Marblehead awarded $40G state grant

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead will save some money as it finds out about what is commonly known as Smart Growth.Mass Housing/Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded the town a $40,000 grant from the Priority Development Fund.The grant will allow the town to study the implementation of Chapter 40R, a state law that some town officials suspect to be a viable alternative to Chapter 40B.Chapter 40R emphasizes mixing land uses. The town has several mixed-use buildings already – stores on the first floor, apartments upstairs – but Town Planner Rebecca Curran and the Smart Growth Advisory Committee want to know more about this way of providing more affordable housing in an already-crowded seaside community.The committee was formed last year and applied for the grant three months ago. Committee members include Chairman Gordon King, Dirk Isbrandtsen, Kurt James, Judy Jacobi, William Woodfin, David Stern, Don Morgan and Michael McCloskey.Curran serves on the committee as an ex officio member. She recently said at a informational meeting on affordable housing that 6.2 percent of Marblehead’s housing stock is “affordable.” That’s 543 units short of the 10 percent the state requires to exempt the town from Chapter 40B projects. Chapter 40R offers four incentives to Marblehead to pursue Smart Growth, including additional incentive payments if the town uses the law to create new housing units. The incentive payments are $75,000 for 22-100 units and $200,000 for 101-200 units. There is also a bonus of $3,000 per unit when building permits are issued, and a priority on state capital funding for any needed improvements and a payment for school costs for any school-age children living in the new units.The committee will develop a request for proposals to hire a consultant. Public hearings will be held throughout the process to hear from interested parties and the committee will develop a page on the town Web site so that people can follow the process on line.Study findings will be publicized.Like all Zoning Bylaw changes, the establishment of a Chapter 40R District in Marblehead will have to be approved at Town Meeting.