventory to prevent “unfriendly” 40B projects. 

Travis Frank (Precinct 5) said those seeking a delay to rightsize the overlay’s size, finances, and traffic and parking plans, which often means a smaller proposal. 

“But my understanding is that as we reduce scale, we reduce our revenue. And my principal interest is to help the fiscal budget of the town,” said Frank, noting over the past year and two months the original proposal, “we have already reduced it to the point where now … there are estimates that we have really small financial benefits. “This is our one opportunity [at financial rewards], and I’d rather go big or go home … to actually change the ratio of residential vs. commercial tax revenue.”

The decision on Article 2 was foretold in the procedural amendment to indefinitely postpone the plan, going down 121-145-3, showing – by a narrow margin – that pro-growth would carry the night. 

Thursday’s vote – with barely 120 members in attendance of the 260 attending – on Article 3, dubbed the Center Gateway Overlay, which was designed to allow one of three types of hotels: boutique-style hotels of 26 and 100 rooms and a business class operation with 150 rooms. Ryan said while the three parcels east up Concord Avenue from the US Postal Service building could be developed into commercial or senior living, a hotel was preferable as it is a “triple threat” for town revenue – room, meals, and property taxes.

Opponents said the parcel area being proposed was far too small to develop a hotel and expressed concerns about the necessary parking for employees and guests. They also argued that a 70 percent occupancy rate was highly unlikely, as there’s nothing interesting nearby that would attract travelers.

But supporters argued that it was not the role of Town Meeting to determine the financial viability of the site. It would be hotel investors and developers who would make that decision. Town Meeting “job” was only to open the door for any interested party. The measure was passed by more than the necessary two-thirds margin, 196-52-8.

Yates said the Town and Planning Board should follow the script that proved successful in Belmont Center with the upcoming zoning changes . “So I think the same thing will apply elsewhere. The more more people learn, the more they like it and because, and part of that is because we have a really good Town Planner and a really good Planning Board, and they do really good work.”