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

Framingham's Table of Dimensional Regulations at § 435-27B sets the baseline maximum lot coverage for each zoning district, and § 435-27E(2) confirms that no building or group of buildings on a lot, including accessory buildings, may cover more of the lot than that table allows. Inside the Corporate Mixed-Use (CMU) District, however, § 435-15D(2)(e) creates a specific bonus: a CMU project can increase its lot coverage from the district's baseline 70% up to 80% if its open space immediately abuts at least 50% of the required landscaped area of the adjoining project, for a distance of at least 50 feet.

The Planning Board built the bonus into the CMU's broader landscape-amenity requirements, which otherwise call for a landscaped buffer at least 50% as wide as the distance between the public right-of-way and the building. The stated purpose is connectivity: rather than each CMU parcel landscaping in isolation, the ordinance rewards developers who design contiguous open space across adjoining CMU sites with extra buildable lot coverage. Because § 435-15D specifically supersedes the general site plan review provisions of § 435-47B through E for CMU projects, the Planning Board reviews and approves the coverage increase as part of CMU site plan review rather than through a separate variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals. A project that wants the 80% coverage without meeting the adjoining open-space and 50-foot connection requirement stays capped at the district's standard 70% maximum.