Dartmouth approves five-year housing plan with zoning and infrastructure priorities

Dartmouth’s Select Board approved an updated Housing Production Plan on July 13, 2026, following prior approval by the Planning Board. The townwide roadmap covers North Dartmouth through the Town of Dartmouth’s planning and zoning authority, but it is not yet in force: the plan must first receive state adoption, and its five-year term will begin only after that approval.

Prepared with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, the plan outlines housing priorities for Dartmouth’s municipal planning process. It is a policy guide rather than an immediate zoning, construction, tax or funding decision.

Four goals guide the plan

The plan identifies four main goals: support infrastructure upgrades and expansions that can enable housing; pursue zoning changes for affordable and missing-middle housing; create or expand programs supporting housing production, preservation and housing-stock stability; and continue producing units eligible for the state’s Subsidized Housing Inventory.

Its eight recommended strategies include exploring a mixed-use overlay district, creating a Chapter 40Y starter-home zoning district and evaluating the town’s Zone III aquifer requirements for potential reforms. The plan also recommends considering inclusionary housing provisions for age-restricted developments, seeking funding for the Community Preservation Committee and Housing Trust, preserving affordability when deed restrictions expire, and working with developers and the state on housing opportunities using town- and state-owned land.

Resident survey included 411 responses

Dartmouth and SRPEDD conducted resident engagement while updating the plan. The town said its survey ran from September 2024 through August 2025 and received 411 responses. Reported preferences included support for small starter homes and smaller homes for older residents.

What it means for North Dartmouth

North Dartmouth is part of the Town of Dartmouth, not a separate municipality with its own planning board or zoning authority. Future townwide housing and land-use proposals developed under this plan could therefore affect North Dartmouth residents, property owners, renters, developers and businesses.

Potential effects could include new discussions about mixed-use or starter-home zoning, infrastructure capacity, affordable-housing preservation and development on public land. The plan identifies infrastructure and aquifer-protection requirements as factors that may shape where and how additional housing can be considered.

Nothing in the July 13 action approved a specific project, zoning amendment, tax increase, construction schedule or immediate housing entitlement. The eight strategies remain recommendations and implementation directions. Any individual change would require additional local review, hearings and votes, along with any required state action.

State review is the next milestone

The town’s official meeting recap says the plan has been sent to the state for adoption. Until that review is complete, Dartmouth’s five-year planning period has not begun.

Residents, homeowners, renters, developers and taxpayers should watch future Planning Board and Select Board proceedings for proposed zoning amendments, infrastructure priorities, funding requests and individual development applications connected to the plan.

Sources

• Dartmouth Select Board Meeting Recap: July 13, 2026 — Housing Production Plan
• Housing Production Plan accepted by Select Board