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Town officials are launching a series of working sessions between sustainability and historic preservation representatives to develop updated guidelines for the Old and Historic District, following months of tension over how to balance climate goals with architectural preservation.
The Green Marblehead Implementation Committee and Old and Historic District Commission have each designated two liaisons to participate in what officials describe as three to five working sessions beginning in late January. The effort stems from the town’s Sustainable Heritage grant, a planning project that produced recommendations from electric vehicle chargers to heat pumps.
“We are going to be reaching out this month, hopefully start the next week or week after, and start getting the timing set up,” Sustainability Coordinator Logan Casey told the committee at its Jan. 8 meeting. “I am imagining this taking three, four or five sessions of working through the individual proposed recommendations within the Metropolitan Area Planning Council report.”
A main point of tension is the dearth of OHDC’s involvement in the recommendations’ development. According to the project summary, after an initial joint meeting in October 2024, the commission did not make itself available for any additional working sessions. The document notes that while the inability to hold further sessions was “a setback,” project leaders relied on insights from the initial meeting and other engagement efforts, including a community charrette, to continue shaping the guidelines.
Community Planning Director Brendan Callahan will facilitate the sessions, with Casey providing support. Callahan said he expects the first meeting in late January and plans to address recommendations one at a time rather than attempting to resolve all issues simultaneously.
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“I’m hoping this kind of brings those two groups together for a beneficial conversation,” Callahan said. “I don’t think we’re going to try to tackle all four in one session or anything like that. I think let’s focus on one at a time and get through just to try to keep the conversation contained.”
The Old and Historic District Commission has designated Charles Hibbard and Bob Bragdon as its liaisons. The sustainability committee has not yet publicly identified its representatives.
The sessions will address a fundamental policy conflict that has complicated Marblehead’s net zero by 2040 goal: roughly one-quarter of the town’s residential properties fall within the historic district, where the commission exercises regulatory authority over exterior alterations including energy efficiency improvements.
Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer acknowledged the tension but characterized the liaison effort as progress.
“The reason why we did this project, because there’s a natural conflict between two worthy goals, and so it’s how do you reconcile between the two to achieve both goals,” Kezer said. “I think the achievement to this point is the fact that there’s a willingness to sit down and have these conversations. I don’t think that was always on the table.”
The MAPC report proposed four categories of recommendations addressing window replacements, exterior insulation, heat pump installations and solar panel placement.
Committee member Lisa Wolf requested a preliminary meeting of the sustainability liaisons before engaging with historic commission representatives.
“My main concern is that this MAPC document didn’t really reflect the input from OHDC,” Wolf said. “They provided comments after the fact, and it didn’t create any substantive changes to the document. So I think we need to be clear what we are asking OHDC.”
Committee member Eileen Mathieu suggested framing discussions around the town’s net zero goal and asking historic commissioners how that objective could be achieved within their regulatory framework.
“I wonder if an approach might be to say, Green Marblehead wants to have as a framework for this discussion, how are we going to get to our net zero goal as a town when roughly a quarter of the residences in town are in the Old and Historic District,” Mathieu said.
Casey acknowledged that the MAPC recommendations provide a starting framework but emphasized the need to keep the process open.
“I think the sustainable heritage recommendations would be a good framework for starting that discussion, since it’s based on best practices and principles,” Casey said. “But I also do want to kind of leave it open for the liaisons too, because I know we’re just getting started in this process.”
Kezer cautioned that the historic commission retains final authority over any guideline changes as the body charged by law with regulating the district.
“Ultimately, it’s OHDC regulations and guidelines, because they’re the body that’s charged by law to make those decisions,” Kezer said. “So they’re the ones that have to decide what changes to make. But part of the conversation is to inform and educate and provide information that says there is a possible path to achieve both goals.”
The liaison process comes as Casey continues efforts to qualify Marblehead for the state Green Communities program, which would provide access to energy efficiency grant funding. Casey told the committee the town still needs Select Board approval of additional criteria before applying.
The town is also navigating budget constraints that could limit local funding for energy projects. Kezer said details would be addressed at the State of the Town event scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 28.
“Our budget challenges are going to have an impact on this,” Kezer said. “The total dollars available to us that are allocated between what’s available for the operating budget is highly constrained and also limits the amount of dollars available to put towards capital projects.”
Committee member Jean-Jacques Yarmoff questioned how the town would track progress toward its 2040 goal and suggested establishing interim benchmarks with measurable outcomes.
“I would like to get a sense of in the next five years, so to 2030, or in the next year or two to 2027, what can we reasonably achieve,” Yarmoff said. “And have intermediate goals that are achievable, and then we can actually track our progress to our 2040 goal.”
Casey said the net zero plan calls for updating the town’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory every five years, with the next update likely in 2028. He acknowledged the need for additional metrics to track implementation progress.
“I think it could be definitely a discussion item in the future on identifying other ways to quantify how we’re achieving this goal,” Casey said.
Callahan said he will send scheduling information for the first liaison session early this week. The committee has not announced whether the working sessions will include public participation components.
