The town of Nahant needs to publish a guidebook for use by the casual observer interested in following each new chapter in the town Wetlands Protection bylaw saga.
Born last year from an upswell of outrage among townspeople over Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center’s expansion plans, the bylaw debate has evolved into a government versus the people standoff that, for now, has dropped from the boiling point to a simmer.
Town Meeting participants packed into a sweltering Town Hall in August and voted, 285-278, in favor of amending town bylaws to regulate filling, dredging and undertaking other activities in wetlands except when approved by the Conservation Commission.
State Attorney General Maura Healey, acting in her capacity to ensure locally-approved bylaws don’t conflict with state law, signed off on the bylaw. But Board of Selectmen members Chesley Taylor and Enzo Barile voted in September to call for a Dec. 1 Special Town Meeting to revisit the bylaw.
Pointing to the hot weather conditions prevailing during the August vote, Taylor and Barile suggested cooler heads might prevail during a late fall revisitation of the bylaw. Board member Richard Lombard disagreed with his colleagues and the board’s vote spawned yet another petition aimed at squashing the notion of holding a second special meeting.
Selectmen reconsidered their December meeting proposal during their Oct. 18 meeting and, in rejecting the idea, they effectively turned the temperature down on a heated debate over wetland controls and Northeastern that has raged for more than a year.
Most town residents probably agree that a cooling-off period on the debate makes sense, especially with the holidays looming on the horizon. But one wonders if Keep Nahant Wild and its parent group, The Nahant Preservation Trust. Inc., plan to reach beyond their self-appointed roles as voice of the people in Nahant and take aim at political office.
Taylor’s seat is in play next spring and Nahant voters pick the people they want to represent them in public office on the same day they debate Town Meeting topics. It will be interesting to see if a fall and winter’s worth of reflection on the bylaw amendment prompts some candidates-in-waiting to step into the ring.
The other interesting question is what is Northeastern’s next move. Anyone playing the role of public relations consultant to the university is probably urging administrators to keep a low profile before taking a run at the bylaw through the town government process or the courts.
There was once a time not too long ago when the Science Center never attracted attention except on the days it hosted tours for school kids. But there was also a time in the not so distant past when blue and green signs exhorting Nahant residents to deny rampant expansion were absent from the town landscape.
