NAHANT — Town Meeting members voted to indefinitely postpone a subarticle that would have allocated $60,000 for a housing feasibility study of the town-owned property on Greystone Road, a location that the town’s Housing Production Plan identified as the best option for future housing developments. $43,556 would have been appropriated from the fiscal year 2025 Community Preservation Fund, while the remaining $16,444 would have come from the Community Housing Reserve.
The vote to postpone passed with 136 in favor against 22 opposed. Finance Committee member Tim Bell made the motion to have the article postponed.
“The Finance Committee expected the Housing Production Plan, which is related to this article, would already be approved by the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen,” Bell said. “Because the Housing Production Plan has not yet been approved… we feel that this article is premature.”
Bell’s motion garnered applause from Town Meeting voters. The subarticle was one of 13 that comprised Article 20, which asked for approval of funds for Community Preservation projects. The Greystone Road proposal was submitted by the town with Town Administrator Tony Barletta describing it as one step in Nahant’s long-term goal of achieving “safe harbor” with the Commonwealth’s Zoning Laws.
After Bell’s motion Saturday, Barletta took the podium. He explained that the town never intended to try and obtain the funding prior to the HPP’s approval, however continuous resident feedback to the plan has postponed its completion.
“Even if this article was approved today, the town would not start the process of studying Greystone Road until the plan was approved,” Barletta said. “While I stand in support of this motion to indefinitely postpone, I also stand in support of continuing the effort to address the housing and financial needs of the town in the future.”
Barletta said the reasoning for supporting the postponement is that the Greystone Road community has not yet been adequately represented in the process.
