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Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer presented Select Board-sponsored warrant articles for the 2026 Annual Town Meeting on Feb. 11, giving residents a first look at proposed zoning changes, housekeeping bylaw updates and employee benefit adjustments ahead of the spring vote.
The warrant includes two major zoning articles, three housekeeping measures and one administrative benefit amendment. Kezer walked board members through each proposal during the meeting, which also featured updates from Community Development and Planning Director Brendan Callahan on the town’s compliance efforts under the MBTA Communities Act.
The first article proposes adoption of a 3A Multifamily Overlay District, a zoning change required under state law to allow multifamily housing in designated areas near public transit. The district would consist of two subdistricts: the Broughton Road 3A Subdistrict and the Tedesco 3A Subdistrict.
Callahan provided an update on the town’s coordination earlier in the week. with state housing officials and planning consultant Judy Barrett. He read a statement from Planning Board member Marc Liebman, who was absent from the meeting, describing recent adjustments made to satisfy state requirements.
“We were able to address each item in a way that she believed to be satisfactory,” Liebman wrote in the statement Callahan read aloud.
The revisions included setting parking at two spaces per unit with no guest parking requirement and removing a landscape plan requirement. Callahan explained that the Planning Board retains authority to regulate aesthetics through its design review process, making a separate landscape mandate unnecessary.
The proposal also excluded the General Glover property from the overlay district because it lacks frontage in Marblehead. To maintain compliance with the state’s minimum capacity requirement of 897 units, planners slightly increased density in the Tedesco Country Club zone.
Callahan confirmed that the revised plan has received preliminary approval from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. He said Liebman reported the closest achievable figure to the state-mandated capacity was 900 units, three above the minimum. Callahan said he would confirm the exact number but recalled it was slightly above 897.
A second warrant article proposes amending the zoning map to incorporate the 3A Multifamily Overlay District and its two subdistricts. The boundaries of the districts are shown on a map to be incorporated into the town’s official zoning map.
The warrant also includes three housekeeping measures. One article proposes amending bylaws related to the Department of Public Works to ensure uniformity and accuracy. The changes update nomenclature, replacing outdated references to the surface drain construction department with the Storm Water Department. The amendments also update position titles, eliminating references to the superintendent of public works and replacing them with references to the director of public works.
Another article proposes adding a new chapter to the general bylaws to prohibit cryptocurrency automatic teller machines. The proposal was requested by the police chief and would ban the installation, operation and maintenance of cryptocurrency ATMs within town boundaries. The bylaw would require existing machines to be removed within 60 days of adoption.
A third housekeeping article proposes dissolving the Public Works Committee, which was created before the town had a town administrator or a Department of Public Works. Kezer explained that the committee structure creates complications under the Open Meeting Law because department heads who meet as committee members would be subject to posting requirements, even when they meet separately as staff.
“Those same departments attend a staff meeting and talk about the same subjects, they would be in violation of the Open Meeting Law,” Kezer said during the meeting. “So we need to clean it up.”
Board members discussed whether the committee had been meeting regularly. Kezer confirmed the committee had convened once or twice recently after resurfacing during the charter review process. The bylaw requires monthly meetings.
The final Select Board-sponsored article proposes amending Chapter 43 of the bylaws to provide updated benefits for administrative employees. The changes would add three personal days for administrative personnel and accelerate the award of a fifth week of vacation.
Under the current schedule, employees receive three weeks of vacation after zero to four years of service, four weeks after five to 14 years and five weeks after 15 to 19 years. The proposed schedule would maintain three weeks for zero to four years, add four weeks for five to nine years, five weeks for 10 to 19 years and six weeks for 20 or more years.
The proposal also increases longevity payments by $750 per year across all tiers. Current awards range from $1,000 for employees with less than five years of service to $1,500 for those with 25 or more years. Proposed awards would range from $1,750 to $2,250.
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