[0:00] Okay, everyone. Um,

[0:03] we got it and it was

[0:06] something as stupidly simple as a cable

[0:09] that is somehow loose.

[0:13] So, when our IT department adjusted this

[0:17] cable, it worked. Had nothing to do with

[0:20] the technology at all.

[0:25] Um, okay. But anyway, here we are. Uh,

[0:29] I'll introduce everybody. My name is

[0:31] Jason Shaw. I'm the chairman of the

[0:33] Rockport Planning Board. And to your

[0:36] right, my left, is the vice chairman,

[0:39] Tom Mikas. To my right, is Bob Simmons,

[0:42] planning board member. To his right is

[0:45] Peter Cutner. And to his right is our

[0:49] town planner, um, Betsy Wear.

[0:53] So

[0:55] we're here uh for an information session

[0:58] on seasonal communities

[1:01] and

[1:04] the reason that u we're doing this is not a required meeting. We've

[1:10] already had our public hearing,

[1:12] but as is often

[1:16] the public hearings and then they come

[1:18] to town meeting and say, "Well, what is this all about or why do I not

[1:22] know about that?" So, try to we've done

[1:26] this before with other projects and it

[1:29] seems to work to just have an informal

[1:32] information session so you all can um

[1:36] ask questions. I'm going to just go

[1:38] through this. It's not a very long

[1:40] PowerPoint at all. I'm going to go

[1:42] through it and then we have a podium up

[1:45] there if you want to get up there to ask

[1:46] a question. We have fans going on here

[1:49] because this room is supposedly 84

[1:52] degrees. Uh we opened a window, but

[1:57] trying to talk from your seated position

[2:00] is going to be a challenge for everyone

[2:01] to hear you with the fans going. So, it

[2:03] would be good if you could get up there

[2:05] and use the microphone. Um, so what are

[2:08] we doing today? Uh,

[2:11] all right, next slide. Okay,

[2:15] what is a, uh, seasonal community?

[2:19] We're going to answer your questions,

[2:21] tell you what a seasonal community

[2:23] designation is, who's received the

[2:25] designation, we have, how did we

[2:28] qualify, and what next? If the

[2:30] designation is approved at town meeting,

[2:33] that's kind of the next step here. We're

[2:36] at that point now where the Executive

[2:39] Office of Housing and Livable

[2:41] Communities has given the town of

[2:43] Rockport a seasonal community

[2:45] designation,

[2:47] but that is not effective until that is

[2:51] approved at town meeting by a simple

[2:54] majority vote. So, that's where we are.

[2:57] We're up to that point.

[3:00] And then we'll go over what the time

[3:02] frame is after the designation to do

[3:04] some things. What are some of the

[3:06] benefits that come with a seasonal

[3:08] community designation?

[3:10] And how does this tie into Rockport's

[3:14] accessory dwelling unit bylaw? And then

[3:18] the last uh question is, are we stuck

[3:21] forever with the designation? And um no,

[3:24] the answer to that is no. So no one no

[3:27] one has to worry about that. Okay. So

[3:30] what is a seasonal community

[3:31] designation? It was established by a

[3:34] 2024 Massachusetts general law

[3:37] and Massachusetts as you know has been

[3:41] really I don't want to use the word

[3:43] desperately but I think I will trying to

[3:46] bring down the cost of housing in the

[3:48] Commonwealth because it's very high

[3:51] especially in the eastern part of the

[3:54] state. So, how they're doing that is

[3:56] they've come up with a bunch of zoning

[3:59] tools that they want local

[4:01] municipalities to adopt that will help

[4:03] them be more flexible in the zoning that

[4:07] allows housing that is maybe less than

[4:11] your traditional,

[4:13] you know, cookie cutter housing. And um

[4:16] so

[4:18] here because of Rock, as we know,

[4:20] Rockport is a is a community that has a

[4:23] big influx of people in the summer. Um

[4:27] and when the summer's over, the

[4:30] population goes down. Housing is

[4:32] extremely expensive here. For anybody

[4:34] who looks at any kind of housing

[4:37] transactions, you'll realize that the h

[4:39] the cost of housing in Rockport is is

[4:42] very is one of the highest costs outside

[4:45] of the Boston metro area. So, here are

[4:48] some of the factors that the Executive

[4:50] Office of Housing and Livable

[4:52] Communities looked at when they decided

[4:54] to grant Rockport a seasonal communities

[4:58] designation.

[5:00] We have a

[5:02] substantial variation in seasonal

[5:04] employment. We have a high a high rate

[5:07] of short-term rentals in relation to

[5:09] overall housing. We have a significant

[5:12] population increase in seasonal

[5:14] visitors. And we have significant

[5:18] disparities between the area median

[5:20] income and income needed to buy a home

[5:23] in Rockport.

[5:25] And lastly, the percentage of housing

[5:29] used for seasonal, occasional, or

[5:31] recreational use or otherwise not a

[5:34] primary residence by the owner is high

[5:38] in Rockport. That's why we say like

[5:41] Rockport because these really all apply.

[5:43] In fact, if you look at a a map of the

[5:47] areas that fit the this description,

[5:51] most of them are on Cape Cod in that

[5:54] area. And those are all seasonal

[5:57] communities. The whole Cape Cod uh

[6:00] peninsula is a seasonal community

[6:02] essentially. The other area of seasonal

[6:05] communities is in the western part of

[6:07] the state in the Birkars. There are some

[6:10] towns there that have that designation.

[6:13] And then you see way up in the northeast

[6:15] corner, one community that meets all

[6:18] these criteria. It's Rockport. The one,

[6:22] not even Gloucester, but Rockport. So

[6:25] we'll go to the next uh slide kind of go

[6:28] through this. 43 towns has received the

[6:31] seasonal community designation and

[6:33] including three entire county, Dukes

[6:35] County, Nantucket County, Berkshire

[6:37] County. Um and others have received it

[6:41] because they've asked for it and we're

[6:44] one of the ones that have asked for it.

[6:45] They didn't automatically grant it to

[6:47] us, but that's okay. It wouldn't it was

[6:49] very easy to get for Rockport.

