Methuen, MA Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

The Methuen Center Smart Growth Overlay District (MCSGOD) is an overlay of approximately 54.44 acres superimposed on all underlying zoning districts, added 11-28-2017 by Ord. No. 924 under MGL c. 40R. Section 5.22I incorporates the Design Guidelines as Appendix B (published as Attachment 7, Methuen Center Design Guidelines) and applies them to all Projects. They address site planning, architectural design, parking, accessibility, infrastructure and the natural environment, and stress appropriate building scale, the relationship between historical and contemporary design, and renovation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings.

The guidelines are noncompulsory guidance only: fulfilment is recommended but not mandatory. The Plan Approval Authority, which is the Community Development Board, can adopt amendments by majority vote. Until the City has issued certificates of occupancy for at least 201 eligible units in the district, applications for Plan Approval are not subject to amendments until DHCD has approved them in writing.

The mandatory design controls are in § 5.22H. Buildings with commercial use on the ground floor need at least 40% of the ground-floor facade in transparent windows and storefronts on primary elevations facing the street, and at least 15% on secondary elevations facing pedestrian alleys or walkways. Buildings along the frontage of Broadway, Hampshire, Osgood, Lowell and Pelham Streets must be Mixed Use with their main elevation facing the street. Where the existing sidewalk in front of a Mixed-Use building is narrower than eight feet, the sidewalk plus front yard must total no less than eight feet. Exterior work visible from a public street within the Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District or the Spicket Falls National Register District is subject to design review under the Historic District Commission Rules and Regulations, the Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District Design Guidelines and/or the Methuen Sign Guide. Existing historic buildings must be preserved, rehabilitated or adaptively reused unless the Plan Approval Authority grants a waiver, and demolition is subject to the Demolition Delay Ordinance in Chapter 25 of the Municipal Code.