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Route
146 Corridor Overlay District
Blackstone Valley, Massachusetts
Created as a measure to encourage coordinated development along a major north-south transportation corridor in the Blackstone Valley, the Route 146 Corridor Overlay District is a local zoning measure that has regional implications. An overlay district is a zoning district whose boundaries are superimposed over other zoning districts established by a municipality’s zoning by-laws or ordinances.
The Route 146 Corridor Overlay District was developed by the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission in recognition of the Corridor as an important gateway to the Blackstone Valley. With the opening of the Massachusetts Turnpike Interchange with Route 146 in 1998, increased opportunities for economic development were anticipated that would provide fiscal benefits to Blackstone Valley communities and create jobs for residents. The Overlay District was designed for the five communities of Millbury, Sutton, Northbridge, Douglas, and Uxbridge that border Route 146 to insure that all communities will benefit economically without causing haphazard and inefficient strip commercial development or degradation of the environment.
The Overlay District seeks to guide the pace of development and promote standards of development that preserve the scenic, natural, and cultural resources of the Blackstone Valley.
Among its features, this Overlay District requires:
- Development applications be sent to all towns for inter-municipal review;
- Preservation of a minimum 35% of the land tract for open space; and
- Adherence to site design and architectural standards.
In effect in Sutton since its creation, the 146 Overlay District has resulted in commercial developments that are visually-distinguishable from their pre-Overlay counterparts. Northbridge followed Sutton’s lead, adopting the overlay approximately one year after Sutton. Millbury has a portion of Route 146 covered under its own ordinance, adopted in 1990, which it has found to be effective. Douglas and Uxbridge are considering adoption of the Overlay.
Contacts:
Jennifer Hager, Sutton Town Planner
508.865.8729
William Scanlan, Community Development Program Manager
Central Mass. Regional Planning Agency
508.756.7717
read more…
Route
146 Corridor Overlay District Bylaw
Description and full text of the bylaw can be found on the Citizens Planner
Training Collaborative website, hosted at the University of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
Gateway Roads Program
The portion of Route 146 from its intersection with the MA Turnpike to
the Rhode Island border is also targeted as part of M.G.L. Chapter 90H,
known as the “Gateway Roads Program,” whose purpose is to
encourage the aesthetic improvement of the Commonwealth’s main tourist
entry points.