[6:53] Um, we we received the designation from

[6:56] the Executive Office of Housing and

[6:57] Livable Communities on February 18. And

[7:01] there it shows the percentages, the next

[7:04] two uh items of why the EOHLC granted it

[7:10] to Rockport because of those percentage

[7:12] numbers that are shown on your screen.

[7:15] And as I mentioned earlier at the

[7:17] beginning that to retain this

[7:19] designation,

[7:21] we must approve at a town meeting.

[7:25] All right.

[7:26] >> Jason.

[7:28] >> Yes.

[7:29] >> On that previous slide, those two

[7:32] percentages,

[7:34] are they actuals for Rockport or is that

[7:36] just the threshold?

[7:37] >> No, that's for Rockport. Those are

[7:39] Rockport's percentages. And those are

[7:41] the two percentages that the executive

[7:45] office of housing and livable

[7:47] communities in their letter to us

[7:50] approving it for Rockport. Um those are

[7:53] the two percentages they cited in their

[7:55] letter.

[7:57] So,

[7:59] this is this next part is kind of

[8:02] important and people need to listen to

[8:03] what I'm saying carefully because it we

[8:06] found at our town at the uh public

[8:08] hearing that there was some confusion

[8:10] and I'm not blaming anybody. It was just

[8:13] it was confusing and we realized there

[8:15] was some confusion.

[8:18] The first thing is um

[8:22] if we want to retain the seasonal

[8:24] communities designation, what must we do

[8:28] as a town?

[8:31] And then there's another part to that

[8:34] which is what

[8:37] can we do as a town but is not required.

[8:40] very important to understand that

[8:43] distinction between the two because what

[8:45] must what we must do is actually

[8:48] relatively small compared to what we can

[8:52] do. So there are a lot of topics here

[8:54] that I know people are going to want to

[8:56] talk about like affordable housing and

[8:58] how do we do that and everything that's

[9:01] for another day because that's one of

[9:04] the things that we can do but we don't

[9:08] have to do. So they they'll require

[9:11] their own zoning laws or bylaws or

[9:15] general bylaws depending on what it is.

[9:17] So here are the two things we must do.

[9:20] We must create zoning that allows for

[9:23] what um for tiny housing as of right in

[9:28] a single family residential district.

[9:30] And I'll show you some pictures of tiny

[9:32] housing in a in a moment.

[9:35] A tiny house is a detached house that is

[9:38] the principal dwelling on a lot and is

[9:40] not more than 400 square feet of floor

[9:43] area. So that's pretty small, but people

[9:47] can live in them and live well.

[9:50] uh under this tiny housing

[9:55] provision which we have not which has

[9:56] not yet been drafted and will not be

[9:59] drafted until this seasonal communities

[10:03] designation is approved and then we have

[10:06] 24 months to get it passed. So it's not

[10:09] anything that's going to happen as of

[10:12] April 12th after town meeting. uh tying

[10:15] tiny housing must be year round and it

[10:18] must comply obviously with state and

[10:20] local building codes. You have to have a

[10:22] bathroom. Okay, so that's one of the

[10:25] things. The second thing that we must

[10:27] do, again this is within 24 months, is

[10:30] we must create zoning that allows for

[10:34] mandatory year round residences,

[10:38] i.e. Under the law, it says no fewer

[10:40] than 10 months occupancy on undersized

[10:43] lots. Now, what the state defines as an

[10:47] undersized lot is at a lot that's at

[10:51] least 10,000 square feet or 25% of the

[10:55] minimum lot size of the residential lot

[10:58] area where the where the resident is

[11:01] located, whichever is greater. We

[11:03] already have quite a few lots that meet

[11:06] this description. in town. We already

[11:09] have them. But just to let you know, we

[11:11] must we must create zoning that allows

[11:15] for

[11:17] these they call undersized lots that

[11:20] allows for these lots in the town.

[11:25] All right, here's some here's some tiny

[11:27] houses

[11:29] thanks to our architect members.

[11:34] Pretty nice, actually. I kind of like

[11:36] them. Um, think of how much less

[11:38] cleaning you'll have to do. Um,

[11:43] anyway, they're all examples of tiny

[11:45] houses all over the

[11:48] >> the country. All over the country. Yeah.

[11:50] And you can see the variation

[11:53] that uh they have.

[11:57] So,

[11:59] as I mentioned earlier, Rockport must

[12:01] adopt these two zoning provisions at the

[12:03] town meeting within 24 months from the

[12:05] designation if it's approved on April

[12:09] 11th.

[12:13] Now,

[12:14] here are um here are the things that we

[12:19] could do that could be done, but they

[12:23] don't have to be done. And there's no

[12:25] time limit on when they can be done

[12:27] either. There's no 20 the 24 months only

[12:31] applies to those first two

[12:34] things we talked about, tiny houses and

[12:36] undersized lots.

[12:38] Okay, these are these are what are in

[12:41] the law. It's what's in the

[12:44] regulations. And I can tell you right

[12:46] now that even for the state, these this

[12:51] is a work in progress for them. I mean,

[12:53] they don't really have these things all

[12:56] fleshed out, but they have enough to

[12:58] tell you that these are some options you

[13:01] might want to take. Okay. First of all,

[13:03] creation of a housing trust fund for

[13:05] affordable housing,

[13:07] ability to create a preference for

[13:10] seasonal community essential employees.

[13:13] And what that means are people who work

[13:16] in, you know, emergency services and

[13:18] other services in the town who are

[13:21] really essential to the operation of the

[13:23] town, essential to, you know, health and

[13:26] safety of the town. You can you could we

[13:31] could create um housing that is where

[13:36] they're preferential.

[13:38] If you want to know the details here are the regulations. You're welcome

[13:43] to come read them, but I'm not going to

[13:45] get into it now because that'll be a

[13:47] long meeting. Okay, this is an

[13:49] interesting one. Allow for the creation

[13:51] and preservation of artist housing.

