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City Council to Discuss Vision Lynn

Posted on
June 27th at 10:48am.

At the Thursday, June 27th City Council meeting, Councilors reviewed Vision Lynn, the comprehensive plan developed to guide future development in the city. Vision Lynn outlines the city’s need for growth, their expectations from new development, and the areas in which the city is comfortable accommodating new development.

Vision Lynn acknowledges the need for more housing but seeks through planning to accommodate “good development” rather than development detrimental to the city. Good development is guided by three main principles:

  • Help activity nodes (areas identified as the best places to support growth) prosper and evolve
  • Link activity nodes to maximize accessibility and convenience
  • Preserve existing industrial activity and foster new commercial opportunities

Areas identified to accommodate “good development” include:

  • The Waterfront, which has had several development projects in recent years, with more in the pipeline.
  • Western Ave, which houses a variety of industrial uses. There is a potential to transform this area in the next 10 years to better utilize the large parcels that could attract higher-paying industrial jobs.
  • Lynn Downtown, which has the potential to provide high-density development in a mixed-use transit-oriented neighborhood and attract more visitors.
  • Neighborhood hubs, where affordable and market rate housing can be added, and mixed-use development can be promoted to support local businesses and increase walkability.
  • Regional Nodes/Districts are key economic areas that could better accommodate changing consumer preferences, especially with the rise of e-commerce.

Zoning changes proposed to reach the “good development” goals include:

  • Rezoning to allow more density and increasing building heights
  • Rezoning to allow new and greater mix of uses
  • Attracting new industrial and commercial businesses
  • Building new streets and parks on a large site
  • Building new infrastructure to accommodate new mix and intensity of uses
  • Consolidating parcels to accommodate larger scale uses
  • Creating new districts such as transit-oriented development areas or industrial innovation hubs
  • Building structured parking or managing surface parking to allow new or more uses
  • Protecting and supporting existing resources and assets in the district

Updates, including proposed zoning changes related to the goals expressed in the Vision Lynn plan, will be posted on the NSR blog.