Beverly City Council To Revisit New Building Height Restrictions

BEVERLY, MA — Seven weeks after a spirited, 150-minute discussion on City Councilor Matt St. Hilaire's proposed ordinance restricting all new city building projects to three stories or less, the City Council is set to revisit the debate during Monday night's meeting.

St. Hilaire proposed the height restriction at a special Council meeting in October as a way to slow the rush of new construction projects in the city that he said have the potential to alter the unique character of downtown — especially on Cabot Street — and put a strain on parking, infrastructure and emergency services.

The proposal received general support for its intended purposes while getting some pushback from housing advocates that worry the limited size of structures would dampen the number of new units that developers say are needed to make affordable housing projects viable, as well as those concerned that it would dampen interest in larger employers who might want to build in more industrial areas of the city outside of downtown.

"Beverly has undergone unprecedented growth over the last several years that has transformed much of our downtown," St. Hilaire argued. "Our city is rapidly changing and recently I have become concerned about the pace and scale of development in our city."

City Council Chair Julie Flowers called the Oct. 25 discussion "an important piece of the conversation" as the City Council agreed to table it as unfinished business. It was twice continued from the agenda at subsequent Council meetings with Flowers saying at the last meeting on Nov. 25 that it would be part of Monday's discussion.

With a packed agenda — which includes a public hearing at 8:30 p.m. on eliminating the "Tall Building Overlay District" downtown, which Flowers noted at the Nov. 25 meeting could be related to St. Hilaire's ordinance proposal — Monday's meeting is set for an early start time of 6:30 p.m.

The meeting will take place in City Council chambers at 191 Cabot Street, and will be streamed and available via YouTube on BevCam.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)