[13:54] for a household with at least

[13:56] one person who produces or supports

[13:58] artistic and literary activities. That's

[14:01] kind of interesting. So certainly for

[14:05] Rockport, which has a history of being

[14:08] an artist colony many years ago, uh this

[14:12] is I think it's kind of interesting that

[14:15] it could be promoted again

[14:19] and maybe people who have sons or

[14:21] daughters who are artists who might want

[14:22] to live here, they might be able to have

[14:25] housing for not much money. Who knows?

[14:28] So,

[14:29] and then two, the last two are allow for

[14:32] the development of a comprehensive

[14:34] housing needs assessment. You could do

[14:36] it up to twice annually.

[14:39] Uh, and there, by the way, there's

[14:40] supposedly some money for this stuff,

[14:42] too, but again, it's not

[14:45] I I don't know the details. And then the

[14:48] other the last thing which I think

[14:49] everybody

[14:51] perhaps everybody in this room would be

[14:53] interested in is that raise the property

[14:56] tax exemption for yearround residents.

[14:59] Well, that's that would be interesting.

[15:02] In other words, like some communities I

[15:04] know in other states do that. If you're

[15:06] a year- round resident, you pay one

[15:08] level of property tax and if you're not,

[15:12] you pay a different level, which is

[15:15] interesting. So

[15:19] the other thing that this will do

[15:23] this um

[15:26] uh commun uh seasonal communities law is

[15:28] that it'll help us fix a hole in our

[15:33] accessory dwelling unit bylaw which has

[15:36] actually been on the books since 2022

[15:39] when it was adopted.

[15:42] We had a minimum rental period in that

[15:44] bylaw of six months. And the idea there

[15:48] was to prevent people building ADUs or

[15:53] converting garages into accessory

[15:55] dwelling units and simply renting them

[15:57] out as short-term rentals over the

[15:59] summer. So, we put a six-month minimum

[16:02] in it. It was debated at that time what

[16:05] the minimum should be. 6 months won out.

[16:10] the a year was proposed, but that didn't

[16:12] it didn't resonate with the voters. So,

[16:15] we had we had six months.

[16:17] In 2024, the Commonwealth implemented

[16:20] its own statewide protected ADU law and

[16:26] it allowed for it said that you Rockport

[16:29] and all the other towns in in the U

[16:32] state needed to allow ADUs in all

[16:35] residential districts, which we hadn't

[16:38] before that. Before that, I was in

[16:40] certain already somewhat dense

[16:43] residential districts, we allowed ADUs,

[16:45] and that was in the 2022 law. But now,

[16:48] they've said you got to allow them

[16:49] everywhere. So, right now, they're

[16:51] allowed everywhere in the town, whether

[16:53] you have a if you have the setbacks and

[16:55] everything and have the size ADU,

[16:59] uh, you can put it in any zoning

[17:01] district in the town.

[17:03] So

[17:06] we in 2025 based on what the

[17:08] Commonwealth did and its protected ADU

[17:10] law, we readopted our ADU law

[17:15] uh to permit ADUs in all districts and

[17:20] we readted our sixmonth

[17:24] uh minimum rental period. Sounds like

[17:28] great. I mean, you're promoting um

[17:31] longer rentals. You're trying to get

[17:33] away from short-term rentals. You think

[17:35] that that would be good, but no. The

[17:38] attorney general came back and said,

[17:40] "Uh,

[17:42] we think that's an unreasonable

[17:43] restriction on the

[17:46] ADU.

[17:49] We're going to make it so you have a

[17:51] minimum rental period of what our law

[17:55] says, which is 31 days.

[17:58] So, don't try to figure this out because

[18:01] we were trying to encourage longer

[18:05] occupancy of ADUs and the and the

[18:09] attorney general said, "No, you're

[18:11] unreasonably restricting ADUs and you can only have a 31day

[18:19] uh minimum." But they said, and we've

[18:23] confirmed this with them, if you get the

[18:27] seasonal communities designation, we

[18:30] accept that you can reinstate

[18:33] the sixmonth

[18:35] minimum rental period that you had

[18:36] before. So that's one of the incentives

[18:40] for

[18:42] the town to adopt this. A secondary

[18:45] incentive is that we are then allowed to

[18:48] bring back at least six month uh in

[18:52] terms of a rental period and

[18:57] Oh yeah.

[19:00] So

[19:02] it's this is a very flexible

[19:04] designation. If we accept it,

[19:07] we can at town meeting revoke it. it's

[19:10] not working out, we can revoke it and no

[19:13] penalty, maybe lo maybe losing some

[19:16] money, who knows, grants, if we reject

[19:19] it

[19:20] at the town meeting coming up, it can be

[19:24] um submitted later for a vote and we

[19:26] don't need to go back to the

[19:29] uh executive office of housing and

[19:32] livable communities and get a new

[19:33] designation. The designation that

[19:36] they've issued stands. we would just

[19:38] have to put it up for another vote at

[19:40] town meeting.

[19:42] And lastly, they the state can revoke

[19:47] the designation if we don't comply with

[19:51] this 24month

[19:53] uh period where we need to adopt these

[19:55] two provisions or if we're just not

[19:58] really doing anything to permit new

[20:00] residential units. uh they can come in,

[20:03] you know, look at what we're what we

[20:05] haven't done and say, uh, you know,

[20:06] we're going to revoke our designation.

[20:08] But those

[20:11] that's pretty much it. Okay. Thank you.

[20:15] Um, so we'll open it up for questions.

[20:19] I'm not I'm going to let other me board

[20:22] members answer questions and also Betsy.

[20:25] Um, if you want to ask a question. Oh,

[20:29] we see have someone already. Great. And

[20:33] um

[20:34] please just state your name and address

[20:37] and try to talk in the mic because

[20:40] >> Can you hear me?

[20:41] >> Maybe we Hey, Tom, could we turn that

[20:43] fan off

[20:44] >> because I I'm looking at the thermometer

[20:46] there and I can see that the temperature

[20:48] has dropped in this room from from the

[20:50] 84 degrees that it was before. So,

[20:53] >> it's about 52 in that corner over there.

[20:57] >> Can you hear me? You'll keep you'll stay

[20:58] awake.

[20:59] >> No.

[21:00] >> Get closer.

