This was my first regular council meeting of 2023, and I was thrilled to see that President Stott is efficient and productive. Eleven people provided public testimony on two topics: the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for city pensioners and the changes to the affordable accessory dwelling unit (AADU) zoning ordinance. Stott took matters out of order to address the COLA matter first, and the council unanimously approved a 5% adjustment.
Money matters
The council approved about $790K to meet the city’s contractual obligations with the Patrolmen’s Association. The funds will cover salaries and retroactive wages.
For those of you interested, the mayoral special election will cost approximately $103K, which the council also approved.
Councilor McClain took a moment to give props to the Salem library and its fantastic librarians before the council approved the $31K to cover their salaries as negotiated with the union.
And, $7K was added to the coffer for council advertising.
Only one matter was referred to the committee on administration and finance (A&F), and that was $62K for personnel adjustments. This matter was a bit of a catch-all and covered several departments and different justifications for the spend, so McClain determined it would be prudent to review it more closely.
Home Rule Petition
After a few routine traffic ordinances and tag day approvals, the council unanimously approved the motion to re-petition the state for Home Rule on the condo conversion ordinance. The council had approved this last year, but the state legislators did not act before the end of term, and the matter timed out. As a reminder, a home rule petition is simply a request to the state to grant the city some type of power - in this case, the authority to enact new legislation around condo conversion. This does not approve the condo conversion ordinance or lock anything in; it’s simply the first step.
AADU Zoning
The changes to the existing ordinance had nine components. As a reminder, there was a joint public hearing with the planning board on the ordinance as a whole, wherein members of the public could share their thoughts on each piece or the matter more generally. The planning board then considered what was before them, and came back with a unanimous recommendation to adopt. The council deliberated in ordinances, licenses, and legal affairs (OLLA) committee meetings, before sending the matter to the full body for a final deliberation and vote. They took two sections independently, as amendments, and then put the overall ordinance to a vote for first passage. The language for the amendment votes were somewhat confusing, owing to double negatives, but I won’t twist your heads by recapping it here. You can always watch on Salem Access TV, if you like getting a bit dizzy. The votes were as follows:
The first amendment eliminated the need for AADUs to have separate water utilities from the main abode. The city engineer did not feel this was something that should be required, and so the councilors were unanimous in their vote to retain the language from the original ordinance. AADUs will not require a separate water hook-up.
Owner occupancy was probably the most critically examined component of the zoning ordinance, and ultimately all councilors except Stott voted to retain the owner occupancy requirement. Owners will still need to prove that they are living on-site.
The council then voted for the first passage of the full ordinance with no other amendments. All voted in favor except Councilor Dominguez.
The discussion around this matter has been thoughtful and respectful. The councilors acknowledged a few key things: First, almost all councilors who spoke rejected the criticism that this was not an “old” ordinance and therefore should be left alone. Councilors Morsillo and Stott both noted that it was explicitly their job to review ordinances, regardless of how long they have been on the books, to ensure that they were still relevant and having the desired effect. Second, they all took a moment to thank their colleagues for thoughtful and deliberative discussion, and to laud the civil civic engagement on this matter. Some specific comments from councilors that are worth pointing out: McClain took a moment to point out that zoning needed a larger discussion full stop. Councilor Watson-Felt reminded her constituents that any proposed AADU in a historic neighborhood will have the additional requirement of getting approval from the historical commission.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Lynch