Special Town Meeting

KEEP IPSWICH AFFORDABLE

VOTE NO ON 3A

On October 22, residents of Ipswich will vote at Town Meeting on Proposed Article 8 of the Warrant which makes radical amendments to Ipswich zoning laws. 

Article 8 adds a 54.9 Acre Multi-Family Overlay District in the center of town allowing developers to build AS OF RIGHT “at market” (i.e, luxury) multi-family housing (i.e, box condos and rentals) under Section 3A of Chapter 40A of the Massachusetts General Laws.

This invitation to build luxury housing – without special use permits, variances or other guardrails attached to any other project – will make dramatically increase the cost of living in our beautiful town and do nothing to advance the need for affordable housing for our seniors, our children, and folks with limited means.

Here’s why you should vote NO on Article 8!!!

1. The new bylaw allows developers AS A MATTER OF RIGHT to build large condo and rental buildings (up to 1079 units) in the center of town.
2. There are no restrictions on number of residents, number of bedrooms and bedroom size in each unit.  Each unit must have one parking space.  Yikes!
3. AS OF RIGHT means NO SPECIAL USE PERMIT is required.  The eliminates the rights of abutters and the Planning Board to stop proposed developments.  Don’t be fooled when they say the developments will still be subject to “site plan review”.  Site Plan Review cannot stop a development from going forward.
4. Section 3A is NOT AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING LAW.  The proposed bylaw requires at least 85% of the units to be AT MARKET and, to the extent affordable housing is required for the remainder, it can be avoided by the “payment in lieu” provisions in Ipswich’s existing zoning law.  In other words, the developers can buy out any obligation to provide affordable housing. 
5. Section 3A provides NO FUNDING for the demands created by these new buildings – infrastructure, water, police, fire and EMT and most important – schools.  The Ipswich 3A Task Force spent almost 2 years of meetings and NEVER examined or estimated the tens of millions of additional dollars that will inevitably required to be spent by the town to support the large influx of luxury rentals and condo units.
6. 3A is not an affordable housing law, it is a “as of right” development initiative. The 10-15 percent “affordable” housing requirement is a mirage as it can be bought out by developers. If 3A passes, 1000+ luxury condos and rentals in historic downtown Ipswich will be built with no guardrails to stop development. There will be no ability of the planning board or ABUTTERS to challenge projects. Costs for taxpayers will increase exponentially: more infrastructure, more electricity, more water, more school children, more traffic, more safety incidents involving police, fire & emts.
7. The best strategy is to WAIT and see whether ongoing lawsuits challenging the law and the guidelines are successful – and to see whether the towns which have either voted no or voted to delay consideration face any consequences. These towns include Marblehead, Milton, Norwell, Rockport, Wakefield, Hanson, Holden, Boxboro, Seekonk and most recently Wenham.