Survey: More than 90% of neighbors oppose Nobscot rezoning

FRAMINGHAM – More than nine out of ten Nobscot-area residents who responded to a neighborhood survey oppose rezoning that would “allow a large-scale project of 350+ housing units.”

And, over 95% said it’s important for city officials to “prioritize the concerns and preferences of residents in neighborhoods across the city.”

Those data points come from a Future of Nobscot mailer sent to approximately 3,200 homes near the Nobscot intersection. An estimated 750 people responded from roughly 600 homes, including apartments and condos, the group said. The survey was aimed at finding neighborhood views on J&Co’s plans to build hundreds of housing units on a 30-acre parcel off Edgell and Edmands roads.

J&Co is scheduled to present its plans as part of the rezoning request during Monday’s City Council Planning & Zoning Subcommittee meeting, 6 pm Nov. 9 on Zoom.

Other findings, the group said in a statement:

Almost 97% of respondents said they were very (84.8%) or somewhat concerned about traffic, with 164 adding free-form text comments to their responses.
95.5% favor an independent analysis of the financial impacts of development.
More than 70% want to keep density at or below current zoning (one unit per acre), while 16.5% favor up to 60 units on the 30-acre parcel and 5.5% selected 90 units.
94% either strongly or somewhat favor trying to preserve woodlands on the parcel owned by J&Co that connects to an existing four-acre city park.

Survey responses on the maximum number of homes on the 30-acre parcel: fewer than 30, 10.6%; 30 (current zoning), 60.8%; 60, 16.5%; 90, 5.5%; 150, 2.3%; 357 (developer's proposal), 3.8%; other higher numbers, 0.5%. Current zoning or fewer homes accounts for 71.4% of responses. [Alt text by Codex]

Almost 80% said the city has no obligation to help developers earn a profit from a project on that property by changing the zoning.

Opinions were somewhat split on age-restricted housing, with 43.8% strongly preferring homes restricted to those age 62 and older and 44.3% reporting no such preference. Another 11.9% said they were strongly against age restrictions.

Planning & Zoning Subcommittee Chair Christine Long has cautioned that there is a risk of getting even more dense development if J&Co were to propose a new project under what’s known as the Dover Amendment. That allows developers to skirt almost all local zoning for certain types of uses, including educational and religious.

Four out of ten survey respondents said they are very concerned about a Dover Amendment project at the site, another 30.6% said they are somewhat concerned, 15.7% said not concerned, and the rest had no opinion.

Another recent signal on how city residents feel about density: In the Nov. 3 election, Framingham voters narrowly favored a statewide ballot question giving developers the right to build homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet as long as water and sewer service is available. Preliminary citywide unofficial results were 51.5% yes (11,270) to 48.5% no (10,633). Opinions varied significantly by area of the city. (That ballot question was narrowly losing statewide as of Friday morning, but no media outlets had called it. UPDATE: Associated Press called Question 7 No on Friday afternoon.)

Question 7: Where support and opposition were strongest

Green indicates a Yes lead; purple indicates a No lead. Darker colors mean a larger lead in votes, not a higher percentage. Select a precinct for details.

258 vote No lead Tie 258 vote Yes lead

Source: preliminary unofficial Framingham results, November 3, 2026. Split reporting units 9A/B and 21A/B/C are combined. Percentages exclude blank votes.

View precinct vote counts

Precinct	Yes	No	Yes minus No	Yes share
1	181	107	+74	62.8%
2	153	79	+74	65.9%
3	185	103	+82	64.2%
4	256	137	+119	65.1%
5	293	245	+48	54.5%
6	560	453	+107	55.3%
7	561	530	+31	51.4%
8	296	229	+67	56.4%
9	457	331	+126	58.0%
10	255	250	+5	50.5%
11	379	302	+77	55.7%
12	353	237	+116	59.8%
13	247	108	+139	69.6%
14	296	183	+113	61.8%
15	346	180	+166	65.8%
16	445	400	+45	52.7%
17	550	491	+59	52.8%
18	635	556	+79	53.3%
19	543	692	-149	44.0%
20	505	639	-134	44.1%
21	647	905	-258	41.7%
22	495	737	-242	40.2%
23	492	666	-174	42.5%
24	551	556	-5	49.8%
25	543	605	-62	47.3%
26	523	466	+57	52.9%
27	523	446	+77	54.0%

Future of Nobscot survey details

Respondents to the Future of Nobscot survey were asked to include their names and addresses, as a way to ensure people didn’t answer multiple times. Future of Nobscot says the response rate was about 19%. Tabling at the McAuliffe Library added another 19 responses.

You can see more details about the neighborhood survey in a Future of Nobscot PDF about the data.

The group describes itself as aiming to protect the neighborhood’s “historic and rural character . . . while supporting thoughtful changes that make our neighborhood an even better place to live, work, and visit.” It says any development in the city should “reflect Framingham’s 2020 Master Plan and respect the voices of current residents.”

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