Planning board to recommend deferring vote on controversial zoning to allow for more study

By Dolores Lorusso

Despite pressure from the state to enact zoning changes under the MBTA Communities Zoning Law, the planning board voted Wednesday to unanimously recommend that next week’s town meeting delay voting on Article 30.

The recommendation, to be made on the town meeting floor, is contrary to the advisory board’s recommendation of favorable action, which is printed in the warrant, and puts the town at risk of losing access to state grants if the changes are not in place by the end of the year. (See related story.)

According to town planner Chris DiIorio, the zoning changes would require Hull to create districts that would produce 586 multi-family units by right, at a density of 15 units per acre, while also having no age restrictions. While the land must be developable, it cannot be owned by the town or located in a floodplain.

On Wednesday night, after a series of discussions and public hearings beginning in March, the planning board decided to refer the complicated bylaw for further study, where members will work in conjunction with the zoning bylaw committee.

The planning board has expressed growing concern that the MBTA Communities Zoning Law is a one-size-fits-all-law that does not meet the needs of the small peninsula of Hull.

In the spirit that a cookie-cutter bylaw will not work in town, planning board member Jim Pitrolo made a motion at the April 3 meeting to send a letter to Gov. Maura Healey requesting a waiver because Hull is already proactively creating units.

“We need a waiver, so all our good works can be counted,” Pitrolo said.

The letter is in the final stages of the approval process and will be put in the mail in the next couple of days.

“We have a lot of common ground in creating units, but the restrictions on the floodplain make it impossible in a town like Hull…a floodplain exclusion would change everything,” said Steve White. “As it stands, there will be unknown impacts directly and indirectly from this edict from the state.”

Nancy Boyce said the board voted to send a letter to the governor because the bylaw needs improvement, so it is a better fit for towns like Hull.

“We are willing to work with the state, but they need to work with us, too,” said Boyce. “I agree with the intent, but the language is off. Why would we move forward with anything but a study?”

The letter points out that for “well over a decade, Hull has done the hard work to develop dense housing and mixed-use development along a corridor served by what limited transit service is offered by the MBTA.”

DiIorio reminded the board that the town’s planning department has made comments previously, and the state removed the requirement of being a half mile from transit and reduced the minimum land area from 50 acres to 7 acres.

The planning board asked the state to waive the excluded wetland and floodplain layer and reduce the number of required units due to the fact the bylaw is forcing the town to make changes in areas of town that are undesirable for increased density.

“I honestly don’t see them making changes to our requirements; no other towns have gotten easing of restrictions as they moved forward,” said DiIorio. “I think there is always going to be some element of the unknown, but it feels like we are so close on this.”

Cities and towns which choose to remain non-compliant with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law, enacted by the state back in January 2021 to address the Eastern Massachusetts housing crisis, run the risk of losing access to grant money through programs such as Mass Works, Housing Choice funding, the Local Capital Projects Fund and another 15 or so grants that have been identified by the state.

Planning board member Jeanne Paquin said the board understands that a lot of money is tied up in the bylaw and Hull is not a town that can afford to lose money.

“I don’t want to jeopardize grants, but if we move forward now and it fails that seems like a much bigger problem. We need to be sure what we are approving will be accepted by the state,” Paquin said. “The state did not respond fully as to whether the maps are accepted and that is why we went down this road.”

Although the planning department has received comments on the materials submitted for approval to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), the reply still did not state with any certainty that Hull’s maps are compliant with the requirements of the MBTA Communities Law.

Paquin said she addressed the topic of the MBTA Communities bylaw at the zoning bylaw committee meeting and no one wanted to endorse it unless the maps were approved. She said the board would rather see a special town meeting decide the issue later, rather than approve as-is and find out something “does not meet muster.”

“The town planner has worked a lot on this, but it is still not quite there; we have until the end of the year…we have been in the trenches with this, it is too important to the town to not recommend for further study,” said Paquin.

“We are already at a high density point and 70% of the town is in a floodplain,” said Boyce.

The MBTA Communities Zoning Law requires cities and towns served by the MBTA to have at least one zoning area where multifamily housing is allowed by right. No housing is guaranteed to be built under the law, and developers are still subject to the local planning process.

“They are asking us to increase housing without a service level increase; it is a struggle to actively increase housing and not actively increase MBTA service to town,” planning board member Nathan Peyton said.

By the state’s rules, less than 30% of the town is considered applicable for use as part of the MBTA Communities Law.

DiIorio said he “modified the zoning maps to better reflect what is on the ground…expanding denser zones over areas previously built.”

“Chris, you were given a crappy assignment and you pulled something together, but being left with 30% of town to put this in, that is folly,” said Paquin.

“Commercial Rec C [zoning] now extends to single-family zoning; to me that is bad zoning…this seems sort of like checking a box and we owe it to the town not to just check the box on this one,” White said.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has said that “this mandatory tool has the opportunity and possibility to not only create more inclusive communities but create housing that is more affordable.”

Some towns, like Milton, Marshfield, Wakefield, Wrentham, and Holden, are pushing back because, like Hull, they say the bylaw is flawed in its execution and will not have the desired results.

Supporters of the mandatory zoning changes argue they are necessary to generate more housing production and drive down high prices stretching families across the state.

“It doesn’t make sense for Hull; I don’t think it will accomplish the stated goal; it is very bad policy,” said planning board Chair Meghan Reilly.

Marshfield residents rejected the MBTA Communities rezoning plan last week. Milton voters also turned down a rezoning plan that would have complied with the law, and the Healey administration revoked its eligibility for a $140,800 seawall grant, while Campbell sued the town. The Milton lawsuit is not expected to be heard by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court until October.

According to the EOHLC, 44 communities out of the 177 affected have approved zoning intended to comply with the MBTA Communities Zoning Law, and another two dozen, including Hull, are expected to vote on proposals this month. According to the Attorney General’s office, multiple towns, including neighboring Hingham, have passed zoning just this week.

“If it fails at Hull’s town meeting on May 6, we will know why and can come back to have a special town meeting,” said DiIorio.

If referred to study and the first vote is at a special town meeting DiIorio felt there would be no time for corrections and still meet the deadline.

“It is the planning board’s job to put forth good zoning that produces great outcomes,” Peyton said.

“This is terribly important to the town, and we want it right,” said Paquin.

For more information on Monday’s town meeting, including the full text of the warrant, visit www.hulltimes.com.

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