FALL RIVER — Changes to the city's zoning laws and housing district requirements happen every so often, usually in favor of expanding housing zones to help address the city's housing shortage and encourage growth. What isn't so typical is hearing a resident propose an update to city zoning that he says could benefit residents, renters, and his neighbors.
Ian Tompkins of 636 Rock St. owns a multi-family in the Niagara neighborhood, and so do many of his neighbors. He said his and other properties in the vicinity are in an "R" or attracted and retained tenants, he said pivoting to an A-2 or apartment zone could simply "make sense."
At the July 14 meeting of the City Council, Tompkins told councilors that the "corridor" of Brayton Avenue and Warren Street was "spot-zoned" in the past to allow for smaller scale apartment development — Tompkins himself spoke of restoring an attic into an apartment and transforming his basement for a future tenant at 450 Cambridge St., with an eye to turn it into a five-family home.
Adjusting the zoning would allow property owners to add apartments to their properties by right, Tompkins said. "Density is going up no matter what," Tompkins said, citing the state law permitting accessory dwelling units, despite Fall River's past attempts to reject ADUs.
Tompkins made a distinction: higher density can sometimes be instrumental in areas that can absorb the impacts, or where density is naturally occurring like the Brayton-Warren Corridor, he said. "This would be the place to do it," he told the Council in July, despite some who raised concerns about stepping outside of the traditional method of making zoning changes through the city's Zoning Board.
"Why not just go to Zoning yourself and see if that'll pass?" asked Councilor Linda Pereira.
Tompkins' correction was slated to be sent to the Planning Board for review within 14 days under Massachusetts General Laws, but it was not, Tompkins said at the Aug. 11 City Council meeting.
The motion to refer it failed in a 4-4 vote, with Councilor Paul Hart absent from the July meeting.
"I can't wrap my head around the concept of changing zoning for an entire neighborhood because one person wants to…turn their three-family into a five-family when they have other avenues to accomplish the same goal," City Council Vice President Michelle Dionne said.
This reversal, he said in an interview on Aug. 5, will allow Tompkins to recalibrate the proposal. He said he planned to discuss it with the Niagara Neighborhood Association president and then resubmit it.
There are key differences between the sprawling single-family homes found in R-4 residential zones and intensive mixed-use or residential developments dotting city streets in A-4 apartment zones, and they go further than what meets the eye.
The scale of structures in residential zones is a lever that can be toggled with an exception made by zoning boards, but R-4 zoning comes with strict lot coverage, and setback requirements to reduce density and traffic congestion.
Zones designated for apartments typically allow commercial business to flourish alongside mixed-use developments of micro units, where complexes' structural footprints can cover more of the lot, with a reduction in setback requirements.
Commercial businesses are generally prohibited in residential zones that seek to maintain low-impact to neighborhoods, whereas tighter urban infrastructure is commonly associated with apartment zones that can effectively hold triple-deckers, mill rehabilitation projects, and mixed-use or commercial-adjacent buildings.
The 2025 Fall River City Council approved a new zoning description for A-2 apartment zonesthat will increase density within and among new construction or rehab projects.
Units themselves no longer need to meet mandates of at least three rooms, not including hallways and a bathroom, and they do not have minimum square footage requirements.
The new zoning rules will allow for more units to be built, using a new ratio of number of units to lot square footage.
Last year's changes decrease the frontage and setback requirements — at times, halving those figures — with a 30% maximum lot coverage maintained.
At the Aug. 11 meeting, Tompkins told councilors the new proposal would identify a smaller area impacted by potential zoning changes, "with fewer residents to notify" within a "30-block radius."
He said he's looking forward to pushing the matter "collectively" with the neighborhood behind him.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Why a Fall River landlord wants to change zoning to add apartments