MARBLEHEAD — The Harbor Planning Committee held its sixth public workshop to solicit feedback on the town’s draft update to its Harbor Master Plan Monday evening.
A little over 20 residents attended the workshop in person at Abbot Hall and another 20 joined remotely via Zoom. Tighe and Bond Engineering Consultant and Project Manager Dennis Moran answered online participants’ questions and presented the community’s current goals, concerns, and recommendations for guiding Harbor land use in Marblehead. His presentation also included the results of a town survey that received 395 responses this summer.
“We have been soliciting feedback to help provide you with a plan tailored to your needs and wants,” Moran told residents at the meeting.
Surveyed residents’ top concerns were the ecological health of the harbor and access to the water for boating. Half of the survey respondents cited a lack of general public access to the water as a concern and 41 percent said they were worried about an increase in future flooding.
The committee’s current draft Harbor plan recommends some ways to address these concerns, such as repairing Marblehead’s seawalls. Other draft recommendations include making improvements to the Commercial Street landing and initiating a master plan process for Parker’s Boatyard on Redstone Lane. The committee has suggested the master plan include an evaluation of the boatyard’s accessibility, parking, and storage area.
Moran said the committee will launch a website next month that will feature an interactive story map, a geographic tool that allows users to select assets along the Harbor, such as Parker’s Boatyard, and see their current condition. The website will also include zoning resources, committee recommendations, and implementation suggestions.
“This is what is most valuable to the community — figuring out what infrastructure you have, the priority of that infrastructure, as well as the cost to maintain it,” Moran said. “Parker’s is an excellent example of something that we might study more in-depth to determine what is the best use for that area.”
The community’s main hopes for the Harbor are increased accessibility, boat storage, and safety from storms, according to the committee’s research thus far. Moran said residents have also suggested Marblehead provide boating education near the Harbor and investigate the possibility of using the ocean as a water-based energy source for some of the town’s power needs.
When asked to list the words that come to mind when they think of Marblehead Harbor, residents responded “beautiful,” “gorgeous,” and “iconic.”
Moran and other project consultants are now finishing compiling Harbor draft recommendations with updates based on Monday’s meeting. Town staff and Harbor Planning Committee members will then review the document. Once they are satisfied with the document, it will enter a final public review period.
The project team is hoping to finish all edits by the end of November this year, at which point the Harbor Master Plan will become a public document rather than a work in progress, Moran said.
“Where we are right now is not the end,” Moran said. “There will be more meetings. This is definitely not your last time to provide feedback.”
Rachel Barber can be reached at [email protected].
