Planning & Economic Development
Transition Policy Committee Summary of Findings
Committee Name
Planning and Economic Development
Committee Members
W Gavin Robb, Bill Shelton, Anne Tate, Aaron Weber, Jeff Byrnes , Michael Capuano, Amelia Aboff, Christine Stone
Key themes and trends:
People are eager to do business in Somerville, but many of our existing policies “make perfect the enemy of good” at the expense of the City’s growth. Somerville’s culture tends towards innovation, but we are getting in our own way with many current systems and processes.
In addition, many past planning efforts — and organizational decisions — have created silos where departments or teams are focused on a single goal. We believe the City’s planning efforts and its operations would be greatly improved by the use of interdisciplinary planning practices and new cross-functional teams in areas dealing with development, permitting, and licensing.
In each of the sections below, we address existing conditions and potential future recommendations in three categories:
Zoning and Land Use
City land use policy is well-intentioned, but process and administrative obstacles are preventing those good intentions from becoming reality. These processes need clarity and predictability.
Economic Development
Within the City administration, “Economic Development” is grouped with Planning and Land Use. However, given the City’s constraints on remaining developable land, we should prioritize economic development initiatives that support small businesses, key industries, and workforce development rather than land use. To this end, we’ve heard repeatedly that what businesses of all sizes need most is a person they can call at City Hall.
Improvements to constituent experience
Many of our processes, entities, and organizational structures have been carried over from an era when the City had different goals and the community had different needs. These should be critically assessed and updated/reorganized where appropriate. The City should aim to provide responsive stakeholder service that aims for “Yes.”
Existing initiatives:
1. Zoning and Land Use
The Somerville Zoning Ordinance is functioning well, but could use some tweaks
We should revisit certain areas that could use fine-tuning with the benefit of five years of data and experience. Potential areas to revisit include the table of permitted uses for retail operations requiring special permits (e.g. cannabis, formula businesses), homeless shelters, and housing.
Continue to approach planning efforts with a “Live/Work/Play” emphasis in support of well-rounded economic development and growth.
Ensure significant new development is slated for areas equipped to handle high commercial density so that when the economy recovers, the City is ready to hit the ground running.
Coordinate effectively with neighboring municipalities
Continue efforts to harmonize both zoning and policy with neighboring cities to encourage rational development (e.g. Broadway Corridor plan) and minimize hurdles for small businesses operating across city boundaries.
Continue to systemically balance land use, transportation, environment, and housing
Managing for the City’s goals across these categories is a careful tightrope to walk; we should continue this effort, prioritize coordination between departments, and reconcile our goals with on-the-ground experience.
The Community Preservation Committee has been hugely successful, but is largely uncelebrated. Look for opportunities to leverage the CPC to address City priorities, including reconciliation of economic development goals with historic preservation.
2. Economic Development
Build upon our existing climate, innovation, and energy cluster. Somerville has historically been open to pilot projects, etc. that make it an ideal place to test out new technologies; this is a differentiator for us in the regional economy.
The City should continue to serve as a “connector” for Somerville businesses and funding opportunities and expand this role.
3. Improvements to constituent experience
The City has attracted talented and motivated staff, but they are being asked to do too much, with too little acknowledgement. City staff should be supported with increased staffing levels and/or compensation to reduce burnout and turnover. It is also worth considering whether any existing responsibilities can be deprioritized to create more bandwidth amongst staff.
The Small Business Liaison program is universally loved; consider opportunities to expand this program.
Remote or hybrid meetings have been a boon for community engagement, increasing access and inclusion. Remote and hybrid meeting options should be maintained moving forward.
Gaps:
1. Zoning and Land Use
Some City policies — and the SomerVision goals — appear to be in conflict
Review the City’s housing and economic development goals and ensure they are aligned; reconcile them where necessary.
Identify areas with similar conflicts and create internal consistency across city policies.
“Clusters” are more than the sum of their parts: the City has an excess of commercial lab space available, which would be more compelling if it were either geographically or thematically concentrated.
Consider the market sensitivity of regulatory burdens. While inclusionary requirements and linkage can be feasible in a strong market, they can become a significant obstacle to growth during a downturn. Some of these burdens should be revisited in light of experience on the ground and recent studies such as the updated Housing Needs Assessment.
Reconcile historic preservation concerns with the need for growth. Historic character helps anchor neighborhood identity, but we risk stifling the City’s future growth if preservation efforts expand too far. The City should also consider creative solutions to integrate historic features with new development, following in the footsteps of other historic, world-class cities.
Ensure City Boards are acting in alignment with City objectives, including with mandatory trainings on the Board’s remit and limitations under the law.
2. Economic Development
Focus on the “affordability gap” between the Somerville workers and Somerville jobs. Somerville is an attractive place to work because it is an attractive place to live, and vice versa. The City must expand initiatives to manage the cost of living. (Housing affordability also impacts commercial development when talent can’t afford to live locally).
Ensure small businesses benefit from City zoning requirements: re-evaluate restrictions on formula retail to ensure local, small-scale entrepreneurs are not accidentally swept into this category, further contributing to retail vacancies.
Communicate our existing strengths and our “wins” in areas where the City is already thriving, and ensure we are building on existing successes, particularly in regard to the climate, innovation, and energy sector.
Create step-by-step guides for entrepreneurs to demystify Somerville regulatory processes.
Tax incentives for midsize companies have the opportunity to carve out a niche for Somerville in a competitive real estate market. These should decline/sunset over time; e.g, a 50% abatement the first year, 40% the second, etc.