[21:01] >> Yeah. Bring it real close.

[21:02] >> Yes. Bring it real close.

[21:03] >> All right. Can you hear me? Is that

[21:06] better?

[21:06] >> Yes.

[21:06] >> Yeah. A little bit better.

[21:08] >> Um just a couple of

[21:09] >> Yeah. I mean, we opened it because it

[21:10] was boiling hot in here. Um I It's kind

[21:14] of hard to close. It's a heavy window.

[21:16] >> Maybe some guy can or strong gal can get

[21:20] up there.

[21:22] >> You have to lift it up to get You have

[21:24] to lift it up.

[21:27] Okay. P1 at team.

[21:28] >> There you go.

[21:33] » All right. If it gets too hot,

[21:37] » there's there just a couple things. One is I used to live in Charletown. I

[21:41] had a house that was um

[21:43] >> I'm going to close this. Okay. No one

[21:45] needs to see this,

[21:46] >> right?

[21:47] >> Okay. Go ahead. Um, my house had a a

[21:51] small footprint and it was one of those

[21:54] typical brick row houses in Charles Town

[21:56] that's small. So, I used to joke that it

[21:59] was um two rooms and a ladder going up

[22:02] three floors. Um, but the footprint was

[22:06] um just it was 500 square feet. So, um

[22:09] what I'd s I don't know if the it just

[22:12] got into the language this way, but the

[22:14] minimum it really has to be constrained

[22:16] to 400 ft. If that could be two stories,

[22:19] I think you've got you're you're in

[22:21] business with something that actually is

[22:22] more flexible. And there u most of the

[22:25] images that you had there were two of

[22:27] them that were single floor and the rest

[22:28] of them were either two or three floors.

[22:30] >> Um I would feed that back to the state

[22:33] and see if you can get that folded in

[22:34] because it will make it um

[22:36] >> it'll make it more space for people and

[22:39] it's definitely livable. Um the other

[22:42] the next point was um for artist spaces

[22:45] you need a living space and you also

[22:46] need a um a working space. So when I was

[22:49] thinking about this I thought I could

[22:51] have a tiny house and then I could get

[22:52] one of those you know boat houses which

[22:55] are you know boat house kits and then

[22:57] make that into a studio and attach it or

[23:01] you know have it close by. Um that's it.

[23:04] I really am very glad to see the

[23:06] possibility of artist space. at the

[23:08] cultural council we've been talking

[23:09] about. Where can we find it? It's the

[23:11] top on the list. We did a survey of

[23:14] artisan who you were interested had

[23:16] gotten grants and from the cultural

[23:18] council and that was the top one. So,

[23:21] thank you.

[23:22] >> Great. Now, these are these are good

[23:24] points. Um, and once this CEO

[23:29] community's designation is approved,

[23:31] assuming it's going to be, working on

[23:35] the points that you brought up would be

[23:37] the next step.

[23:39] >> I'd be happy to help.

[23:41] >> Great. Thank you so much.

[23:42] >> Can I add something to that?

[23:44] >> Yeah, go ahead, Betsy. Go ahead.

[23:46] >> Um, the tiny house, the first floor

[23:50] footprint is 400 square ft. the it

[23:54] doesn't it's exclusive of loft space.

[23:57] So, I'm not sure how they define loft

[23:59] space. Yeah. But I think there's

[24:01] probably a fair amount of wiggle room.

[24:03] Plus, um they the state executive office

[24:08] of housing and livable communities is

[24:10] working on a draft bylaw for tiny houses

[24:15] and they've stated that they are going

[24:17] to be a little flexible. So, um I think

[24:21] that um the images that were shown, some

[24:24] of them were probably

[24:27] 400 square ft exclusive of the loft

[24:30] space. Um some of them were obviously a

[24:32] little bit bigger. I'm ready to move

[24:34] into one. Um but in any case um the

[24:38] state as as Jason said is working on um

[24:44] some drafting and they're still trying

[24:47] to kind of ek out some of the details.

[24:49] So I I think as long as we kind of watch

[24:52] what's going on, there should be some

[24:55] flexibility.

[24:59] » Do I hold the button?

[25:00] >> Go ahead. Is it Are you on? It's green.

[25:03] If it's green, you're on. Okay.

[25:05] >> U Ben Hughes, 147 Main Street. I was

[25:08] just a little confused about the two

[25:09] mandatory requirements, the ADU and then

[25:12] the um

[25:14] the second one. So the ADU said

[25:18] I mean, excuse me, the Chinese house

[25:20] designation was if it was a primary

[25:22] residence on a lot. So it's a lot with

[25:24] no housing.

[25:26] >> It's that's it's completely separate

[25:28] from an ADU.

[25:29] >> Yeah. That

[25:32] >> they're two different animals, right?

[25:33] with no living space on it at the time.

[25:36] And is it for a

[25:37] >> No,

[25:40] >> we we still we still need to develop the

[25:43] zoning rules and regulations for the

[25:46] tiny houses. So, we may decide that on a

[25:49] quarter acre lot, you can have three

[25:52] tiny houses, for example,

[25:54] >> maybe they're condos.

[25:55] >> Yeah.

[25:56] um we we have to establish all those

[25:59] regulations, but the tiny house right

[26:01] now is kind of limited to this 400 plus

[26:03] loft space area. An ADU on the other

[26:07] hand requires that there's a primary

[26:09] dwelling already on the lot.

[26:11] >> Okay?

[26:12] >> And then that ADU can be um up to 900

[26:16] square ft, but

[26:18] >> a maximum of half of the uh principal

[26:21] dwelling unit space. So if you have a

[26:24] >> a 1500 foot house, it can only be 750

[26:28] ft². But but that is a se a separate set

[26:32] of rules. Yeah.

[26:33] >> Sure. And just one other quick point of

[26:35] information is we qualified for the um

[26:39] seasonal designation by the fact that

[26:41] our short-term rental

[26:44] percentage was 3.25%. Or was that the

[26:47] actual for Rockport or was that the sort

[26:49] of minimum?

[26:50] >> Oh, that's Rockport.

[26:51] >> Okay. And and do I mean is that like

[26:54] Airbnb types or does that include like

[26:56] hotels and things too or

[26:58] >> uh I they say short-term rentals that

[27:01] generally means like an Airbnb type

[27:03] thing.

[27:04] >> Okay. Yeah.

[27:04] >> So if somebody already has like a garage

[27:07] of apartment that's rented out

[27:09] seasonally or by the week that's already

[27:11] in that percentage

[27:14] >> probably.

[27:15] >> Yeah. I mean that's how they calculated.

[27:17] Basically, how they figured it out is

[27:19] they the state collects

[27:22] excise tax on all short-term rentals. If

[27:25] you have a short-term rental, you have

[27:26] to register it.

[27:28] >> So, they know how many legal ones at

[27:31] least that are in the town of Rockport

[27:33] because they collect the tax and they

[27:34] know

[27:35] >> the number of units.

[27:37] >> But, as far as you know, that doesn't

[27:38] include the ins or um

[27:40] >> No, no, that does not it does not

[27:42] >> that does not does not include ins.

[27:44] >> Yeah. Okay. And these are these are

[27:45] conservative estimates too. Betsy could

[27:48] talk a little bit more about that maybe,

[27:50] but um this is information gathered from

[27:54] four or five different sources including

[27:55] the US census, local tax data, all kinds

[27:59] of things. Uh especially for the houses that are um occasionally

[28:06] used. In other words, they're claiming

[28:09] their houses in Florida and they have a

[28:11] second house here. So it's not it's not

[28:14] counted. Um so there's a fair amount of

[28:17] those in town as we all know. Um so the

[28:20] numbers are the percentages are likely a

[28:23] fair bit higher actually than these uh

[28:26] the 16% that you saw on the screen.

[28:29] >> Okay. Hi.

[28:30] >> Hi. Uh Paul Bryant, five Avenue. Uh just

[28:33] a quick question for clarification. Uh

[28:36] the second requirement is for undersized

[28:39] lots. Uh that would be for existing lots

[28:42] in Rockport. Would that also be for

[28:45] future development? If there's uh a

[28:48] subdivision being created, will they be

[28:50] able to uh h uh at that point create a

[28:54] large number of undersized lots?

[28:56] >> Um yeah, I don't think that there's uh

[28:59] it doesn't just talk about existing

[29:00] lots. It talks about lots that would

[29:03] meet that criteria that could be

[29:05] created. So basically from this point on

[29:08] the de facto uh zoning would uh across

[29:12] town would be 10,000 square foot for uh

[29:17] as for residential.

[29:18] >> Well okay we we haven't done the zoning

[29:20] for that yet. And so there could be

[29:23] areas of the town where undersized lots

[29:26] are allowed and other areas where

[29:29] they're not allowed.

[29:30] >> But that that comes later. We have to do that.

[29:35] According according to this, it's

[29:36] required, but it's not required across

[29:38] the whole town. Required

[29:40] >> just said required, but not across the

[29:43] whole town. Doesn't mean we have to do

[29:44] it across every zoning district in the

[29:46] town if that's what you're asking.

[29:49] >> Okay. Just uh just trying to get a

[29:51] better idea.

[29:51] >> No, understood. Yeah.

[29:52] >> Yeah. Yeah. The idea of it's it's

[29:55] future. Everything's future future ADUs,

[29:58] future tiny houses.

[30:00] >> And then Yeah. We can normally we would

[30:03] not be able to create a lot that's uh

[30:05] >> smaller than what's our current zoning

[30:08] for one unit I think 5,000 square ft but

[30:11] now we might be able to create lots that

[30:13] are smaller potential

[30:15] >> I'm all for teeny houses I just want a

[30:16] little clarification thank you

[30:19] >> so we should add that there's also

[30:20] minimum frontage

[30:21] >> right there there there are other things

[30:24] in that to your point sir there are

[30:27] other things in that

[30:29] in their framework for such a law that

[30:33] make it easier to create an what they

[30:36] call an undersized lot because the the

[30:39] setbacks are less than would necessarily

[30:43] be applied and the frontage I think it's

[30:45] like 20 feet or something is the

[30:47] frontage I just looked at it recently

[30:49] but you know again

[30:52] once we sit down and start talking about

[30:55] developing zoning that allows these

[30:58] things that's where I we get into the

[31:01] details about where and how much and all

[31:05] that stuff.

[31:06] >> I I would add I think originally they had hopes of the 10,000 square ft

[31:13] lot being much smaller, but they

[31:15] realized a lot of towns have septic

[31:17] systems only and would require a certain

[31:20] area for the septic systems. So, they

[31:23] upped they upped the number and they're

[31:25] working on those details. That may

[31:27] change in the future.

[31:31] Hi.

[31:32] >> Hi. My name is Suzanne. I live on Twin

[31:34] Light Circle.

[31:35] >> Suzanne

[31:36] >> Deore.

[31:37] >> Okay. And where? I'm sorry I couldn't

[31:38] hear you.

[31:39] >> Twin Light Circle.

[31:40] Yes.

[31:41] >> Listen to the mic.

[31:42] >> Oh, sorry.

[31:43] >> You can hold it up if you want. I mean,

[31:45] >> okay. Um, so my question is a little bit

[31:49] um just regarding the economic impact to

[31:52] the town and small like local businesses

[31:56] with this. Um, I think it's super great

[31:58] to provide more affordable housing for

[32:01] sure around the area, especially

[32:03] Rockport, but

[32:05] um, a lot of the I guess economic like

[32:10] prosperity for the town is coming from

[32:11] tourism and with I guess putting

[32:15] restrictions on ADU for short-term

[32:18] rentals and taking away possibly some

[32:20] opportunities for different other

[32:22] short-term rentals. Um it will lessen

[32:25] the amount of tourists that come to the

[32:26] area and since our like economic system

[32:31] in Rockport is so dependent on the

[32:34] tourism and travelers here, do you think

[32:36] there would be any impact on the like

[32:39] what the town can provide for the

[32:41] community members if that shifts?

[32:46] >> All right, let me see if I understand

[32:47] what your question is. Are are you

[32:50] asking whether

[32:52] >> I'm asking if there's less tourists to

[32:54] Rockport, but we have more year-round um

[32:58] community members, what kind of economic

[33:00] impact that's going to have long term on

[33:01] Rockport? Because a lot of the goods and

[33:04] services that people from Rockport are

[33:06] receiving now are not in in the town.

[33:08] So, they are going into Gloucester or

[33:10] surrounding areas to purchase things.

[33:13] And if you think that would change by

[33:17] putting um more year-round

[33:20] people living in Rockport, I

[33:21] >> mean, if we if we if in the future more

[33:24] restrictions

[33:25] >> restricting would having less tourists

[33:27] to the area cause more harm than more

[33:31] year-round residents.

[33:32] >> Um does anybody want I mean I have some

[33:35] thoughts on that. Anybody else want to

[33:37] answer that? Try to answer that.

[33:38] >> Well, just just a couple couple

[33:40] thoughts. um you're going to you're

[33:43] going to essentially with with this ADU

[33:47] uh six-month lease cap, you're going to cap the uh ADU growth

[33:53] theoretically from where it is now. So,

[33:56] it's not going to get any less

[33:58] necessarily. Um it's going to stay the

[34:00] same,

[34:01] >> but

[34:02] >> and then you would have

[34:04] future future accessory dwelling units

[34:07] would be year round. So you're going to

[34:09] have more yearround residents here nine

[34:11] more months a year

[34:13] >> coming to eat at the restaurants, shop

[34:15] at the shops, go to the schools, support

[34:18] all of that system. So you're going to

[34:20] have in general a lot more locals coming

[34:23] in for future growth.

[34:25] >> So existing ADUs would not be subject to

[34:28] the six months.

[34:29] >> No. No. If you're already an ADU and you

[34:31] didn't if you have an existing ADU,

[34:34] you're you're already there before the

[34:37] zoning changed. this the ADU law that

[34:41] was adopted in 2022

[34:45] only affects new ADU conversions. Mhm.

[34:49] >> And by the way, there have been there

[34:50] have been a few there actually have been

[34:53] quite a few conversions because we're

[34:55] right next door to the uh building

[34:58] department and you know it right now

[35:00] they can just go to the directly to the

[35:02] building department and get a building

[35:04] permit or if they have a setback issue

[35:07] then they they come to the planning

[35:09] board. I I just want to make sure your

[35:12] question was answered, which I think is

[35:14] are you saying it with more full-time

[35:18] housing, will it negatively impact the

[35:20] number of tourists? Is that what you

[35:22] were asking? Um, I just think because

[35:24] the town's economic is so the town's

[35:28] economy is so dependent on tourism, if

[35:30] you take away the different areas that

[35:33] they the short-term rentals that they

[35:35] would stay at and you replace it with

[35:38] year-round people. It's It's great for

[35:41] community building, but it's going to

[35:43] probably take away some of the some of

[35:46] the tourism dollars that are coming into

[35:48] Rockport, which would be used for

[35:49] >> Well, that that's a that's an

[35:51] interesting question. Um, I don't get

[35:55] the sense that the number of ADUs that

[35:58] will be affected,

[35:59] >> not ADUs in in exclusivity, but like you

[36:03] also mentioned normal restrictions on

[36:05] short-term rentals. I don't think any of

[36:07] this housing will uh stop the tourists

[36:11] from will lessen the tourists from

[36:14] coming to Rockport. It just it's not

[36:16] going to be it's not going to have that

[36:17] much of an impact. We don't we're just

[36:20] not going to have that much housing. You

[36:21] know, even this affordable housing,

[36:24] we're not going to have that much to

[36:26] really impact that. I I see your point.

[36:29] Uh though, thank you.

[36:30] >> Thank you.

[36:31] So, I'd like to add that the the town

[36:34] has a lot and I don't know the numbers,

[36:37] but I will find out the numbers of um of

[36:42] ins and guest houses and um motel. So,

[36:48] all of those I'm assuming are pretty

[36:50] booked for the for the summer. Um so,

[36:53] you're still going to get that influx.

[36:56] Um, this is kind of jumping the gun a

[36:59] little bit, but I did do a little

[37:01] research on on artists and um, there are

[37:06] roughly, according to the census, there

[37:08] are about 80 people in town that

[37:11] actually

[37:12] make a living doing their art. And um,

[37:16] the art association has has said there's

[37:19] roughly 300 artists in their

[37:22] organization.

[37:24] um not all of them can afford to live in

[37:27] town. So some of them are from

[37:28] Gloucester or a little bit further away.

[37:31] But um you know if if the town decided

[37:35] to

[37:37] do the optional thing down the pike, say

[37:40] five years from now of um doing

[37:43] something to promote artist housing and

[37:46] artist live workspace. um that would

[37:50] probably

[37:51] um bring Rockport back a little bit to

[37:55] where it was um in the 1920s, 1930s,

[38:00] 1950s in terms of art colony. Um which I

[38:04] think is a pretty interesting um

[38:06] concept. So um

[38:11] that's all I have for now. Thanks.

[38:13] >> Jason should we should probably be

[38:15] clear. This isn't about taking away any

[38:18] current short-term housing. It's about

[38:20] future conversions of ADUs. Yeah.

[38:22] >> And the sixmonth uh minimum is a

[38:26] separate item on the warrant. It doesn't

[38:28] necessarily have to pass.

[38:31] >> The six month

[38:32] >> six month.

[38:32] >> Yeah. I mean, it could it passed once

[38:36] and

[38:38] I would think twice, right? So, it'll

[38:42] probably pass again, but I guess

[38:44] anything can happen.

[38:46] Hi. Uh, Rich Lurigan, 78 Granite Street.

[38:51] Um, so it's it's good and and to have a

[38:54] provision. I like the provision for

[38:56] housing for artists, but is there a

[39:01] reason why we don't have a provision for housing for town employees?

[39:07] Well, actually, that was one of the uh

[39:09] again, this is optional. It's not

[39:12] required, but one of the pro one of the

[39:17] provisions that the state wanted to

[39:19] encourage was housing for what they

[39:22] called essential employees.

[39:26] >> I didn't see that up there on the

[39:29] >> I think it was there. Yeah, I think we

[39:31] talked about it.

[39:32] >> So, there will be if there's going to be

[39:34] one for artist, there will be one

[39:37] considered seriously for town employees.

[39:40] uh if that's what the voters want in a

[39:44] year or two when we start crafting some

[39:47] of these zoning provisions, there could

[39:50] easily be one, but that's it's it's not

[39:53] required just like the one for artists

[39:56] isn't required, but it's one that the

[40:00] planning board could draft and then you

[40:03] know on an information session like this

[40:05] present it and you make your comments.

[40:08] But it's but none of neither of these

[40:10] are required

[40:12] zoning provisions.

[40:13] >> So some of these provisions will have to

[40:15] be brought up next year for all of them.

[40:19] >> All of them

[40:20] >> like the employee.

[40:21] >> Well, that may may never be brought up

[40:25] unless there's an initiative

[40:28] to to do that. In other words, that is

[40:31] completely optional. Unlike the towny

[40:34] houses, unlike the undersized lots,

[40:37] those two we have to do. Does that make

[40:40] sense?

[40:41] >> Yes. Okay.

[40:41] >> Thank you.

[40:42] >> You're welcome.

[40:44] >> Hi guys, Tom Barrett from OneC. Um, you

[40:49] put up a slide about the things we have

[40:50] to do, the things we can do. on the can

[40:54] do list. Uh clearly uh the state was

[40:58] willing to

[41:00] uh

[41:02] provide us to give us the ability to add

[41:04] back that 6 months that they removed in

[41:07] 2025. Right.

[41:08] >> Correct.

[41:08] >> But on the other things on the list, is

[41:11] there anything anything on that list

[41:12] that we cannot do today without this

[41:16] designation?

[41:18] Are aren't all those possible today

[41:19] anyway without the designation? Um,

[41:24] >> no.

[41:26] >> All right, why don't you answer?

[41:27] >> I don't think they're all possible. You

[41:29] can put the list up, but this this

[41:30] enables them.

[41:31] >> You really want me to try this again?

[41:36] >> Uh, no. Well, they're not. I mean, could

[41:37] we do tiny houses? No. We'd have to

[41:40] amend the law.

[41:40] >> Desate something for artists today. Is

[41:42] anything preventing us from doing that

[41:44] today?

[41:44] >> Yeah, there's no law that allows it.

[41:46] There's no law that says you can give a

[41:48] preference to artists. We can't we can't

[41:50] pass a town law for that.

[41:53] >> Um I don't know the answer to that

[41:54] question.

[41:55] >> We can't do employees either.

[41:57] >> I I would I would refer that to town

[41:59] council. The the state the state seems

[42:03] to think that their

[42:06] law is something that would be, you

[42:09] know, to encourage that to be done. And

[42:14] >> uh I don't know exactly, that's a very

[42:16] good question, but I don't know how it

[42:17] would work out if you just tried to do

[42:20] that now um without their blessing, so

[42:25] to speak. Yeah, I think this the state

[42:27] was just trying to make it clear because

[42:29] I think there's some other federal and

[42:30] state regulations with the fair housing

[42:33] laws and so forth that that suggests

[42:36] that you can't do that, but they're

[42:38] basically saying, but you can do it for

[42:40] artists in these seasonal communities

[42:42] which have tons of artists and uh

[42:46] writers and so forth and and these towns

[42:50] that literally are islands sort of like

[42:53] us that can't get their essential

[42:56] employees to be on the island like

[42:59] Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and the

[43:02] parts of the Cape and so forth. So, I

[43:05] think this is saying let's let's go for

[43:07] it. Let's try to get these things done

[43:10] and and make them happen. And uh like I

[43:14] was involved in in the Fort Point

[43:16] Channel thing down in Boston where we

[43:19] were dislocating a bunch of u artists

[43:22] who had lived down in those old mill

[43:24] buildings for decades. And uh we worked

[43:27] on a building that the artists

[43:29] eventually bought and uh took care of

[43:32] and they have things written into their

[43:34] deeds for those units for certified

[43:36] artists in Boston. So similar things

[43:39] could be done here like that. and um if

[43:43] it would allow either discounts on rent

[43:45] or discounts on purchase price, those

[43:48] kinds of things.

[43:49] >> All right. Thanks.

[43:50] >> Yeah.

[43:50] >> You're welcome.

[43:54] » Hi, Jane. Me, uh Pigeon Hill Street 63.

[43:58] Um

[44:00] I was wondering you had mentioned

[44:01] earlier that some you know if this

[44:04] passes that some might may be able to be

[44:06] deemed affordable

[44:08] and if so would any of these uh qualify

[44:13] towards the MBTA

[44:18] » uh program?

[44:19] >> Well,

[44:21] we have two things going on here. That's a good question. We've got the

[44:25] MBTA zoning.

[44:27] >> Yeah. which is you know in a certain

[44:30] area only

[44:32] >> some can be there's a certain percentage

[44:34] my understanding that could be elsewhere

[44:36] in

[44:37] >> well yeah but we've already done that

[44:38] that's set already we've already decided

[44:41] >> we discounted that

[44:43] >> the town did that at town meeting we

[44:45] already decided where the uh multifamily

[44:49] housing for the MBTA zoning was going to

[44:52] be allowed

[44:53] >> that's already been decided and it was

[44:56] pretty close to where the train station

[44:59] is.

[44:59] >> Yeah.

[45:00] >> Either right next to it or else not that

[45:02] far away. We didn't get up to where

[45:04] you're living up there.

[45:05] >> So, that would be outside of the MBTA

[45:08] zoning.

[45:08] >> Okay.

[45:09] >> Area, but under this

[45:14] uh zoning that's adopted after the

[45:16] seasonal communities law is adopted,

[45:19] it could be anywhere in town.

[45:22] >> Yeah. And would tiny houses, if they're

[45:25] deemed affordable, go towards the 40B?

[45:30] >> Completely different.

