Council Says No to 3A Citizens’ Petition Schedules Special Meeting on Planning Board Recommendation

By Adam Swift

The town council voted not to support a petition that would change the town’s zoning laws and force a town-wide ballot vote every time there is a decision to be made on the MBTA 3A Communities Act.

The council voted 6-1 to support the recommendation from the planning board not to back the petition submitted by the Winthrop Says No to 3A Committee.

Precinct 4 Councilor Suzanne Swope cast the lone vote not supporting the planning board recommendation.

“This is adding a section to the zoning bylaws; it had to go to the planning board first, the planning board held its hearing,” said Town Manager Tony Marino.

Several councilors said they supported the planning board’s reasoning for not supporting the petition.

“I just want to echo a couple of the comments for anyone who didn’t have a chance to go to the planning board meeting … I jotted down some quotes from members of the planning board,” said Precinct 6 Councilor John DaRos. “Chris Boyce, the chair, ‘This petition would essentially carve out the treatment of 3A in perpetuity as a town meeting, that is not the form of government that exists in Winthrop. There is a separate path available to put petitions on the ballot, special elections are costly and time consuming, especially holding them every time there would be a change to 3A.’”

DaRos and several other councilors noted that it is extremely likely that the initial 3A decision will go to a referendum vote in the town.

The MBTA 3A Communities Act requires municipalities with or adjacent to MBTA transportation to zone for increased multi-family housing.

The planning board is scheduled to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12 to make a recommendation on 3A compliance. The town council scheduled a special meeting for Thursday, Nov. 14 to take up that recommendation from the planning board.

Council Vice President Hannah Belcher said she fully intends to present a motion to move the planning board’s recommendation, when it does come before the council, to a town-wide ballot vote.

“Whatever happens with this (zoning) petition, does not mean that there is no way that the voters (aren’t) going to have a chance to say what they are going to say about 3A,” said Belcher.

Council President Jim Letterie also noted that while the zoning petition from Winthrop Says No to 3A was not approved, the group can file a supplemental petition that could possibly get the question on the ballot.

In voting against the planning board recommendation, Swope said that the people have a right through the town charter to call for a vote on the 3A issue.

“The people should be allowed to say what is on their minds, given that we are following the charter,” said Swope.

Letterie said the vote on the petition was not a vote on 3A, but on the zoning petition and the recommendation made by the planning board. The council president thanked the board for its work on the recommendation, as well as its work on its potential 3A recommendation to the council.

“The planning board was tasked with bringing to the council a plan that complies with 3A, they weren’t tasked to say no, they were tasked to come up with a plan,” said Letterie. “It is our job, that’s why we were elected, to think of if that is the best thing or not for Winthrop. I’ve made my decision perfectly clear; but our job is to decide on their plan, is their hard work right for Winthrop?”

Diana Viens of the Winthrop Says Not to 3A Committee said the petition was not so much about zoning as it was about giving people a voice on the issue.

“Once there is a plan to comply on the table, this petition says that decision goes to the people at the ballot because that is the mechanism we have,” said Viens. “If it is a different mechanism like an online survey, we don’t care, because at the end of the day, everyone should have a vote because … this affects everyone in a very profound way. That’s all it is, we are not looking to reinvent the wheel here, we’re looking to have the final say on something that will impact the entire town, which is proper and appropriate in this case.”