At Special Town Meeting on Nov. 16, Article 7, a zoning bylaw change was proposed by the Town Manager and Select Board to create a building moratorium passed with a 2/3 majority vote, it was not unanimous. This new bylaw amends the current zoning bylaw for multi-family building until Dec. 31, 2024.  This change does not apply to projects currently before the planning board. It will only apply to planning board permit submissions after Nov. 16. 

Since 2010, the Town of Ashland has experienced substantial and rapid growth in residential housing. In 2010, the Town of Ashland had 6,581 units, and in 2020 that number had grown to 7,495. At least 802 of those units are multifamily rental developments. Between 2020 and 2022 another 180 multifamily housing units have been permitted. There are currently three applications including 494 multifamily units pending before the Ashland Planning Board. Such rapid growth has created concern for strain on municipal resources.  This bylaw allows us to take a pause to analyze the impacts of multifamily growth in the community.  This will give the town time to gather more information on what the impacts are to our infrastructure (roads, water and sewer), finances (new growth), schools (capacity of buildings, staffing, services and class size) and services (police, fire, and DPW’s ability to respond to issues).  It also gives the town an opportunity to look at development patterns and our reliance on new growth to sustain the budget. 

It is important to note that this bylaw change coincides with the town initiative to create a Comprehensive Plan for the community. The Select Board and Planning Board are driving this initiative for the future. It will provide a clear path of direction for the town to be a smart, safe and sustainable community.  Planning for the comprehensive plan will begin at the start of 2023.