Stage shortly before the inauguration of Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. (Madison Rogers/WBZ NewsRadio)
MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A new mayor of Medford was sworn into office on Sunday, along with new city council and school committee members.
In her inaugural speech, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said that zoning laws and transparency are some of her top priorities.
Mayor Lungo-Koehn said that zoning laws have been a major issues for Medford. On her website she said that “current zoning policies don’t encourage increasing local investment in businesses.”
The new mayor outlined her plan which includes creating a commission that studies the ways the city interacts with residents in regards to zoning, and working on a zoning masterplan that is more proactive.
“Let’s take 2020 to plan,” Mayor Lungo-Koehn said. “Taking the actions to relieve us from 40B pressure and use the results of those plans to craft new zoning we will adopt in 2021.”
The state of Massachusetts’ website said that Chapter 40B is a statute that “enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions.”
According to Mayor Lungo Koehn, this is the first comprehensive zoning plan for the city in 30 years.
WBZ NewsRadio's Madison Rogers (@_madisonrogers) reports
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