Four locations have been proposed for Smart Growth districts.
LUDLOW – A public hearing on proposed locations for Chapter 40R Smart Growth zoning districts will be presented to town residents Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. at Ludlow Town Hall.
The presentation will be facilitated by the town’s Smart Growth Zoning Advisory Committee and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
Chapter 40R Smart Growth zoning districts encourage a higher concentration of housing and mixed use developments in areas with existing infrastructure to create a range of housing options and spur community revitalization.
Communities that adopt Smart Growth zoning districts are eligible to receive state funds.
Established in 2009, the Smart Growth Zoning Advisory Committee has identified four locations for Smart Growth districts.
They are the Ludlow Mills, an adjacent Riverside area just over the Ludlow-Indian Orchard bridge, an area off East Street referred to as downtown and the intersection of Holyoke and West streets.
Jayne Armington, a planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, said incentive grants are being given by the state for higher density housing districts.
She said the housing districts are seen as desirable because they provide housing for young adults not yet able to buy a home and for the elderly in need of more affordable housing.
Many young people now leave the Greater Springfield area to live in the Boston area, Armington said. She said the proposal for denser housing districts could help to keep more of Ludlow’s young people in Ludlow.
Public hearings on the “Smart Growth” zoning proposals will be scheduled in Ludlow in January and February with the goal of bringing a proposed zoning bylaw before voters at the spring annual Town Meeting for approval.
Westmass Area Development Corp. which wants to redevelop the Ludlow Mills, will seek approval of a mixed-use commercial, industrial and residential zoning district at the Town Meeting that would contain 100 units of housing for the elderly.
Jason Barosso, a local selectman, said he felt it more likely that town residents would approve one higher density zoning district for the Ludlow Mills than all four districts.
Concerns such as traffic, congestion and the impact to the school system are the usual concerns raised in towns to the higher density housing proposals, Armington said.