Alanna will continue to
Please vote on May 17, 2024 at the Cushing Community Center.
Marion 2050
The next three years will impact Marion thirty years from now. My planning background and commitment to a vibrant, resilient community brings helpful perspective to the Planning Board.
Cherishing our historic and cultural resources, evolving to meet our climate and commercial needs, Marion needs all hands on deck to face the future.
In the last three years, Alanna:
Followed Town Issues
Whether it is the Hazard Mitigation Plan, the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan, the Shared Use Pathway, or the House Production Plan, Alanna keeps on top of Town initiatives.
Pursued Training
Whether it is online classes, in person conferences or regional documents, Alanna strives to build her knowledge of zoning and planning issues statewide.
Prepares and Questions
Count on me to do the homework, listen to all sides and look to the future.
About Alanna
A member of Marion’s Energy Management Committee, Alanna is Executive Director of the Sippican Historical Society and a fiber artist. In 2023, she launched Sippizine, a community culture magazine. Currently, Alanna volunteers on the Marion Art Center‘s Community Engagement Committee. She and her husband are avid sailors.
Fair winds took her from working with water quality financial assistance programs for Washington state municipalities to 11 years in Italy before moving to Massachusetts.
Thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship, Alanna did her thesis research Tunisia while working on her master’s degree at Texas A&M University. With a B.S. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin also in her grab bag, she is a creative thinker who seeks a sustainable, just future.
The 2021 Q & A with Alanna
If you could pass a bylaw, what would it be?
A bylaw to require any multiresidential housing proposals to include electric vehicle charging stations would make perfect sense. EV adoption will increase if people know where they can charge them. Home and work are the most common places to do this. Light duty vehicles make up 27% of the Massachusetts carbon footprint. This simple step is one way to tackle a larger problem.
If Marion receive a grant of $1 million, what would be your priority?
Protecting our water resources and improving our wastewater treatment infrastructure would help the Town immensely. The grant could speed up replacement of sewers to reduce infiltration. It could also establish a low interest revolving loan fund for homeowners updating their septic systems.
This may not be a glamorous choice, but protecting our water resources, especially during high intensity storms is something we can’t take for granted. This would also inform future housing development systems.
What do you feel about new subdivisions in Marion?
Are you talking about taking a four acre lot and dividing it into four parcels or rezoning to build homes at higher density? These are both subdivisions, but open a different issues. Each case needs to be reviewed with its circumstances.
The Marion Master Plan seeks to encourage afffordable, village-style developments. As Marion is almost built out, subdividing land could be one way to address this. Higher density housing could be considered along the Route 6/ 105 corridor. More than likely, the land plot would need to change its zoning classification. That could only happen if changed at Town Meeting, so it’s not a Planning Board decision to make.
If the zoning did change, the Planning Board members need to follow the bylaws, consider technical advice provided by Town consultants and community input as it evaluates development plans.
As a Planning Board member, I will follow our bylaws and permitting process and listen to technical and citizen input, considering each proposal individually.
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