Town Planner Alex Eitler presented an update on how the Town intends to comply with MBTA Communities Law Section 3A.
For Marblehead to be compliant with 3A, it must zone at least 1% of the Town’s total land area, which is 27 acres. It must also zone for 10% of the total number of housing units, which is 897 units.
The Town already has 319 units in the three districts selected – Tioga Way, Pleasant Street and Broughton Road – which means the Town only needs to account for an additional 578 rather than the full 897.
The first district, Tioga Way, was selected because the planning department wanted “to work in areas that already have existing multi-family housing but potentially have underutilized spaces.” There are also some developments in this district that already meet density requirements, like Marblehead Highlands, Sailmaker Place, Elbride Road, Lincoln Park and Arnold Terrace.
Pleasant Street would be “an expansion of our Smart Growth District that encouraged density and mixed-use zoning practices.” It would allow for density while having a walkable element to the area.
“If new development were ever to occur there, through this type of zoning district, it would be complimentary,” Eitler said, “and we want to make sure we preserve the character, and this is definitely one of those areas we’re extremely cognizant of to make sure that we’re preserving that downtown feel.”
The final proposed district is Broughton Street, which is an existing multi-family housing development run by Marblehead Housing Authority.
“We’ve been working with (MHA) closely to make sure that they’re aware of the zoning district, but also they’re actually currently expanding as well for their units, so we figured this would be a good opportunity to kind of match another district that already has this type of housing and has the capacity to expand,” Eitler said.
For all three districts, Eitler said the planning department felt the zoning would work best in those three areas and “mesh well with the existing fabric.” He emphasized that complying with 3A and zoning the aforementioned areas does not mean building is imminent. Zoning an area just dictates what the land could be used for hypothetically.
Similar to last year, Marblehead voters still have the opportunity to vote against 3A compliance this June, but Eitler shared the consequences of not being compliant with State law.
“We want to make sure that you all understand the potential consequences of not being in compliance with this with the State, particularly the grants that we might be disqualified from either receiving or we’ll be docked points through lack of being compliant,” Eitler said.
“We want to make sure the town is aware of the potential to lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grants that provide everyday benefits to Marbleheaders – whether it be getting infrastructure repaired, such as sidewalks or water lines, to getting new compliance plans, as well as development plans to make the downtown more a vibrant community to live in,” he added.
