Good morning, Salem! I came in a bit late to the council meeting last night and they had cruised through a lot of business, so today you’ll miss out on some of the routine matters that happen at the top of the meeting. It was an exciting and productive meeting, and I am impressed with the amount of work this council is getting done. Three ordinances made it through second passage, making them the law of the land: Urban Agriculture, the zoning ordinance for entrance corridors, and amended cab fares. Woo hoo!
Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs Committee Reports
The council also voted to adopt the Green Infrastructure ordinance with amendments to remove the language about electric vehicle charging stations and bike parking, though Councilor Riccardi noted that those sections could be refined and adopted at a future date. They also restricted large-scale solar in some residential zones and defined “large-scale” as ≥20K sq.ft. This made it through first passage unanimously.
OLLA will be continuing their meeting with police to discuss visibility at intersections next Tuesday.
The Bridge Street Neck zoning overlay was put forward for first passage, and there was good discussion around a couple of sections. The purpose of the overlay is to streamline the patchwork of zoning in the Bridge St. neck area with a goal of retaining small businesses and retaining the vibrant residential neighborhood. Ricarrdi motioned to adopt with a couple small amendments; the biggest that the design review board serve in an advisory capacity and final approval reside with the planning board. She also swapped out the word shrubbery, presumably because of the scandalous association of the word to Monty Python.
Councilor McClain put forward two other amendments, and here is where some debate entered the floor. First, McClain recommended that the planning board review all projects and not just the larger projects. Councilor McCarthy asked why OLLA rejected this planning board recommendation. Riccardi explained that small project review (home owner improvements, for example) would become burdensome on the planning board and the residents taking on those projects. An administrative review, where the project must meet a set of requirements, is in place and should suffice. A planning board site review would require more, like an environmental impact report. This could swamp the board, but also become so burdensome that owners would not go through the proper channels. Councilors Dominguez and McClain voted in favor of the change, but no one else did, so the amendment did not pass.
McClain also moved to amend the lot size required for dwelling units from 1700 sq.ft. to 1500 sq.ft. The planning board had said it could allow for more and smaller units, which is what the city needs (more housing). McClain said he did not think the density change would overwhelm the neighborhood but would help with the city’s housing crisis. Cohen seconded the motion and agreed with the sentiment. Councilor Hapworth agreed with the councilors but did not want to undermine the many hours of work and feedback that went into crafting this overlay. He felt that the last minute change would erode the public’s trust in the process. Councilor Watson-Felt agreed with Hapworth and noted that she had a “real problem” with the amendment as the councilor who was closest to the neighborhood and the long process to solicit input and create a compromise. Ricarrdi pointed out that it would still be one of the densest neighborhoods in Salem and that 1700 sq.ft. is reasonable. She also reminded the council that ordinances can be amended as needs change or more work is done. Three voted in favor to adopt the amendment: Cohen, Dominguez and McClain. The matter failed. However, the full overlay was passed as presented unanimously.
Government Services Committee Reports
Hapworth reported out on the traffic violence and pedestrian safety meeting, which was held with all the people you would expect to attend: the police, the parking and traffic commission, the superintendent. Traffic deaths have gone up. There are factors that can be controlled and some that cannot (aggression, distraction). Tanya Shallop from the parking and traffic commission presented on “a vision zero strategy,” which takes the approach to focus resources to completely eliminate fatal and serious crashes in the city. This meeting kicks off a longer process to explore how to adopt a strategy that works for Salem. This remains in committee.
The GS committee will also continue to work on what to do about illegal dirt bikes. This is a matter that crosses city lines, and police are working with Lynn and Peabody to come up with a regional plan. Hapworth mentioned that some neighbors have been sharing their Ring or other home security footage with the police, and that it was helpful. Another “watch this space” topic.
The council approved the petition to close down Front Street on 4–5 June for the Salem Arts Fest! Hope to see many of your friendly faces out there.
And finally, the councilors took a moment to recognize the many tragedies that have befallen Salem in the past few weeks, and to appreciate the first responders attending to those incidents. The most recent, the Hancock St. fire, left many homeless and a relief fund has been set up by the city to help. The councilors also acknowledged the strength and compassion in the community. Thank you to the first responders, and thank you to everyone contributing to the relief fund, and thank you to the businesses who provided water, gatorade and pizza to the firefighters combating the blaze this week.
Enjoy your weekend!
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Lynch