Council Calls for Special Meeting with Planning Board on 3A Recommendations

The town council will hold a special meeting with the planning board on Thursday, August 15 at 6 p.m. at the senior center.

“This would give the Winthrop Planning Board the opportunity to share with us what they have so far in terms of so far with (the MBTA) 3A (Communities Act) and what they will be recommending,” said Council President Jim Letterie.

The planning board would then be required to vote on its final recommendation on 3A zoning for the town council, but Letterie said that vote will likely not take place at the August 15 meeting.

“Whenever they do decide to vote, hopefully shortly after our joint meeting, that will then come to the council automatically,” said Letterie.

Letterie said the council would then have a window to act and vote on the planning board 3A recommendations. Letterie and Town Manager Tony Marino said they would verify whether the council has a 30- or a 60-day window to vote on the recommendation.

The meeting is being held in the senior center to give more residents the ability to attend, the council president said.

Letterie said the planning board will be sharing the work it has been doing with the town’s 3A consultant, RKG, and what its thoughts are on the consultant’s work and the board’s potential recommendations.

“The planning board has met, they have done incredible work, they have met with the consultant who we are paying to give them an answer,” said Letterie. “They have come up with a decision that they are going to give to us, and it’s our obligation to take this seriously and to do the work that we were voted in to do and to vote on a proposal.”