Massachusetts is facing an acute housing shortage across the state, a shortage that is threatening our economy and leaving many individuals and families with no place to go. In response, the state Legislature passed (and Republican Gov. Charles Baker signed into law) bipartisan legislation that requires communities in the MBTA service region to do their part by making a modest change in local zoning. The law requires communities, including Marblehead as an MBTA-adjacent community, to allow multifamily housing by right in at least a portion of their zoning districts.
After the law’s passage, the Marblehead Planning Board created a proposal to comply with the law by allowing multifamily housing by right in three districts that already have multifamily housing. Within these districts, where there is not a single vacant buildable lot, any development will still be required to meet all other building and zoning requirements (no more than three stories, with required setbacks and open space and at least two parking spaces per unit). To learn more about the Marblehead plan, visit the Marblehead Housing Coalition website at: marbleheadhousingcoalition.com.
What this law does not do is mandate construction of anything. There is no mandate to build a single unit of housing under this law. We at the Marblehead Housing Coalition do hope that this change in zoning will lead to some modest increase in multifamily units to alleviate the housing shortage in town, but given our existing density, and the cost of real estate in our community, large-scale development is simply not economically feasible.
Why is multifamily zoning good for Marblehead?
Multifamily housing is good for Marblehead because it would increase housing options for our residents, increase the customer base for our local businesses and build on our tax base. At present we are essentially a zero-growth community. While the costs of municipal government go up substantially every year, our tax base is only growing modestly based on kitchen renovations and other property improvements. This means that the increased costs of running town government are being divided each year by the same number of taxpayers, meaning increased taxes for us all. Some modest growth in our tax base will help to alleviate this challenging fiscal situation.
What happens if we don’t comply?
Noncompliance with the law would cost the taxpayers of Marblehead millions of dollars, and lead to a loss of local control. Failure to pass a compliant plan would mean the loss of access to or competitiveness for millions of dollars in state grant funding (from transportation projects, to coastal resiliency funding, to school building assistance). Some grants that we have already been awarded would be forfeited. You would be paying state taxes and your community would be receiving no funding in return. In addition, since the last Town Meeting vote on this issue, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has found the law to be constitutional and enforceable. Noncompliant communities will see court orders against them requiring compliance, including financial penalties, on top of the enormous cost of litigating against the state. You would be paying for that too. And in the end, the court would have the authority to appoint a special master to draw up a compliant plan and could impose it on our community. That would mean a loss of local control.
Lastly, this is not an unfunded mandate. Marblehead requested and received state grant funding to finance the entire cost of designing these new zoning districts. Litigating against the Commonwealth on that issue would be a very expensive wild goose chase.
Article 23 has the unanimous support of the Marblehead Planning Board and is endorsed by the Finance Committee and the Marblehead League of Women Voters.
For all of these reasons and more, we urge you to attend Town Meeting on May 5 and to vote yes on Article 23.
Angus McQuilken is a Marblehead homeowner and a founding member of the Marblehead Housing Coalition.
