Peabody Mayor Reacts to 3A

Peabody Mayor Edward Bettencourt provided insight on his administration’s view on the multifamily zoning requirements for MBTA communities (3A) and future residential development in the city. Mayor Edward Bettencourt was quoted in a Boston Globe Article, saying “We’re just at the point where we can be selective about the projects we want again, and then there’s a new state rule. It’s silly. Our housing should be up to us” (Brinker, 3-17-2023).

Not including 40B projects, between 2017 and 2021, Peabody (which has a population just under 55,000) permitted 144 new units, with 16 being multifamily units. The 40B projects allowed Peabody to exceed the 10% subsidized housing inventory (SHI) threshold that provides the city safe harbor from 40B projects. On the recent 40B projects, Mayor Bettencourt said “We were at a disadvantage, and it took away our ability to work with developers. Projects were approved by the state that were bigger than we were hoping for. If the city is going to grow, we should be the ones deciding when, where, and how” (Brinker, 3-17-2023).

Last Month, Mayor Bettencourt announced a plan to purchase roughly 80 acres of land adjacent to Meadows Golf Course, Spring Pond and Cedar Grove Cemetery. Once purchased, the land would be preserved as open space in perpetuity. The Mayor cited stress on infrastructure, traffic concerns and school capacity as the impetus for purchasing the land.

Updates on the land purchase and future City Council hearings related to 3A compliance in Peabody will be posted on the NSR blog. You can read the Boston Globe article by clicking HERE.