MARBLEHEAD, MA — A four-year fight on state-mandated, multi-family zoning designed to increase housing stock in communities served by the MBTA came to an apparent end in Marblehead on Monday night when town meeting members supported a compromise plan consisting largely of the Tedesco Golf Course.
The prolonged and often-bitter fight included several attempts from the Select Board and Planning Board to present zoning overlay districts that would allow, by right, multi-family housing development to comply with the MBTA Community Act that former Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law in 2021, culminating with a townwide vote rejecting compliance last year in the face of threatened state prosecution over that non-compliance.
But town meeting attendees' support coalesced on Monday around a plan that would direct the majority of the overlay district across the Tedesco Country Club and adjacent parking lot. While that property could, theoretically, support development of 780 housing units, town officials and supporters of the plan acknowledged that there is no indication the Country Club has any plans to sell the property — therefore, the actual housing development will not happen.
The state law mandates that cities and towns create zoning districts where development could take place by right but places no condition on whether that housing development actually happens.
The remaining overlay district, which the town said could support 120 units, is on Broughton Road where a 40B development is already being planned outside of the Community Act.
Multiple speakers on Monday night essentially questioned whether the town was complying with the spirit of the law, or a plan designed to circumvent it, with officials accepting that, after multiple attempts to lean toward the former, this plan is largely the latter.
"It's just smoke and mirrors," one speaker said. "To get the affordable housing thing, we needed to get the town to get whatever money we need from the state."
Towns not in compliance with the state mandate are subject to the loss of some state grants, as well as being at risk of costly state prosecution for non-compliance.
One exchange between town presenters and a resident speaker from Bayview Road summed up the town's ultimate compliance proposal — which passed 881 to 82, and has been pre-approved by the state as being acceptable to avoid being out of compliance:
"So, they are not going to build any houses there because it's a golf course?" the speaker asked. " You can't have houses on a golf course. ... So this is a way to comply with 3A without doing any of the 3A stuff?"
"Yes, it is. We tried the other way, and it was rejected."
"So, when we're preserving the character of Marblehead, it's a bad (thing). We're selfish. We're doing a bad thing. We're not doing any housing?"
"Is that a question?"
"Yeah, kinda. Are we kind of being (expletives)? ... Are we trying to do nothing? Because it seems like we're doing nothing. ... Are we trying to make sure we build no houses? I don't get it. People live in houses. ... I just want to make sure we are voting on nothing substantive."
"You are not missing anything."
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