Article 55 Melleta Marx Materials

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April 30, 2026

Melleta Marx

Precinct 12

RE: ARTICLE 55

Dear Fellow Town Meeting Members:

Many new or proposed developments in the MBTA overlay district with tall multi-unit buildings,

no setbacks and minimal parking, are being allowed because of loose interpretations of the

minimum affordable unit requirements. This article simply seeks to clarify the existing bylaw

language, so that it is not interpreted in a manner that reduces the number of affordable units

required.

In order to be granted bonus floors under the MBTA Act, developers must have at least 22.5%

of all units be affordable for 1-floor bonus (25% for 2-floor bonus). The bylaw clearly states that

fractional units should be rounded up when calculating how many units are required to be

affordable.This ensures that, consistent with the existing bylaw, if the town of Arlington awards

bonuses to build additional floors, we are getting at least the minimum number of affordable

units required to achieve those bonuses.

Please vote “YES” on Article 55 to clarify rounding up requirements in order to make sure we

are getting the maximum number of affordable units possible in exchange for granting bonus

floors.