The 2024 Marblehead Town Meeting warrant is set. This year’s warrant includes a total of 53 articles, ranging from yearly budget approvals to gas-powered leaf blowers.
Here are some of the most noteworthy articles that will be presented at Town Meeting 2024, which will take place May 5 at Veterans Middle School.
Articles 24 and 25: Adopt local meals tax and room tax
Since Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer took over in 2022, he has had the goal of helping the town generate new growth and revenue as financial struggles continue to burden Marblehead. At his State of the Town address in January, Kezer said that one way to generate revenue would be to adopt local meals and room taxes, which many other communities in the region have already done.
Article 25, titled “Adopt Local Room Tax,” reads, “To see if the town will authorize the imposition of a local excise upon the transfer of occupancy of a room in a bed and breakfast establishment, hotel, lodging house, short-term rental, or motel located within the Town of Marblehead.”
The tax would be set at a rate of up to 6% of “the total amount of rent for each such occupancy.”
Article 36: To see if the town will vote to amend the Zoning Bylaw and map to adopt a 3A Multifamily Overlay District
The state’s MBTA Communities zoning law requires that communities with an MBTA station or adjacent to one must have “at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multifamily housing is permitted as of right,” according to the Commonwealth’s website.
Because Marblehead is located next to Swampscott and Salem, both of which have Commuter Rail stations, the town is considered an MBTA-adjacent community. Additionally, the zoning does not mean that development of multifamily housing is imminent or will occur at all.
The town has chosen three locations for Multifamily Overlay Districts (3A), which include Pleasant Street District, Broughton Road District, and Tioga Way District.
The law requires a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre and for the zone(s) to be located not more than half a mile from a Commuter Rail, subway, or bus station or ferry terminal. In addition, there must be no age restrictions and the district must be “suitable” for families with children.
Article 38: Board of Health — Increase membership/Home Rule Petition
Last fall, the Board of Health unanimously voted to draft an article for Town Meeting that seeks to increase its membership from three to five members.
The article seeks to authorize the Select Board to “seek special legislation to amend or supplant Chapter 43, Acts of 1801,” which allows the town to elect a Board of Health.
“Post-amendment, the Marblehead Board of Health shall consist of five members, each elected for a term of three years,” the article reads. If passed, the article will go into effect during the first town election following Town Meeting.
In order to stagger the terms, the article also states that the candidate with the highest vote total will receive a three-year term, while the second highest will receive a two-year term, and the candidate with the third most votes will serve for one year.
“As the terms of the members expire, successors shall be elected for terms of three years,” according to the article.
Article 38: Approve MGL 41b — Change assessors from elected to appointed positions
Shortly after the State of the Town address in January, Kezer and the Select Board came under fire from residents regarding some sudden extreme increases in property value experienced by some residents in town.
Kezer and members of the Select Board tried to explain to the concerned parties that those questions should be taken to the Board of Assessors, which is currently not under the purview of the Select Board.
Article 38 seeks to change the Board of Assessors from elected positions to Select Board-appointed positions. If approved at Town Meeting, the article will then need to pass at the town’s election in June.
Articles 43, 44, 45: Leaf blowers
At Town Meeting in 2023, residents voted to institute a seasonal gas-powered leaf-blower ban from Memorial Day to Labor Day, which has been a polarizing issue for many in town. As a result, three separate articles, all sponsored by Sabrina Velandry and others, related to the ban will be brought to Town Meeting this year.
Article 43 seeks to amend the leaf-blower ban from a seasonal to a year-round ban. Many at Town Meeting have argued that in addition to the emissions released by gas-powered leaf blowers, they can also create noises that can have detrimental health effects on the ears.
Others, including those who work for landscaping companies in town, have argued that they are an important tool for their work.
Velandry is also sponsoring Article 44, which aims to “omit Chapter 75-2, citing gas leaf-blower exceptions.”
Article 45 focuses on amending leaf-blower enforcement under General Bylaws Chapter 75-3, and provides two areas of focus.
The first states that the “enforcing authority,” which consists of the Marblehead Police Department and the Marblehead Health Department, “shall have the authority to administer and enforce any violations of this bylaw.”
The second notes that “any person who violates the proposed ban, by using gas-powered leaf blower… will be subject to a penalty in the amount of $300 for each violation; provided, however, that the first offense may be the subject of a warning in the officer’s discretion.”
The ban has been a point of contention in the community and the three articles are likely to be a hot topic at Town Meeting, just as the topic was last year.
Article 49: Bylaw Select Board terms, rescind
The article, sponsored by former Committee Chair Dwight Grader, wishes to rescind the approved motion, made at last year’s meeting, which is currently expected to change the terms of Select Board members to three years.
This year’s article seeks to push the terms from three years back to one year. Marblehead remains the only municipality in Massachusetts to still use one-year terms.
Article 50: Bylaw, recall provision for elected official(s)
Article 50 focuses on the addition of recall provisions for any elected officials in town. If passed at Town Meeting, the Select Board would be authorized to send a home rule petition to the state legislature to accept the provisions.
In order to recall an official, a petition must first receive 50 signatures from residents who want to remove the official for their position. From there, after the town clerk confirms the signatures, another petition containing signatures from 5% of voters in town is needed. The official in question would then be notified. They would have the option to resign within five days, otherwise a recall vote would be taken at the following town election.
