To the editor:
Anthony Chamay’s Sept. 11 letter “Housing plan exceeds state requirements” misinterprets the Planning Board’s MBTA Communities Act proposal. Referring to the plan as a “major exaggeration of the building needed to satisfy Massachusetts State law,” the proposal advanced by the Planning Board is actually very lean by dividing the required unit total into three locations (where multifamily units are already allowed by special permit) to more equally distribute the theoretical housing sites in Marblehead. To further clarify, while the plan’s minimum required density is 15 units per acre, and the minimum required area is 27 acres, the board opted to spread out the sites to 56 acres in order to blend in with adjacent structures and still meet the 15 unit per acre requirement. Any less area would have a correspondingly greater density per acre, something the board felt could have a detrimental effect on Marblehead’s unique character.
Edward Nilsson
Planning Board member
Naugus Avenue