[45:31] >> Okay.

[45:32] >> Very different.

[45:33] >> Striking out twice.

[45:34] >> No, no, you didn't strike out. That was

[45:35] a good question with the MBTA.

[45:37] >> Yeah.

[45:37] >> No. Yeah.

[45:39] >> Okay. Thank you.

[45:40] >> You're welcome.

[45:45] » Um, I didn't say my name before. It's

[45:47] Christine Downing and I live at 19

[45:49] Parker. I just wanted to stretch the

[45:51] language a little bit. Uh artists are u

[45:55] I think should include um I I used to

[45:59] have a studio in the stove factory in

[46:01] Charle Town and there was a one group

[46:04] that had about four letter presses. Um

[46:08] another that is a a paper mill for

[46:11] artists. Can you hear me? It's a paper

[46:13] mill for artists. Um and uh people who

[46:18] are fine woodwork woodworkers should be

[46:20] included in this as well as people who

[46:23] are traditionally defined as you know

[46:25] painters and so forth. Just about trying

[46:28] to stretch the language so it includes

[46:29] more people. Thanks. You're

[46:31] >> welcome. Yeah, when we if we ever get to

[46:34] that um we'll defin that'll be certainly

[46:38] a topic of discussion.

[46:39] >> Okay. Thank you.

[46:49] Hi, it's Stephanie Cornell, 8 Summer

[46:51] Street Court. Uh I just have a question

[46:54] about the other communities that have

[46:56] this designation and if you have looked

[46:59] at examples of how they have integrated

[47:03] additional can do bylaws into their

[47:07] designation

[47:09] as a town and if that's something that

[47:11] you have that information on and that

[47:14] >> we could get we we could all learn more

[47:17] about what other communities have done.

[47:19] >> You wanted to answer. So on the Cape um

[47:22] the Cape Cod Commission has been working

[47:24] with communities on drafting bylaws, but

[47:28] most of the Cape communities were um

[47:32] designated in 2024. So that was recent

[47:36] less than two years ago or around two

[47:38] years ago. So this is very new for

[47:41] everybody. Um, so what I'm hoping the

[47:46] um,

[47:48] Executive Office of Housing and Livable

[47:50] Communities is actually working on kind

[47:53] of templates or um, you know, kind of

[47:57] model bylaws, but model bylaws will

[48:01] undoubtedly have to get tweaked per

[48:04] community a little bit in order to, you

[48:07] know, have everything work out. Um so um

[48:13] I am depending on the vote on April

[48:17] 11th. That's when I will start digging

[48:20] in on on you know looking at bylaws and taking a hard look at what makes

[48:27] sense in terms of Rockport and the

[48:31] templates.

[48:33] >> Thank you.

[48:33] >> You want to say something?

[48:35] >> Uh now is basically the same thing. It's

[48:37] so early. Um some of these towns are

[48:40] getting towards the end of their drafts

[48:41] and their votes, but

[48:43] >> it hasn't been out there in the

[48:45] community for even a year.

[48:47] >> So the entire designation is a new thing

[48:49] from the state over across the whole

[48:51] >> state. Yeah. And even as you're getting

[48:53] the idea that I think that even the

[48:55] state is kind of feeling its way here.

[48:59] >> I mean they this is all new. It's all

[49:01] new to them too. So

[49:03] >> a lot of this is going to evolve as it

[49:07] goes on. Okay, thank you very much.

[49:09] >> Some of some of the some of the towns on

[49:11] the Martha's Vineyard and the

[49:15] and Nucket are we think our numbers are bad, but they're they're at 60 to

[49:20] 80% of uh uh short-term rentals out of

[49:24] all of the dwelling units available. So,

[49:26] it's become a crisis situation for them.

[49:29] And that's what sort of started this

[49:30] whole thing.

[49:35] » Uh okay. Um, we certainly welcome any

[49:39] more questions. No, there's no such

[49:42] thing as a stupid question, so don't be

[49:44] afraid to ask it.

[49:45] >> If you don't Oh, guy gets up. Okay.

[49:50] >> Well, and and people should they can

[49:53] contact me at town.

[49:54] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[49:55] >> They can send me an email.

[49:56] >> Sure. Absolutely. You know, Betsy was

[49:57] just saying

[49:59] she may regret this, but she's saying

[50:01] send her an email.

[50:02] >> Yeah. Um, my email is ewear

[50:05] rockportmma.gov.

[50:07] And if you come up with a question or

[50:10] you read an article and you say, "Well,

[50:12] that doesn't make sense." Give me an

[50:14] email and I'll try to get back to you

[50:17] with a good answer, an accurate answer.

[50:20] E E W A R E like hardware.

[50:24] >> It's beware without the B.

[50:27] >> Um,

[50:32] said you know

[50:35] >> Hi uh Mike Whitten one Cleave Street

[50:37] Rock Bullet. Um I was just wondering

[50:39] about veterans if anybody uh considered

[50:43] uh have a veteran preference also.

[50:46] >> Uh that's a good idea. Um

[50:50] I haven't gotten into the weeds on these

[50:52] preferences yet to see whether

[50:55] veterans are included, but it's a good

[50:57] idea.

[50:58] >> Okay. Thought I'd throw that open.

[51:00] >> Thank you.

[51:08] Any other questions or comments?

[51:15] Going once, going twice,

[51:18] >> three times.

[51:20] So,

[51:22] unless there's anything else,

[51:25] we're I think we're ajourned. Thank you

[51:27] all so much for showing up and bearing

[51:29] with us. Much appreciated.

[51:33] >> Can we post these slides on the town

[51:35] website?

[51:37] >> We could sure. Yeah. Could put them on

[51:39] the town website. And I did arrange for

[51:42] this to be um recorded

[51:46] uh this meeting videotaped. So let we'll

[51:49] see what how that shakes out. Uh so it

[51:53] could be that it can you could actually

[51:54] watch it if you want to see it again.

[51:59] Yeah,

[52:01] >> thank you very much. That was very

[52:02] informative.

[52:03] >> Thank you.

Rockport Planning Board Meeting - March 24, 2026

Transcript