This is a big year for the seaport. Among a host of important items on the city’s agenda is the opportunity to do something meaningful to improve Gloucester’s housing crisis while complying with the MBTA Communities Zoning Act, passed by Beacon Hill lawmakers in 2021.
Compliance with the relatively new law can lead to housing opportunities for local families and ensure the essential flow of state funding to a host of important community programs. What we are proposing is a way to make that happen that has the support of residents and elected representatives alike.
First — it is important to recognize the scope of the challenge to the character of our community. In 2000, Gloucester’s population was about 30,000 and our public school student population was 4,200. Today, our population remains the same, but our student population has declined by 1,400 to just over 2,800. While there may be demographic reasons for the differences, one of the strongest is that it is difficult for families with school-age children to afford to live in our city.
One of the opportunities to address this challenge is provided by the MBTA Communities Zoning Act. The act promotes family-friendly and transit-oriented development in Gloucester as well as 174 other communities served by the T. The law requires a reasonably sized housing district within a half-mile of a train station. In Gloucester’s case, the downtown Railroad Avenue station is where the action will take place according to the draft plan submitted by Mayor Greg Verga to the Commonwealth last year.
It is especially important to note that the law does not require the city to actually construct housing but only provide the zoning necessary for the development of more family-oriented housing by right.
Development “by right” requires that all city rules and regulations regarding the nature, size and scope of development apply while still retaining the look and feel of the neighborhood.
The attorney general has made it quite clear that the MBTA Communities Zoning Act carries a mandate that no MBTA community can “opt out” of obeying the law. and there are penalties. For example, Gloucester receives millions of dollars in state grants. Noncompliance with the Zoning Act jeopardizes the continuation of those funds that are a critical part of the city’s budget.
We also know that compliance will bring additional housing opportunities for families who are faced with a difficult choice of where they can settle and join the life of the community. If we are bold and imaginative, our new zoning ordinance can carve out affordable housing opportunities for our families, friends, seniors, and the workforce who desire to also call this place home.
The question before the seaport now is how to best manage this opportunity over the next few months as the Planning Board and City Council begin drafting the rules for the new zoning district.
By this spring, we will need to see a draft of a proposed zoning district so we can begin the public discussion of what fits for Gloucester. Examples of zoning language that other communities have already adopted to comply with the Zoning Act provide an informative starting point.
Some of these ordinances can serve as a template, particularly as they relate to the development of neighborhood corridors where we can begin to get a feel for the impact on the character of our neighborhoods.
As voters and residents, we encourage our appointed and elected officials to begin demonstrating to the public how the zoning changes will affect neighborhoods around the downtown train station. and we need to see how the Planning Board and City Council will use the opportunity to craft an ordinance that both complies with the requirements of the MBTA Communities Zoning Act and encourages the kind of development that will provide more housing opportunities for families.
Like it or not, the character of the city is changing, as the public school census shows. and these changes are coming because of external market forces that we do not control.
With the requirement that we establish a transit-oriented zoning district downtown, Gloucester can start to manage that change by using zoning as one of its best and most creative tools. and as the process unfolds, we encourage the public to fully participate in the myriad of public meetings and hearings necessary to make Gloucester a more inclusive and better place to live for all.
Jack Clarke and Paul Lundberg are former chairpersons of the Gloucester Planning Board. Paul Lundberg is also former president of the Gloucester City Council.