Politics & Government

New Zoning Regulations Adopted For Broad Street

New development uses for the Broad Street area of town will soon take effect.

Redevelopment of the Broad Street area of town took another major step forward this week as the Planning and Zoning Commission approved new form-based zoning regulations for the area as part of its meeting Monday, March 19. 

The new regulations, which will take effect March 30, are intended to "facilitate an appropriate mix of commercial, residential, entertainment, civic, and recreational uses within a traditional pedestrian oriented development pattern and supported by attractive street designs and building forms." They include new developmental uses for the area, including residential development, lessen parking requirements, allow for taller buildings and restrict uses that are currently allowed in the zone, such as drive-throughs and automotive shops. 

The town has been actively trying to spark and encourage redevelopment of the Broad Street area of town for the past several years, even going so far as to task the Manchester Redevelopment Agency with devising a plan to revitalize the area and approving an $8 million referendum in 2009 to be spent on improvements to the area. 

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"The zone change is huge, because the redevelopment plan lays out a very nice vision for what Broad Street could be and what the community what's it to be," Senior Planner Gary Anderson told Patch. "But none of that is possible without the zone change…the idea behind the new regulations is to to try and make the area more attractive to developers."

Anderson noted that the new regulations would encourage mixed-use development and even be beneficial for small and locally-owned businesses because they would encourage attractive, uniform-looking buildings and actually reduce certain parking and frontage requirements that often constrain small businesses. 

Find out what's happening in Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Developers can build more on the land that they have," Anderson said. "There are fewer requirements for things like setbacks and side yards." 

Senior Planner Renata Bertotti said that existing businesses in the area that would become "non-conforming" under the new regulations should not worry, because they will be "grandfathered" in and will still be allowed to expand in the future if they wish. 

, with the town purchasing the dilapidated Broad Street Parkade for $1.85 million in March of last year, and plans to demolish the structure continue to progress. A jointly funded state/local project to expand and beautify Broad Street itself is also slated to get underway this summer, and the town has hired the Manchester-based engineering firm of Fuss & O'Neill to design an expansion and entrance to Center Spring Park out onto Broad Street, which was part of the Broad Street Redevelopment Plan. 

The new zoning regulations for Broad Street can be viewed here


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