Productive meeting for the most part last night, so I’ll hop right to it. I regularly laud the appointments and reappointments, because the people who serve the city deserve our appreciation. I’d like to explicitly congratulate Amanda Chiancola for her appointment to Assistant Planning Director! She has been a tremendous resource for the League’s affordable housing working group. We have benefited tremendously from her willingness to share information and explain complicated matters around planning, development, and housing. The city is lucky to have her.
Council passed a couple of ordinances:
Campers can enjoy fire pits that use solid fuel at Winter Island. This had been banned in the last fire pit ordinance, so the exception was introduced and granted with the fire department’s endorsement.
The council made parking adjustments at the Willows, but deferred increasing the parking meter fee to $1/hour for a year. All parking revenue from meters at the Willows go into maintaining the park, but Councilor McCarthy asked the council to cut the businesses down there some slack, and this was one small way to encourage people to enjoy an inexpensive day out.
They voted for first passage to approve a handicap parking spot, which reminds me to rail against this procedure again. It is inefficient and harmful to make people who need handicap parking wait for two council meetings and votes. PLEASE modify this process.
The motion to pass an ordinance to change the language in existing and future ordinances to remove gender bias was distracted by a long debate over the suitability of changing "manhole" to "maintenance hole." Though this linguistic change has no bearing on what anyone else calls the hole leading to sewage, six male councilors, Councilors Dibble, Dominguez, Flynn, McCarthy, Prosniewski, and Sargent, determined that “manhole” must indeed remain masculine. Those men were the majority vote, and they do get to keep their hole. Ultimately, the council unanimously agreed that gender neutral language should be used in ordinances, which is really fantastic.
Committees have been busy!
Public Health, Safety, and the Environment: Councilor Riccardi gave updates on two presentations, which were received and filed. First, there was a demonstration of an ADA smart tracker that can help the city track and address compliance needs in the city. She noted that this was a “marathon, not a sprint,” recognizing the work Salem has to do around ADA compliance. Then, Riccardi briefly touched on the presentation given by the Friends of the Common about funding and plans for improvement.
Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs: The short-term rental ordinance remains in committee so the city solicitor can clarify language around residency and accessory dwelling units. The review of the resident parking program remains in OLLA. Councilor Morsillo said they will focus on tightening and enforcing the guest pass aspect of the program. That’s next Thursday, if you have a passion for parking.
Government Services: The council tasked the Gov. Services committee with reviewing utility ordinances in concert with electric companies and city staff (it was a late file).
The council passed two resolutions introduced by Mayor Driscoll. The council proclaimed May Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage month. Salem recognizes the contributions, history, and heritage of the AAPI community. May will also henceforth be Mental Health Awareness month. Councilor Madore shared her own experience with anxiety and depression, and recognized the need to remove the stigma from talking about mental health issues.
Did I forget anything? Probably…oh, ADUs! Of course! There was some debate about whether a homeowner who moved into the ADU could let the house as a short-term rental. Madore was concerned that this was in conflict with the short-term rental ordinance, which is still being fine-tuned in OLLA. Sargent noted that if the council added language that turned out to be illegal, it would be stripped. Morsillo suggested that they park the matter and vote on it at the next meeting, which would give the councilors time to figure this out with the city solicitor. Dibble made two motions to add language to the ADU ordinance, then withdrew them upon Councilor Turiel’s reminder that they were delaying the vote. The deadline to vote on the ADU matter is 19 July. Dibble motioned to move the matter back to OLLA, frustrating Morsillo, who did not want the matter back in committee. Turiel motioned to lay the matter on the table, ceasing discussion and delaying the vote. Until next meeting then.
One small reminder from Turiel: CVS and Walgreens are accepting walk-ins for COVID vaccines, and the city will have clinics at Salem State and Saltonstall. Go to salem.com/vaccine for more information.
Respectfully submitted, Jen Lynch