New Ordinances Mean You Can't Pave Over the Yard for More Parking
The Somerville Board of Aldermen passed two new zoning ordinances Thursday night intended to increase pervious surfaces in the city.
Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston recalled how years ago a neighbor paved over his rose garden to make room for more parking.
As of Thursday night, that's no longer allowed.
In what Rebekah Gewirtz, aldermen of Ward 6, called it "a big victory for the city," the Somerville Board of Aldermen Thursday night passed two new zoning ordinances designed to increase the amount of pervious area in the city. (Pervious means water can flow through it. Much of Somerville is covered by impervious concrete and asphalt.)
The two new zoning ordinances "encourage green roofs [and] limit impervious surfaces," Gewirtz said. They also strive to "reduce the heat island effect," she said. Areas with lots of asphalt trap heat on hot days and increase the temperature of an area, creating "heat islands."
People will now "need permits before paving," Heuston said of the new ordinances.
The first new zoning ordinance ...
states that residential parcels of land in the city must meet minimum requirements for having pervious surfaces. Areas that are classified as Residential A and B (A is for one and two-family homes; B is for one-, two- and three-family homes) must have 35 percent of their lots covered by pervious surfaces. Residential C areas (neighborhoods with multi-family buildings) must have 30 percent of their lots covered with pervious surfaces.
The second new ordinance ...
says that anyone who wants to construct, alter, reconstruct, restore or expand a driveway must get a permit to do so. It also says paving contractors must now register with the city.
The ordinances are intended decrease stormwater runoff, which causes flooding, decrease the "heat island" effect, increase open space and, in general, make the city more pleasing. "The addition of asphalt driveways and parking areas can be detrimental to [the] character of Somerville's neighborhoods," the ordinances read.
Gewirtz said it's to "help people to make sure they're good neighbors."
The attached video shows Somerville Climate Action depaving a yard, part of an overall effort to increase pervious space in the city.
Somerville Home Owner
7:39 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012
Great news! Now when are we going to do something about poorly maintained properties, severely unkept yards, junk in driveways and yards, abandoned cars in driveways, etc?
joe
7:39 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012
In other words they want you to continue parking on the street. So you have to buy a parking permit and continue making it tougher for residence to park with the influx of people moving into the city with all the new construction.
Anne
2:19 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2012
No, as I read it, pervious surfaces are fine - and there are plenty of pervious parkable surfaces, from old-fashioned gravel, to new-fangled pervious pavers, to (esp. where parking will be only occasional or part-time) grow-through systems that support the weight of the car while keeping the soil uncompacted for healthy root growth of grass or other durable short groundcover.
K Chef
9:36 pm on Saturday, April 14, 2012
Someone should enforce this with the SHA properties. Blacktop everywhere.
Just another guy from the 'ville
4:53 pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Ward politics at its worst- the only victory for the city is keeping the revenue from street parking registration and parking violations ticketing. Maryann Heuston's little pet project, under the guise of making the city "more pleasing" (like we really need to worry about how hot a driveway gets on an already hot day), is a worrysome intrusion on how Somerville citizens choose what to do with their property.
Martin Cline
6:35 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sweet! I worked on an analysis of permeable surfaces and storm water runoff (best practices, policies, statistics, photos in Somerville, etc.) for the city of Somerville. Glad to see it helped accomplish something.