Regulations, Guidelines, & Permit Applications

Below are documents regarding regulations, policy, and recommendations frequently used or referred to by DPCD.

Regulations

• Arlington Redevelopment Board (ARB) Rules and Regulations: A reference for members of the ARB and interested citizens to assure the orderly conduct at the meetings of the Board, and to provide the most efficient use of the Board and staff's time by describing filing deadlines and submittal requirements.
• Board of Survey Regulations: Rules and regulations governing the design and installation of ways (streetscape elements, e.g. streets, drainage, sewers, street trees, utilities).
• Conservation Commission Bylaw and Regulations: Rules and regulations governing Conservation Resource Areas.
• Zoning Bylaw: Recodified in 2018; includes amendments through May 2024.

Guidelines

• Bike Parking Guidelines: An illustrated guide to Arlington’s bicycle parking bylaw.
• Commercial Corridor Design Standards: Design standards for development along Arlington’s primary corridors, addressing building site, orientation, height, setbacks, parking strategies, and signage.
• Residential Design Guidelines: Community-derived design recommendations for new construction and additions in Arlington’s low-density residential zoning districts. Created in collaboration with the Design Review Working Group.

Permit Applications

• Application for Special Permit Review under Environmental Review: Required for any sign or development proposal being reviewed by the ARB. Additional guidance on this application can be found in the ARB Rules and Regulations (link above).
• Conservation Permit Applications: Application requirements for projects proposed in Conservation Resource Areas under the Arlington Bylaw for Wetlands Protection and Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act.
• Sidewalk Café Permit Application: Required to operate temporary or seasonal outdoor dining.
• Vacant Storefront Registration: Required of property owners of vacant commercial storefronts.

Other town permit applications can be found on the Applications, Regulations, and Permits page.

Mapping

• Conservation Resource Areas Map: An interactive map of Arlington's Conservation Resource Areas.
• Zoning Map: An interactive map of Arlington’s zoning districts.
• MassDOT GeoDOT: Interactive transportation maps and links to other MassDOT resources.

Other Town GIS maps are available on the Geographic Information Systems page.

Research & Data

Research and data from the sources below is referred to by DPCD to understand the profile of the community and how it has changed over time.

• MetroBoston DataCommon: A community snapshot of Arlington prepared by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council & the Boston Indicators Project at the Boston Foundation.
• DataTown, Massachusetts: A tool from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership's Center for Housing Data; it provides community profiles for Massachusetts communities which data on population, housing stock, jobs and labor force, and other datasets.
• MassBuilds: MassBuilds is the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s collaborative inventory of past, present and future real estate development projects.
• Data.census.gov: Provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas from the Census Bureau’s decennial censuses, the American Community Survey, and other federal surveys.
• CHAS Data: Custom tabulations of American Community Survey data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, used to understand the extent of housing problems and housing needs.
• MassBenchmarks: High-level economic and public policy research from the UMass Donahue Institute's Economic and Public Policy Research. The results of this research are disseminated as free-standing research reports and through MassBenchmarks, the journal of the Massachusetts economy published in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
• Mass.gov Socioeconomic Data: Select socioeconomic data from the Department of Revenue, MassDOT, Secretary of State's Office, Department of Public Health, Department of Work Force and Labor, and the US Census Bureau.
• AARP Livability Index: A signature initiative of the Public Policy Institute to measure the quality of life in American communities across multiple dimensions: housing, transportation, neighborhood characteristics, environment, health, opportunity, and civic and social engagement. An interactive, easily navigated website, the Livability Index allows users to compare communities, adjust scores based on personal preferences and learn how to take action to make their own communities more livable.

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Word Viewer Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer