On 3A Compliance from our own Cassie Witthaus in the September 5th edition of the Winthrop Transcript…

Dear Editor,

Complying with the 3A zoning law will have no negative impact on our community, while refusing to comply will lose us access to millions of dollars of grant funding that we desperately need and bring lawsuits from the state, which will cost our community more money. 

People have said it allows/requires unlimited bedrooms, which is correct, but avoids the nuance of other building requirements such as: meeting building code requirements for bedroom size, overall minimum interior space per occupant, and building features required in a bedroom. Specifically, building code requires a bedroom(and any habitable space besides kitchens–this would also include living rooms or dining rooms) to be no less than 70 square feet. The width of the room must be at least 7 ft minimum.  If there are to be 2 occupants per bedroom, 50 sq ft per occupant is required, increasing the minimum size to 100 sq ft.

 A letter was read at the last planning board special meeting that raised some points about making sure we don’t see a bunch of incongruent architecture types pop up all over town. The planning board chair noted that Winthrop can include design requirements in the site plan review process. The conversation moving forward can and should include specifics that identify the style and design elements Winthrop wants to continue to see around Town.  An update to zoning that specifically states our thoughts on design styles allows us a chance to make this a priority. The current process, where each project with any variance is only governed by the ZBA and feedback from neighbors who can attend the planning meeting, incorporates comments from a few individuals on a case by case basis. Any property owner wishing to build with greater density, or outside of the limits of any other code requirement, would still need to go through the variance process.

Winthrop is a very dense community with a small town feel to boot! Our existing density means identifying areas in town that already have a lot of density, like the proposed areas of Governors Park and Seal Harbor, allow us to easily comply with 3A’s requirements without any additional homes being built. You can review the presentations from the zoning consultant online under “planning board presentations by RKG”  at  winthropma.gov/586/MBTA-Community-Section-3A-Program.

Many people have attended planning meetings to voice concerns or questions. I appreciate the ability of the consultant to incorporate peoples feedback and address concerns. The planning board has done a great job of asking questions and digging into the details of how to put a plan forth for the town council to vote on. 

Residents elected the sitting town council to be the ones to review and update our codes and lead our town, per the town bylaws. Those bylaws require Winthrop to comply with state laws. RKG and the planning board have undertaken a process, supported by community input, to create a proposal for the town council to vote on. If the council finds that the proposal is inappropriate for our community, they can vote no.  The planning board will then put forth another plan after another process.

I am hopeful that our town council will see the hard work the planning board has done with community members and the consultant to create a plan that meets the requirements of 3A while addressing people’s concerns, and vote in favor of acknowledging the existing density at Governors Park and Seal Harbor in our zoning code. Our current zoning doesn’t reflect our community’s existing density and this is easily remedied without adding any additional homes to the community.

I love this small town, beach community. I hope we can allow our town council to do their job and respond with simple paper compliance celebrating our dense existing community.

Cassie Witthaus

Precinct 6