Everett, MA Building Setbacks & Zoning: Lot Coverage Limits (2026)

Section 24 of the Everett Zoning Ordinance creates the Telecommunications Overlay District in the City of Everett, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, bounded in part by the Malden River, Revere Beach Parkway and the boundary between the cities of Everett and Malden. It is not a rule for Everett, Washington. The section's stated purpose is to encourage flexible development options for a distinctive and visually attractive economic center, primarily supporting the telecommunications industry and including public access to the Malden River Park.

The dimensional rules in subsection E set the lot coverage cap and the numbers around it. No more than 60 % of the total lot can be covered by structures, buildings, parking facilities and other impervious surfaces. Minimum open space is 40 %. The maximum FAR is 0.50. Maximum height is ten stories and 120 feet, although communications antennae permitted by special permit can extend up to 200 feet above grade. No structure, parking facility, sign or paved roadway can sit within 75 feet of the average high-water mark of the Malden River.

No building permit issues in the overlay without site plan approval by the Planning Board under section 19 of the Everett Building Zone Ordinance. Permitted uses include communications infrastructure, industrial uses related to research and development facilities, offices, retail sales and services, financial institutions and telecommunications facilities. Trailer parks, animal processing, food processing, excavating and mining, gasoline stations, recycling stations, entertainment facilities and trucking terminals are barred, and warehousing is barred except in connection with an allowed industrial use. Repairs to existing structures and reconstruction of casualty-damaged structures are exempt.

One scope point matters. Section 24 prints that the overlay is in effect for five years from the date of adoption, with an extension available by a two-thirds vote of the City Council that cannot total more than five years. Confirm the overlay's current status with the Everett City Clerk before relying on the 60 % figure for a parcel. Separately, Section 30 on the Lower Broadway Economic Development District lets the approving authority, by special permit, authorize reduced lot coverage requirements and open space requirements for projects that include public benefits.