Mansfield Planning Board Forms Working Group to Eliminate Mandatory Parking Minimums

MANSFIELD — July 15, 2026 — Mansfield Planning Board takes first formal step toward eliminating mandatory parking minimums. A board member who completed the Massachusetts Housing Leadership Academy presented a proposal arguing that Mansfield's parking mandates force developers to spend $50,000 to $100,000 per space — figures drawn from a Metropolitan Area Planning Council study of 190 Boston-area developments — while costing the town tax revenue and housing units. The board did not vote on the proposal but formed a working group to develop bylaw language, with a public hearing targeted for September 9 and a special town meeting requiring a two-thirds vote to follow. At least one member expressed firm resistance to going to zero minimums, calling for incremental reductions instead: "I'm hesitant to go to zero because I just feel like some of the developers will not have the town's best interest in mind." The board also approved minutes and continued a site plan modification hearing for a 7,200-square-foot addition at 87 Central Street to July 22, and received introductory discussion of ADU setback amendments, B4 mixed-use zoning changes, and a rewrite of the 55-plus senior housing bylaw targeted for future town meetings.