MARBLEHEAD — Marblehead officials presented a revised plan to comply with the state’s MBTA Communities zoning law during a public meeting this week, outlining a proposal they say attempts to balance state requirements with local concerns about density and development.
Select Board Chair Dan Fox said Marblehead is currently considered noncompliant with Section 3A of the law, which requires communities served by MBTA transit to allow multi-family housing by right in certain districts.
He said that staff worked over several months to develop a new plan that would meet the state’s requirements.
“The goal of the plan was to create a plan that would be compliant with Section 3A, as well as address concerns that we’ve heard over the years with regards to district location, increased density, and traffic,” he said.
Under the proposal, the Town would establish two zoning subdistricts — the Tedesco district and the Broughton Road district — with a combined capacity of approximately 900 housing units. The state requires the Town to zone for at least 897 units.
“These two districts meet the unit capacity requirement to comply with Section 3A,” Brendan Callahan, director of Community Development & Planning, said, adding that the number is slightly higher than required because planners were unable to reach the exact figure.
The revised proposal is similar to a previous plan but reduces the number of districts from three to two. It also eliminates mixed-use development in the Broughton Road district while allowing it in the Tedesco district.
The Town submitted the plan to the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities in December 2025 and received preliminary approval after addressing feedback.
“We worked with legal counsel to address those comments,” Callahan said. “In early February, we received preliminary approval for the current plan.”
The Tedesco district would allow a maximum density of 25 units per acre, with building heights capped at 35 feet and two parking spaces required per unit. Developments with more than six units would also be required to include an affordable housing unit.
Callahan said the plan also adds new architectural requirements intended to address community concerns about building design.
“These include additional design standards that the old plan did not include,” he said, noting requirements for features such as gabled roofs, double-hung windows, and specific siding materials.
During the meeting, residents asked whether the zoning could lead to development on land currently used by the Tedesco Country Club golf course. Officials said the proposal would only allow development but would not require it.
“The requirement of 3A says that we need to zone to allow for building,” Fox said.
Planning Board member Marc Liebman said, “There’s no guarantee that a 3A development would be built.”
Another resident asked whether the golf course could disappear if the property were sold.
“One of the possibilities is that the Tedesco golf course would be no more,” the resident said.
Officials responded that any development would depend on the property owner’s decision.
“It’s a private club selling out to a developer,” Liebman said, explaining that zoning alone does not determine whether development occurs.
Town leaders said they sought input from both supporters and opponents of the state law while crafting the revised proposal.
“We focused with some of the leaders of the ‘No on 3A’ movement and also met with some of the pro-housing organizations in town,” Liebman said. “We took feedback from everywhere we could to come up with a plan that was compliant and acceptable to both parties.”
The next step will be a public hearing before the Planning Board on March 10. If approved, the zoning proposal will move to Town Meeting for a vote.
“We don’t know for sure how it’s going to fare,” Fox said. “But we feel comfortable that we have addressed the concerns that led to this failure in the past.”
If adopted, the zoning changes would allow multifamily housing in the designated districts but would not require any development to occur.
