The City Council is expected to vote on a handful of zoning requests for the Roux Institute campus development at their next meeting on Feb. 6.
The requests are to amend the city’s code to permit an overlay zone for the development, which would regulate and allow for future growth of the 13-acre campus.
The development is being brought forward by the Initiative for Digital Engineering and Life Sciences, which aims to build a graduate-level college campus, student and faculty housing, hotel, restaurants and other services at the former B&M baked bean factory. IDEALS have been seeking a change from the current I-M zoning designation to the B-5 to allow for a broader range of uses, including residential.
The zoning requests were recently approved by the Planning Board, which would change the area’s zoning from moderate-impact industrial to a mixed-use designation that allows residential, office, retail and restaurant use.
The Council had the first reading on the three requests at their Jan. 18 meeting. They had a budget workshop on Jan. 30, and a workshop on the zoning requests on Jan. 11, where they focused much of their discussion on housing.
