As Town Meeting prepares to vote this May on a warrant article to comply with state-mandated multifamily zoning, it has an opportunity to learn from difficulties in the town of Milton.
Voters in Milton recently rejected a zoning plan and now face potential consequences like funding cuts and lawsuits. Marblehead should aim to avoid similar pitfalls with its nuanced proposal targeting modest density increases, but communication and compromise will prove critical.
The state law driving this zoning change passed in 2021, mandating approximately 177 MBTA communities to increase multifamily housing density. It is important to emphasize that the law does not mandate any additional housing be built, just that zoning bylaws be changed to allow for more housing.
Marblehead’s proposal demonstrates careful customization. After extensive public input, the Planning Board has crafted a plan with three new multifamily housing districts. The board recently moved to add an affordability requirement, mandating 10% of new units be affordable.
The Tioga Way district encompasses 28.3 acres with a capacity for 483 new housing units at an average density of 19.2 units per acre. The Pleasant Street district covers 20.2 acres with room for 297 units at 14.7 units per acre. And the Broughton Road district includes 6.1 acres for 119 units at 19.5 units per acre density.
Together these total 54.7 acres newly zoned. With 51.5 acres practically available for development, the plan allows up to 899 new units at 17.5 dwellings per acre on average.
Marblehead need not repeat Milton’s misstep. Let us have reasonable debates around adding density. But also acknowledge that sustainable growth could maintain our town’s historical charm while expanding housing options missing today — for young families, aging residents and income diversity.
Marblehead’s proposal is limited in scope, rezoning 1.5% of land near transit and services. Two districts have existing housing sites and aging buildings ripe for reinvention.
Zoning alone does not approve building projects. Separate permitting processes place guardrails for community input to shape scale, timing and site plans.
But without compromise, consequences loom in Marblehead, like Milton — from litigation to worsening housing availability regionally. Avoiding “Not in my backyard” attitudes is easier said than done, but important.
The Massachusetts housing crisis impacts real people struggling amid bidding wars and affordability. Marblehead has a chance to help contribute solutions. The proposal that the Planning Board wrote over the past several months shows commitment to not just compliance but community betterment.
Perhaps in 50 years residents will look back with gratitude on 2024 as a fulcrum point, a time when Marblehead led with sustainable growth solutions.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
