Special Town Meeting

Article 14: To see if the Town will amend the vote taken under Article 23 of the April 27, 2025 Annual Town Meeting, which authorized the Merrimac Municipal Light Department to convey the property located at 10 West Main Street subject to the conditions and restrictions stated therein, to revise the restrictions placed on the property to state as follows: “that the property shall not be used for multi-family purposes, meaning herein to prohibit the development of more than four dwelling units on said property; this restriction shall run with the land, shall bind the grantee and all successors and assigns, and shall be perpetual or continue for the longest period permitted by law”, provided, however, that such conveyance is in compliance with the conditions set forth in said vote, including, without limitation, the condition that the foregoing restriction shall not be amended, waived, released, terminated, or othenwise modified except upon both a vote of the MMLD Board of Commissioners and a subsequent vote of the Town; or take any other action relative thereto.

Rationale: The purpose of the warrant article is to clarify the allowed use of the property at 10 West Main Street. The Town Meeting authorization for the disposition included a condition prohibiting the “construction of multifamily housing.” MMED received one proposal to purchase the property after months of attempting to find an interested buyer. The prospective buyer wants to use the property for ground-floor commercial use and two apartments on the second floor. Since the term multi-family housing is subject to interpretation, legal counsel advised MMED to seek an amendment clarifying that the prohibition against multi-family housing applies only to housing developments that have more than four (4) residential units. The revised condition preserves Town Meeting’s intent to prohibit large-scale, overly dense affordable housing developments. Requested by the Light Department.