The Fair Housing Committee convened July 9 to chart a path forward for the MBTA Communities zoning proposal, which was narrowly defeated at the recent Town Meeting by 33 votes. The Fair Housing team focused on strategies for compliance with state mandates and potential consequences of failure.
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer emphasized the looming Dec. 31 deadline for compliance with state zoning requirements, painting a stark picture of potential fallout.
“If we don’t pass the zoning in order to be compliant with the state, we start losing funding for a number of programs,” Kezer warned. He explained that the impact would extend beyond immediate financial losses, potentially derailing crucial infrastructure projects.
Kezer specifically highlighted the Village Street Bridge project, estimated to cost $11 million and currently progressing through the state’s Transportation Improvement Planning process.
He stressed that such a setback could undo years of progress, given the competitive nature of the state’s project approval process.
“It was a huge success for us to get that project number assigned and get on the TIP committee,” Kezer noted.
Faced with these high stakes, Kezer outlined steps for scheduling a special Town Meeting before the year-end deadline, explaining the process of opening the warrant and securing a venue.
“One of the challenges is place, time … making sure a facility like the PAC (Veterans School Performing Arts Center) is available, you know, late in the season when you get into the holiday season and things like that,” Kezer said.
Critics of the zoning plan say the state does not have the right to force local communities to change zoning. Some are calling on Marblehead officials to push back against the state.
Sustainability Coordinator Logan Casey presented a report on public outreach and education, drawing on the town’s 2020 Housing Production Plan. He emphasized communicating the broader benefits of zoning changes to the community.
“We really need to get it out into all the different communities, talk about the various ways MBTA Communities zoning is a benefit to this community,” Casey urged.
He provided concrete figures to illustrate the town’s housing challenges.
“We have a community goal of 10% of our housing stock should be affordable. We are not achieving that goal and really need at least 600 additional housing units of affordable housing specifically to reach that,” he stated.
Casey also addressed misconceptions about the zoning proposal’s origins and development process. He pointed out that even though the MBTA Communities was passed by the state, local communities have the say in how to create the new zoning.
“It really is the community members that are putting together these plans,” he said, pushing back against narratives that portrayed the zoning changes as externally imposed.
During public comment, resident Nick Ward spoke in favor of the zoning changes, as he did on the Town Meeting floor. He framed the Town Meeting vote as a catalyst for increased community organization.
“Frankly, I think the voting down of MBTA Communities zoning was probably the best thing that could have happened to us,” Ward said. “I think it would have been really hard for us to pull together some of those folks if we hadn’t had that as a catalyst.”
Ward emphasized that supporters view the zoning changes as beneficial for Marblehead, independent of state mandates or potential funding implications.
“We don’t think this is a good idea because the state has a compliance mechanism in place in respect of grant funding,” he argued. “We think it’s a good idea because it’s good for Marblehead.”
