The Monday meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board found the elected members wondering what they could have done differently leading up to the Spring Town Meeting to secure the voters’ confidence for cottage-style developments. They tried to convince voters such housing was a viable option for Mattapoisett’s demand for more housing. The article failed.
Chair Tom Tucker said that public hearings and meetings had been held and public input sought in the proceeding months; a total of 18 such meetings simply hadn’t done the job. But when the votes were cast, the two-thirds majority needed to make a zoning change did not materialize.
William Wennerberg, a strong advocate for the cottage-style developments, said voters didn’t seem to understand the objective in bringing the zoning change to Town Meeting. He also noted the fact that no Select Board member supported the change.
Member John Mathieu commented that developers couldn’t bring affordable housing forward due to the high cost of constructing residential units. “You can’t build any affordable housing now… it’s harder and harder for them to make money,” Mathieu said. Wennerberg reiterated a point he made many times, saying, “this was not an affordable housing bylaw, this was just giving people a different choice.”
But the hope of bringing the town closer to what its residents want, housing that average-income earners can afford, is not being abandoned. The board plans to gather all the post-Town Meeting feedback it received and go back to the drawing board, literally.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, June 1 at 7:00 pm in Town Hall, 16 Main Street.
Mattapoisett Planning Board
By Marilou Newell