Milton voters recently rejected their town’s zoning plan under the MBTA Communities Act by an 800-vote margin, but Marblehead officials remain confident their approach will bring them into compliance with the state mandate to create multifamily zoning.
Supporters of Milton’s “No” campaign argued that they didn’t want Beacon Hill dictating zoning. Marblehead Planning Board member Ed Nilsson believes this sentiment does not widely exist here.
“With a well-crafted plan as we have in Marblehead, there is reason to believe it can lead to positive outcomes that will benefit Marblehead,” he said.
Outgoing Marblehead Town Planner Becky Cutting agreed.
“Initially a lot of people think like that. No one really likes a mandate — we did not like it — but I think we came up with a compliance model that will actually benefit Marblehead,” she said.
The Milton vote divided the Boston suburb. But Nilsson said he is not worried about that happening in Marblehead.
“I believe [past zoning] implementation has had a positive effect in preserving and protecting Marblehead’s quality of environment,” he said.
Milton could face penalties, litigation and loss of state funding if it cannot approve a compliant plan by the December deadline. Cutting said Marblehad would need to scramble to come up with another plan and hold a special town meeting if its initial proposal fails.
Cutting explained Marblehead’s approach differs from Milton’s concentrated zoning.
“Ours is not concentrated in one area. The compliance model we came up with has three separate districts,” she said.
While Milton scrambles to rework its plan to comply with the 2021 law aimed at increasing housing, Cutting believes Marblehead has gotten it right on the first try.
“I think we crafted it in such a way to give the town credit for some of the multifamily we already have at this density and greater and allows for some growth in areas that might benefit from redevelopment and without changing the character of the town,” she stated.
The Marblehead Planning Board discussed its zoning proposals at a Feb. 13 meeting. The board plans to hold a public hearing on April 9 as required by state law ahead of the May Town Meeting vote.
The proposals would create three new multifamily housing districts with the potential for nearly 900 new units:
— Tioga Way District: 28.3 acres allowing 483 units at 19.2 units per acre
— Pleasant Street District: 20.2 acres allowing 297 units at 14.7 units per acre
— Broughton Road District: 6.1 acres allowing 119 units at 19.5 units per acre
Together the districts include 54.7 acres of land allowing 17.5 dwellings per acre on average. The law requires Marblehead to rezone at least 27 acres at a minimum density of 15 units per acre.
Board members plan to seek input from municipal planning consultants to best engage residents ahead of the Town Meeting vote in May. Cutting said information sheets will be available to help explain the proposals.
