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

Medford's zoning ordinance, Chapter 94 of the Revised Ordinances (Ord. No. 867, effective March 22, 2022), sets a hard lot coverage ceiling for the city's Mixed Use Zoning (MUZ) District under Section 94-9.1.3.2. A lot whose principal structure is not devoted mainly to parking cannot cover more than 45 percent of its area with buildings and impervious structure; a lot whose principal use is parking can cover up to 85 percent. Both figures can climb by exactly ten percentage points, to 49.5 percent and 93.5 percent respectively, but only through a special permit the city council grants under Section 94-11.6, not administratively.

The ordinance carves below-grade parking out of the coverage calculation entirely, so an underground garage does not count against either ceiling. The MUZ District sits alongside separate districts such as SF-1, SF-2, GR, APT-1, APT-2, C-1, C-2, O and I, each carrying its own coverage limit in the citywide Table of Dimensional Requirements referenced at Section 94-4.1. The Planning, Development and Sustainability Department and the Community Development Board review site plans and special permit applications for compliance, and the building commissioner administers Chapter 94 day to day.

Because the MUZ cap sits inside Section 94-9.1, which the ordinance says governs over any conflicting general provision, a MUZ property owner cannot rely on the citywide table to exceed 45 percent, or 85 percent for a parking-principal lot, without the council's special permit. Applicants seeking the higher figure go through the same special permit decision criteria set out in Section 94-11.6 that govern other MUZ relief.