Schedule Shift For Beverly Zoning Change, City Charter Meetings

BEVERLY, MA — Two important discussions facing the Beverly City Council Legal Affairs Subcommittee have been rescheduled due to an illness.

The Legal Affairs meeting scheduled for Monday night involving discussion on proposed changes to the city charter has been moved to Jan. 30. The Jan. 30 meeting to deliberate proposed zoning changes that include a potential height restriction for new construction in the city has been moved to Jan. 25.

The Jan. 25 meeting, which will also include a discussion on affordability requirements for new construction and allowing accessory-dwelling units in the city, will begin at 6:30 p.m., while the city charter meeting on Jan. 30 is set for a 7 p.m. start.

(Also on Patch: Proposed Beverly Building Zoning Changes Set For Legal Affairs Meeting)

The Public Services meeting set for 7 p.m. on Monday with an update on permitting and use policies for Beverly parks is on as scheduled. The agenda for that meeting can be found here.

The Jan. 25 meeting will incorporate the ordinance change addressed at the Dec. 5 City Council meeting that would eliminate the "tall building overlay" district downtown entirely, reduce height limits in two downtown districts encompassing Cabot and Rantoul streets and increase the percentage of affordable housing required in new construction.

The ordinance, along with ensuing amendments, would also require an increased percentage of new housing to be offered at 60 percent of market value and proposes to decrease the threshold for an exemption of that from its current six-unit development.

Also up for discussion on Jan. 25 is expected to be an ordinance allowing for ADUs in Beverly — which would allow residents to rent out a smaller portion of their homes in an effort to gain property income and add to the city's affordable housing inventory — as well as a discussion of City Councilor Matt St. Hilaire's proposed zoning change from October that calls for a blanket three-story maximum for all new construction in the city.

City Council President Julie Flowers said she expects to have a recommendation from the Planning Board on the potential zoning changes in advance of the Jan. 25 meeting.

If the Committee on Legal Affairs makes a recommendation on one, or all, of the zoning changes on Jan. 25 then the City Council will take them up for discussion and a possible vote at their next meeting in February.

(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.)