3. Improvements to constituent experience
Community Benefits Agreements provide great value to the City and its residents, but add time and uncertainty to the development process. Consider best practices for CBA processes that the City could learn from other municipalities.
A lighter-touch permitting process can be used to incentivize certain types of development, businesses, or other outcomes. Consider selectively streamlining processes to advantage City goals.
Opportunities:
1. Zoning and Land Use
Identify and act on opportunities to streamline the approval process and make it more predictable.
Leverage tax incentives to fill Somerville’s commercial vacancies as identified in SomerVision 2040. Municipal tax breaks can also unlock additional state-level incentives and tax relief at the state level so we should consider whether we can strategically deploy tax relief to jumpstart desired types of development.
Renew efforts to manage vacant and underutilized properties.
A City inventory of excess properties has been commissioned, but outcomes from that study are unclear.
Landbanking of privately owned parcels also impacts neighborhood vitality. The City should explore incentives to address a subset of blighted properties, particularly where environmental conditions are an obstacle. Could the City offer a “scholarship” to subsidize environmental remediation?
Staff OSPCD at a level that allows more proactive, responsive, and up-to-date planning initiatives. The City is constantly evolving, and neighborhood plan updates on a 10-year cycle are far too infrequent, but the alternative (planning parcel-by-parcel with map change applications) will lead to fractured land use patterns driven by opportunistic sellers.
2. Economic Development
Support Somerville’s small businesses.
Reduce the obstacles faced by small businesses trying to open and subsequently operate in Somerville. Consider opportunities to streamline the licensing and permitting processes wherever possible (e.g. outdoor dining).
Identify ways to support and strengthen new and existing small businesses such as an ombudsman or dedicated Economic Development staffers. Consider whether the existing USMS liaison program could effectively be scaled to become a citywide initiative.
Explore support for worker-owned coops.
Explore feasibility of an affordable commercial space requirement in new developments.
Create a simplified process for pop-ups/short term uses, enabling entrepreneurs to test out brick and mortar concepts without years of investment.
Double down on our existing climate, innovation, and energy cluster.
Establish a working group to identify proactive incentives the City can provide to encourage new businesses to locate here.
Consider outbound marketing efforts to market Somerville to businesses and startups, and ensure our reputation in this area is positive. (This is particularly recommended for the climate, innovation, and energy sector; more focused efforts will be more effective than a scattershot approach.)
Treat the City as an “anchor institution” for key industries; utilize public-private partnerships and leverage the City’s buying power to support small businesses and the clean tech cluster.
Explore zoning strategies that will produce “rough-and-tumble” spaces needed by climate innovation and energy companies rather than Class A commercial or lab space.
Complete the “circle” between the City’s innovation industries and the small business community.
Startups bring capital into the local economy; Somerville should make efforts to keep successful startups here as they scale. These expanding, well-capitalized companies can in turn support new small businesses, providing much-needed daytime populations.
3. Improvements to constituent experience
Reduce silos between City departments and agencies.
From residents to small businesses, the community suffers from the lack of coordination between departments such as PPZ, ISD, Economic Development, and SFD. Identify and enact best practices for internal city coordination.
Streamline permitting and approvals processes.
Provide businesses with a dedicated “point person” to shepherd them through the City processes and provide a single point of contact across departments. Note that small businesses have different needs than medium or large businesses; we need support for businesses of all kinds. Special support may also be needed for innovation companies with highly specific and technical needs.
Consider a “shot clock” or other way of providing clearer timelines for permit responses, drawing on best practices and statutory requirements in other municipalities.
Technical problems impact usability of existing platforms (CitizenServe); work to remedy the following usability issues at a minimum:
When a city department needs documentation from the applicant, CitizenServe should make clear what documentation is required.
CitizenServe is unable to merge or link accounts if a business created two accounts, leading to confusion and preventable errors.
The existing notification system doesn't work to move a process to the next step in the workflow. Applicants shouldn't need to constantly send follow-up messages or show up in person to advance through permitting/licensing processes.
Restore faith in the public participation process.
Some voices are missing from the conversation; the administration should work to engage missing stakeholders and restore the community’s faith in the public participation process.
Restructure and revitalize City departments dealing with planning and economic development
Review intended outcomes against on-the-ground experience and work to improve City organizational structure and citizen-facing processes at a systems level.
Ensure departments are sufficiently staffed — and staff are sufficiently empowered — to avoid burnout and improve morale.
Consider merging ISD into PPZ to reduce silos and ensure that planning efforts are linked to their outcomes.
Create a direct reporting line from Economic Development to the Mayor’s Office to ensure non-planning economic development initiatives do not fall to the wayside.
Recommendations for action:
Short term recommendations:
Zoning and Land use: Budget for enhanced staffing; conduct training for all City boards
Economic Development: Modify zoning and licensing requirements that present major hurdles to small businesses; initiate “outbound marketing” for target industries
Improvements to constituent experience: Complete organizational/ process audit of permitting processes
Medium term recommendations:
Zoning and Land use: Ensure zoning outcomes are aligned with SomerVision goals; identify and act on opportunities to streamline permitting
Economic Development: Create direct reporting line from ED to Mayor’s Office; dedicated staffers to support businesses of all scales
Improvements to constituent experience: Merge ISD into PPZ; create “shot clock” or similar for most frequent permitting efforts
Long term recommendations:
Zoning and Land use: Emphasize evidence-based benchmarks in SomerVision update;
Economic Development: Develop partnerships that allow Somerville to be a living laboratory for climate innovation and energy initiatives
Improvements to constituent experience: Build Somerville a new reputation as an easy and predictable place to do business
