SomerVision’s twenty-year plan goes into action in June, impacting many Somerville neighborhoods.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Strategic Planning and Community Development Director Michael F. Glavin announced that the twenty-year plan, approved last month by the Somerville Board of Aldermen and City Planning Board would serve as the basis for a new round of initiatives across the city. The first of these will kick off in June with a release of a study of the RA and RB zoning districts that encompass the majority of Somerville’s residential neighborhoods.

The study will highlight the ways in which current zoning supports, or undermines, residents’ stated preferences for preserving neighborhoods while encouraging economic growth. The RA-RB study will also provide recommendations for change to be presented to the Board of Aldermen. Throughout the summer and into the fall, city officials expect to roll out additional SomerVision-based proposals to guide planning around future Green Line stations, as well as proposals to encourage urban agriculture and multimodal transportation.

“Developing changes to the city’s Zoning Ordinance has got to be a collaborative process with the Board of Aldermen – that’s as it should be,” said Curtatone. “But SomerVision gives us a shared yardstick to measure proposed changes and come up with new approaches. The SomerVision plan is a strategic roadmap that reflects a broad consensus among Somerville residents, business owners and elected officials on issues related to economic growth, transportation, housing, and quality of life.”

“The reason so many people across Somerville poured time and energy into SomerVision was to have a shared frame of reference when we took on big challenges like changes to our zoning or district development plans,” said Alderman at Large Jack Connolly. “This is where the hard work of the past three years really starts to pay off.”

“SomerVision is already helping the city move forward on new initiatives like the rollout of the regional Hubway bicycle program, urban agriculture and the vitally important Broadway Streetscape Project in East Somerville,” said Glavin. “It’s informing our ongoing planning initiatives around the future of McGrath Highway, the evolution of the Brickbottom neighborhood and Innerbelt industrial district, and the long-awaited extension of the Community Path toward Somerville’s eastern border. Next up, the city will launch an effort to ensure that the Commonwealth’s transit investment in the transformational neighborhood around Union Square will generate the new jobs and housing opportunities called for in the plan. In the fall, the City will begin a series of neighborhood planning efforts to implement SomerVision goals around the future MBTA Green Line stations at Gilman, Ball and Magoun Squares. And, as new rounds of funding become available, we will also be moving forward on streetscape upgrades to the Beacon Street corridor and Davis Square.”

SomerVision was prepared over the course of three years, with more than sixty public meetings and hundreds of community volunteers participating. In 2009, a Steering Committee of sixty residents, businesspersons, community advocates and elected officials was convened to lead the Comprehensive Plan process. The Steering Committee held monthly meetings that were advertised to the public, held in accessible locations and broadcast on public access television. The plan was endorsed by the Somerville Board of Aldermen on April 12, and adopted by the Somerville Planning Board on April 19.

The Comprehensive Plan is available for download from the city’s website at www.somervillema.gov/spotlights/comp-plan.

Photo caption:

SomerVision’s twenty-year plan goes into action in June, impacting  many Somerville neighborhoods.