MVP action grant case study

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Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program Action Grant Case Study
Municipality: Winthrop, MA and Metro Mayors Coalition (MMC) 
Project Title: Climate Resilient Land Use and Zoning 
Award Year (FY): FY2019 
Grant Award: $99,740 
Match: $35,184 
Match Source: Barr Foundation for MAPC Staff Hours, and a mix of MMC and Winthrop Staff
hours for additional in-kind match .
One or Two Year Project: Initially a one-year project that had an extension granted due to
COVID-19 Pandemic. (FY19-FY21) 
Municipal Department Leading Project: Town Manager and Planning Department 
Project Website URL: 
https://www.town.winthrop.ma.us/building-department-inspectional-services/pages/flood-
resilience
Climate Resilient Land Use Strategies – MAPC 
Community Overview: 
The Town of Winthrop neighbors East Boston to the North and has a population approximately
17,500. Winthrop is a member of the Metro Mayors Coalition (MMC), a 15-municipality
coalition facilitated by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), which has long
collaborated on issues of regional significance. In 2015, the MMC made a commitment to
prepare the region for the impacts of climate change and formed the Climate Preparedness
Taskforce. MMC represents 1.4 million residents in the Greater Boston area.
The municipalities in this region are some of the most densely developed communities in the
State, with a diverse range of social vulnerabilities. While many of the climate impacts that the
region faces are similar to other areas of the State, its unique characteristics as both coastal and
urbanized region make for complex challenges.
While Winthrop does not have a large Environmental Justice population, there are a high
percentage of one-person households (which can lead to isolation during extreme weather
events), large percentage of children under 5, and older adults over 65.

Project Description and Goals: 
This project primarily addressed issues of coastal flooding due to sea level rise, storm surge,
and precipitation-based flooding through the lens of urban land use, planning, and
development patterns. The goals of this project were two-fold: The first being to advance local
resilience in Winthrop through land use planning that would align with a future Master Plan
and Zoning Overhaul. The second to be able to develop replicable resources and tools for Metro 
Mayors communities. During Winthrop’s MVP Planning Report, they identified a priority action
to “develop a Master Plan for the Town and incorporate building code and zoning.” While the
Master Planning process takes several years, the research conducted during this project was 
integrated into the Town’s Vision 2030 process (spring 2020) and helped advance resilient land
use in the near term by establishing the Flood Resilience Checklist.
The second goal of this project was to develop best practices and models for other Metro
Mayors communities, using Winthrop as a pilot project. We did this through sharing project
outcomes and templates from the Town of Winthrop policy research and Flood Resilience
Checklist. As well as hosted a virtual workshop series on climate resilient land use (Fall 2020),
and developed an extensive website on the topic.
The project met the over-arching goals of advancing climate resilient land use practices in
Winthrop and the region. The project attempted to cover some key elements that are priorities
for EEA, including:
- Nature-Based Solutions: Both the resilience checklist and training included information
on green infrastructure and way to integrate it into local codes. This included 
highlighting Somerville’s Green Factors zoning code in the training, and highlighting 
nature-based solutions in Climate Resilient Land Use website.
- Community Engagement: In terms of stakeholder and community engagement, the
project was highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as many municipal staff had to
shift into emergency/pandemic response and shift away from their typical jobs.
Community engagement included developer interviews, an integration of climate issues
into the Vision 2030 public forum, and meeting with the Planning Board. 
- Regional Replicability: The resources and trainings developed through this project have
helped support other municipalities in the region in considering climate resilience in
their land use planning and zoning. There is now a much greater interest and
enthusiasm for addressing climate impacts through this lens. However, more will be
needed in this realm including continuing to support communities in adopting new
policies and providing template zoning solutions (like resilience overlay districts or green
factors codes). Many of these materials, including recordings of the trainings, will also
be made available to the entire MAPC region on MAPC’s website.

Results and Deliverables: 
• Winthrop Policy Scan and Analysis (including recommendations) 
• Winthrop Flood Resilience Checklist, Guidance Document and Flood Mapper-
https://www.town.winthrop.ma.us/building-department-inspectional-
services/pages/flood-resilience 
• MAPC’s Climate Resilience Websit e - Climate Resilient Land Use Strategies – MAPC 
• Climate Resilient Land Use and Zoning Workshops Climate Resilient Land Use Trainings
and Videos – MAPC 
• Additional templates and documents attached 
o Guidance document on adopting a checklist 
o Template Policy Scan document 
Lessons Learned: 
Addressing climate resilience through local, regional, and State land use regulations and policies
will be critical in protecting people and property. The buildings developed today will be in place
for decades to come. Municipalities are beginning to understand the critical importance of
integrating climate into local zoning code and other local policies and processes. However, the
work of updating and adopting new policy is a slow one and must be aligned across multiple
stakeholders.
Additionally, localized, down-scaled climate data will be important for property owners and
developers to understand their specific risk to climate hazards, rather than general risks. While 
some communities have this information readily available, most municipalities don’t, es pecially
smaller towns and cities. 
Despite the challenges of addressing local policies and regulations, municipalities interested in
doing this work should look for opportunities to first tackle low-hanging fruit as well as
opportunities (like a Master Planning process or Zoning Overhaul) to integrate climate data and
regulations. 
Partners and Other Support: 
• Town of Winthrop 
o Office of Town Manager 
o Town Planner 
o Inspectional Services Department 
o Department of Public Works 
o Planning Board 
• Metropolitan Area Planning Council 
o Clean Energy, Environment, Land Use, and Data Services Departments

• CAI- Town of Winthrop’s GIS technology support 
• KP Law- Town of Winthrop’s Legal Council 
• Metro Mayors Coalition Members: Arlington, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge,
Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Melrose, Medford, Newton, Quincy, Revere, and Somerville. 
Project Photos:

Climate Resilient Land Use Planning: A Primer for Local
Governments
November 23, 2020

This recorded workshop focused on understanding regional climate impacts
and opportunities to integrate resilience into local land use planning. The
workshop included resources developed by MAPC and small group
discussions. This session was held on November 23, 2020 for the Metro