Belmont Center Overlay

During my long tenure as Belmont Town Moderator I often counseled Select Board members whether a controversial proposal was sufficiently developed to present to Town Meeting. Were I still Moderator, I would strongly advise this Select Board that the Belmont Center overlay proposal has serious flaws and falls way short of being ready for prime time.

 The issue is not whether some development of Belmont Center is a good idea but whether this specific proposal merits approval by Town Meeting. It does not.

 
The proposed scale is enormous, with four and five-story buildings (two floors of commercial and the rest residential) that would destroy the character of Belmont Center and very likely result in the closing of most small businesses now in the Center. There is no community in Massachusetts that has undertaken anything of this scale in such a small downtown area.
 
The Select Board and Planning Board have essentially punted on the problem of parking for a proposed 500 new rental units and 1200 employees of new commercial businesses — all in a one-block area. Similarly, there is no plan to deal with the obvious compounding of traffic problems which already choke the Center at key times of the day.
 
But what about the Select Board’s repeated claims that the Belmont Center proposal will provide property tax relief and more funding for the schools?
 
Unfortunately, that is a fabrication.
 
Working with several other Belmont residents who, like me, are economic and financial analysts, we have expanded on the town’s fiscal work and concluded that the proposal would break even at best, and more likely would result in a loss to taxpayers. In essence, the additional revenues from commercial development would be more than offset by additional costs, principally the costs of educating additional children.
 
In short, the overlay proposal might well worsen the town’s finances, requiring cuts in services or larger override requests.

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So should the town simply walk away from development of Belmont Center? Absolutely not. The Select Board and Planning Board should revise the current proposal in at least three major areas — reduce the scale, eliminate the by-right provision, and phase in the proposal.
 
Building heights need to be reduced — Belmont Center’s geographic footprint is smaller than the centers of our surrounding towns. Retaining a town feel in the Center requires smaller buildings than are being proposed. Not only will the smaller scale be a better fit with our historic town center, but the reduced share of residential units will improve the fiscal impact.
 
The overlay should not be “by right” — Under by-right zoning, the town will have limited ability to influence projects built in the Center. Not only are the details of design and site plan review (DSPR) far from final, but key elements of the proposal are being removed from the zoning bylaws to a less formal Rules and Regulations section that can be modified by the Planning Board without Town Meeting approval. None of this critical text has been made public and it won’t even be considered at the March 4 Special Town Meeting.
 
The overlay should be phased in — Phasing in sections of the Center would provide an opportunity for mid-course corrections, which does not exist under the current sweeping proposal. This is essential given the large uncertainties around something of this scale in the years ahead, as well as our limited ability to fix problems that may arise because of grandfathering rules that would apply to many projects. And keep in mind that existing local business and 3A zoning in the Center already allows for a great deal of new development.
 
Looking to Town Meeting on March 4, we will all lose, regardless of the outcome, with a sharply divided town. With changes of this magnitude, the Select Board’s goal should be to develop a proposal that produces a broad consensus. Sadly the current proposal fails that test.
 
- Michael Widmer, January 2026