A valid concern raised in the course of Marblehead's debate over its 3A zoning proposal is that it will conflict with the town's distinctive historical character.(1) Marblehead has 30 buildings constructed in the 17th century and a further 340 constructed in the 18th century.
This is a genuinely special historic inheritance. A walk down Washington Street to the Old Town House feels as if you are barely separated from the colonial and Revolutionary eras. Protecting this heritage should be a priority not just for Marblehead, but for the Commonwealth and even the federal government. There are very few New England towns that have such well preserved contiguous areas in which people can get at least a hint of what living in one of these towns might have been like 250 or more years ago.
Importantly, Marblehead's 3A zoning plan is not in conflict with its historic areas. To get at the heart of this, it is helpful to look at what the town's 3A zoning plan would permit, and to better understand some of the history of Marblehead's built environment.
The short answer to what 3A zoning will permit is more of the distinctive, medium density housing so beloved in Marblehead's old downtown! More specifically, the town's 3A zoning plan would enable construction of multifamily housing at a gross density of 15 units per acre in three districts around town centered on Tioga Way, Pleasant Street and Broughton Road.
But what does this actually mean? More specifically, what does it feel like to live in and among housing density of 15 units per acre? To answer this, it is important to distinguish between gross and net density. Let’s start with gross density.
Gross Density
Gross density refers to residential density inclusive of surrounding land such as public rights-of-way (e.g., sidewalks, streets) and other nonresidential uses. It is specifically defined in the Massachusetts Zoning Act.
More simply, gross density is the density of a neighborhood. To illustrate, we show two areas of Marblehead with a gross density of 15 units per acre. Figure 1 shows an elongated district of 19 acres along Washington Street, from Watson to Franklin streets.
Figure 2 shows a rounder district of 37 acres centered on Mugford Street, defined by parcels along Summer, Watson, Creesy, Pond, Mugford, and Washington streets.
Both districts have a gross density of 15 units per acre, and almost all buildings are three stories in height (with a handful of four-story houses), punctuated by the clock towers of both Town Halls and the spires of churches. In keeping with the character of this area, zoning for the 3A districts limits heights to three stories.
And, importantly, these are districts in the most historic, distinctive parts of our town! In other words, 3A zoning is not in conflict with the existing character of Marblehead, but actually seeks to extend its most attractive, cherished elements.
Net Density
So that’s gross density. What about net density? Net density is the number of units on a parcel. A gross density of 15 units per acre, including streets, sidewalks, open spaces, etc., means that individual parcels could have net densities of between 22.5 and 25.5 units per acre or as much as 50% to 70% higher than gross densities. We have numerous examples in Marblehead of residential properties having net densities of 23 units per acre and much higher:
Most of these buildings are in the heart of Marblehead's historic district. And yet despite their density, they fit the urban fabric in a way that is crucial to the town's character.(2)
The Big Picture
Furthermore, 3A zoning is an incremental change. As mentioned earlier, its impact is limited to three areas around the town comprising about 55 acres zoned for a potential of 897 housing units.
The significance of 3A being incremental is that it allows the town to see if it wants more of the walkable, medium density present in the older parts of the town. The town's 3A zoning plan leaves zoning for about 98 percent of the town's buildable 2,771 acres completely unchanged. The proposal is not a radical change to Marblehead's current zoning.
It is also important to note that most of Marblehead's existing housing stock is relatively recent. While it is true that Marblehead has many buildings from historic periods, 50 percent of Marblehead's housing stock was built after 1945, and 80 percent was built after 1900. Simply put, the overwhelming majority of Marblehead's residential buildings have no link to the Colonial or Revolutionary eras that most people imagine when they think of historic Marblehead.
To better illustrate this, we looked at property tax records which list the year a building was built and we plotted the rolling 20 year average that the building and its associated housing units were added to the town's housing stock.(3)
As you can see, Marblehead starts adding new housing at a rapid clip in the late 1880s and this continues until the early 1970s at which point Marblehead, along with towns around Massachusetts, starts introducing strict single family zoning plans which stymie the construction of further units of housing. Notably, Marblehead's burdensome government regulation of housing is a recent phenomenon relative to the town's history: We have only had these zoning plans in place for about 55 of the town's 375 years in existence, less than 15 percent of its history.(4)
Marblehead's 3A zoning proposal is not the threat to Marblehead's historic character that one might imagine - the density it contemplates is actually lower than some iconic Revolutionary era buildings in the town. It is also very much an incremental step leaving the majority of the town's zoning unchanged. Indeed, given the town's history with respect to housing unit construction, 3A zoning is arguably closer aligned with the trend Marblehead was on prior to the 1970s. If you would like to see more residential buildings around town that remind you of the walk down State Street to the harbor, we encourage you to support the town's 3A zoning plan.
(1) This argument is often made as an excuse to limit development and local residents will seek heritage protections for buildings that obviously do not have any particular historical or cultural significance. Marblehead, however, is a different case given our genuinely rich stock of historically significant buildings.
(2)
Address | Year Built | Parcel Size (acres) | Number of Housing Units | Net Density (units per acre) |
1800 | 0.13 | 3 | 23 | |
1780 | 0.208 | 5 | 24 | |
1890 | 0.114 | 4 | 35 | |
1900 | 0.477 | 20 | 41 | |
1850 | 0.20 | 10 | 50 | |
1765 | 0.09 | 5 | 55 | |
1730 | 0.23 | 14 | 60 | |
1792 | 0.054 | 5 | 93 | |
1756 | 0.09 | 9 | 100 | |
1900 | 0.08 | 9 | 112 |
Source: Marblehead Housing Coalition, Marblehead Assessor’s Online Property Data
(3) Note that this data has some predictable imprecision. First, the age of these buildings means there are years when many buildings are given the same year of construction when more likely they were built over time (e.g., 1800). Second, this data cannot account for conversions such as where a home was converted from single family to a duplex. However, the records post 1900 are quite consistent and reliable.
(4) We are here dating the town's founding to the granting of a petition by the Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court on May 2, 1649 (History and Traditions of Marblehead, Roads, 1897).
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