Belmont Select Board Pushes Overlay Zoning Toward October Town Meeting Vote

BELMONT -- September 8, 2025, Belmont Select Board advances Belmont Center overlay zoning ahead of October 20 Special Town Meeting. At the September 8 meeting, the three-member board, Chair Matt Thaler, Elizabeth Dion, and Taylor Yeank, reviewed an updated fiscal impact analysis covering twelve build-out scenarios for the proposed overlay, which the board accepted without a formal vote as it shifts focus to traffic analysis and vote-counting ahead of a deadline after which a failed article would trigger a two-year moratorium. Dion pressed for a net unit comparison against the town's existing MBTA Communities Act allowance of 279 units in Belmont Center, warning "we are not there yet" on convincing residents the overlay is revenue positive. The board unanimously created the Glenn Clancy Memorial Tree Fund to plant and maintain 40 trees honoring the town's longtime public works director, and deferred a vote on a proposed Belmont Public Library Rental Revolving Fund, sending Thaler to negotiate with Library Board of Trustees Chair Kathy Coheim over whether proceeds must be restricted to facility maintenance. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin confirmed $356,507 in additional state aid above budgeted amounts for fiscal year 2026, to be treated as one-time capital funding.