MARBLEHEAD, MA — U.S. Rep. and Sen. candidate Seth Moulton enlisted the help of Marblehead resident David Modica — who asked if town meeting members were "kinda being pricks" for supporting a zoning compromise that would essentially re-zone a parcel of land that will never be developed — to press the need for cities and towns to open themselves up to more housing production amid the current crisis.
Moulton advocated for the redevelopment of the former Coffin School, which closed in October 2021, into housing as it has sat unused for nearly five years.
"In the wealthiest nation on earth, it's not a debate — housing is a human right, but we'll never solve this basic supply-and-demand crisis if communities keep playing procedural games to avoid building in their own backyards," Moulton posted on social media. "It's time to stop the bureaucratic performance, find some political courage, and start building.
"The Coffin School is a great place to start."
Moulton pointed to Modica's efforts to expose the town's compromise to comply with the state's MBTA Community Act after years of refusal that designated Todesco Golf Course as a by-right multi-family zone, an area of town that will almost certainly never actually be developed into housing.
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.
"So, they are not going to build any houses there because it's a golf course?" Modica 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 pricks? ... 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."
The full video of the exchange can be found here.
"When Marblehead resident David Modica went viral for asking his town meeting if they were 'kinda being pricks' by zoning a golf course to dodge state housing laws, he exposed the exact kind of NIMBY nonsense holding us back," Moulton said.
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