Marblehead looking at growth

MARBLEHEAD – The town’s Smart Growth Committee has chosen six locations to study as possible sites for mixed-use buildings – stores on the first floor, apartments upstairs – and in a month they plan to narrow the list to at least one and as many as three.The committee is working with the Concord Square Planning and Development Group of Boston on a $40,000 study of Smart Growth, the implementation of Chapter 40R, a state law that some town officials suspect to be a viable alternative to Chapter 40B.Selectman Judy Jacobi says the committee’s current list includes the General Glover Restaurant in Vinnin Square, the Village Plaza Shopping Center, the former YMCA building downtown and the Lead Mills.Two areas on Atlantic Avenue were also on the list, but Town Planner Becky Curran, an ex officio committee member, said they were dropped after a public forum held by the committee. The forum was attended by 70 people.”Those sites were not popular,” Curran said. “There were parking issues and other issues too. We want to go forward with ideas that people are excited about.”Jacobi and Selectman William Woodfin, both members of the committee, said rumors are circulating that the committee wants to build 11-story buildings. Woodfin called it “a wild rumor” and pointed out that Town Meeting will make the final decision on the committee’s recommendations.The committee will be holding public forums and hearings as its work proceeds to make sure there is public support for its work.Town leaders look at Smart Growth as a way of increasing the town’s amount of affordable housing. Presently 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 communities that 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.