Essex Planning Board backs all six zoning articles for Nov. 16, nobody spoke at the hearing

The Essex Planning Board voted Wednesday to recommend all six zoning articles on the Nov. 16 Fall Town Meeting warrant. Each vote was 6 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video. No resident spoke at the public hearing, in the room or online.

What happened

• Six zoning changes go to voters Nov. 16: new wetlands district boundaries, definitions for battery storage and data centers, a special permit for battery storage, a data center moratorium through Jan. 1, 2028, an affordable housing requirement for projects of six or more homes, and a zoning fine raised from $20 to $200 a day.
• The building inspector pointed out that, as written, a home solar battery would need a special permit. The warrant cannot change now, so the board will ask town counsel whether it can be fixed on the floor; if not, it will come back in the spring.
• The town has a $65,000 grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council to write a fuller affordable housing bylaw over the next year.

The six articles

Chair Lisa O'Donnell read each article, took questions from the board, the building inspector and the town planner, and then asked for public comment. Nobody came forward on any of them.

Wetlands district. The zoning bylaw now defines the wetlands overlay district with a set of maps from April 1974. The article deletes that sentence and ties the district to whatever the Conservation Commission regulates under the state Wetlands Protection Act. O'Donnell said the point is to drop maps that are 50 years old and inaccurate.

Two definitions. The article adds a definition of a battery energy storage system, battery modules and their containers for storing electricity, and of a data center, a facility mainly for storing, processing and transmitting digital data.

Battery storage special permit. Battery energy storage systems are added to the list of uses that need a special permit. The building inspector said the rule was meant for the large container systems and asked that one and two family homes be left out, since a house with solar panels and a backup battery has the same kind of system. O'Donnell said the warrant is signed and cannot be changed before town meeting. The town planner said the state's model bylaw sorts systems into tiers by size, and the board can add that detail at its next review. The board will ask town counsel whether an amendment on the town meeting floor would stay within the article; if not, the fix waits for the spring town meeting.

Data center moratorium. No data center could be built in Essex through Jan. 1, 2028. O'Donnell said the pause gives the board time to write real rules while the state works on its own, and that other towns are doing the same.

Inclusionary housing. O'Donnell called this "the biggie." Any project of six or more new homes would have to make 10 percent of them affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. For each required affordable unit the developer gets one extra unit, and the board can waive some dimensional rules to fit it in. If the 10 percent works out to a fraction, the developer can build the unit or pay the fraction to the town's Affordable Housing Trust. Finished units go into a lottery, and the town can ask for a local preference for Essex residents and workers.

The town planner said Essex is below 3 percent on the state's 10 percent affordable housing target, which leaves it open to Chapter 40B projects that skirt local zoning. She called the article a placeholder: the MAPC grant will pay for a bylaw tailored to Essex over the next year. O'Donnell said a proposed 36 home development would lower the town's affordable percentage, and a member noted the rule would have required 10 affordable units there.

Zoning fines. At the building inspector's request, the maximum fine for a zoning violation rises from $20 a day to $200 a day. He said the $20 figure has not changed in all his years in Essex and is not a deterrent. "It's more like a fee than a fine," a member said.

What was decided

• Recommend Article 1, wetlands district boundaries: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Recommend Article 2, battery storage and data center definitions: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Recommend Article 3, special permit for battery storage: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Recommend Article 4, data center moratorium through Jan. 1, 2028: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Recommend Article 5, inclusionary housing: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.
• Recommend Article 6, zoning fine of up to $200 a day: 6 to 0, from the meeting video.

Voting: Peter Levasseur, Beth Walsh, Matthew Greco, Shelly Bradbury, Ariel Brain and O'Donnell. The board then moved to a Zoom session for other business.

What happens next

• Monday, Nov. 16, 6:45 p.m.: Fall Town Meeting at Essex Elementary School, where voters decide the six articles.
• The board will ask town counsel about a floor amendment for home batteries before then.
• Spring 2027: a fuller inclusionary housing bylaw and battery storage tiers are expected at the annual town meeting.

Where to find the records

• Fall Town Meeting warrant, with the full text of each article
• Hearing video
• Planning Board page, where agendas and minutes are posted

Earlier coverage: Essex signs fall warrant: Nov. 16 town meeting, Dec. 10 school vote (Oct. 22), the full 19 article warrant. Data centers and plate reader cameras: Cape Ann's four towns have no rules on either (Oct. 21), where each town stands. Wednesday on Cape Ann (Oct. 20), the hearing preview.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the hearing online and checked names against the Planning Board roster on the town website and the articles against the posted warrant. These are our meeting notes, not the town's minutes.