What City Hall did this week · Week of September 21 – 28, 2026 · Salem, Massachusetts
A plain-language read on what Salem's boards, commissions and City Council actually did — and what's coming — written for the people who run businesses here. Every item points back to the city's own posted record so you can check our work — and you should: agendas get amended, items get continued and meetings get cancelled, sometimes within the same week. Confirm against the linked source before you act on anything here.
Running a business downtown this October? Road closures, parking bans, delivery windows, parade and Halloween logistics, and who to call at City Hall are all in one place in our October business resource guide, updated through the month.
→ Open the 2026 October Business Resource Guide
SOURCES Everything in this brief comes from the City of Salem's own posted record for September 21 – 28, 2026 — none of it is secondhand. Specifically: agendas and minutes posted to the City's Agenda Center (Licensing Board, City Council and its committees, Design Review Board, Historical Commission) and the City's News Flash notices, plus the public newsletters of Ward 3 Councillor Jason Sydoriak, Ward 5 Councillor Lydia King and Councillor-at-Large Alice Merkl where they report what happened in a room before the minutes are posted — each such item is labeled. Where the City's record is silent — no minutes posted, no agenda posted — this brief says so plainly rather than filling the gap.
START HERE
Three things worth your attention
If you read nothing else this week, read these. The first is tonight: a Council committee decides whether an ordinary server room could be swept into a "data center" ban. The second is tomorrow's parade, with new rules for where your customers' rides pull over all month. The third is Monday: a business composting ordinance gets its first committee reading.
1. Tonight at 6:00: the Council committee takes up the data-center ban — and whether "primarily" is enough to protect an ordinary server room
The City Clerk posted this meeting at 8:45 AM Monday. The only item is the zoning amendment that adds "Data Center" to the Table of Uses and then prohibits it everywhere: "Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Data Centers are prohibited in each and every underlying district, overlay district and special district of this Ordinance." The definition is "a facility, or portion thereof, primarily designed or used to house computer servers and related information technology infrastructure." Last Thursday night the Council gave the amendment first passage and sent it to this committee. Councillor King's newsletter: "This means we likely will make additional amendments before bringing the item in for second (and final) passage." Councillor Sydoriak: "I believe we need to have a pragmatic approach that doesn't hamstring small businesses and hospitals from using server rooms. Fortunately, we have more time to discuss this amendment in committee."
At the September 9 joint public hearing, the Mayor said the target is large AI and hyperscale facilities and that he was open to a size or power threshold — Mansfield uses 2 megawatts; Shrewsbury uses 5,000 square feet — so that ordinary server rooms are not caught. Special Counsel said incidental server rooms are already excluded by the words "primarily designed or used." Tonight is where a number either gets written into the ordinance or doesn't. If your business runs a hosting closet, an imaging archive or a co-location rack, or you lease to a tenant who does, read the backup documents on the agenda's SharePoint link and put your case in writing before the second-passage vote, which cannot come before the October 8 Council meeting.
→ Read the September 30 committee notice
2. Tomorrow is the parade. The Council approved five weekend rideshare pick-up zones for October, and tabled the Dodge Street one-way because nobody had told the street
Both councillors report the same two outcomes. Approved, as an October trial: designated taxi and rideshare pick-up and drop-off zones on Saturdays and Sundays, October 1 through 31 — three perpendicular spaces on North Street by the North Street bridge; about six curbside spaces in the Green Trail cul-de-sac by Leslie's Retreat; the west side of Margin Street from High Street south for about 125 feet; the north side of Dodge Street from Dodge Street Court east for about 140 feet; and the non-metered spaces in the Old Salem Jail lot cul-de-sac. None of them are on Essex, Derby or Front. Tabled: the experimental order making Dodge Street one-way eastbound for the month. Councillor King: "tabled as none of the residents or businesses had been informed of the change, we will now vote on this at the October 8th meeting."
The parade is tomorrow, Thursday October 1: the Chamber's 29th annual Grand Parade, theme "Old-School Halloween," steps off from Shetland Park at 6:30 PM and ends at Salem Common. The City's road-closure notice from September 17 governs the day — parking bans from 7:00 AM on Front Street, 10:00 AM on Central, Derby and the Charter/Front/Central meters, noon on Essex; and on Essex between Washington and Hawthorne, "No deliveries to be allowed after 10AM – No exceptions will be made." Front-of-house staff should know the five ride zones by Saturday; Dodge Street businesses have until October 8 to be heard on the one-way.
→ Read the City's October road-closure and information page
3. Monday at 6:00: a Municipal and Business Composting ordinance goes to committee
The notice, posted September 22, carries a single item: "Ordinance Amendment relative to Municipal and Business Composting." The text is in the backup documents linked from the agenda. Councillor Sydoriak, in his September 27 newsletter: "There are a lot of environmental and ecological benefits to composting, but it is also important that we craft a policy that works in practice for our local business community. During previous discussions, council focused on addressing the real-world operational challenges, like including storage logistics, compliance costs, and pest prevention." For a restaurant, café or food vendor, a composting requirement is a hauler contract, a bin in a building that may have no back-of-house, and the rat question on a downtown block. October 5 is the first committee reading, which is where exemptions and phase-ins get written. Read the backup this week; food-service owners should decide whether to speak or send written comment to the City Clerk.
→ Read the October 5 committee notice
HAUNTED HAPPENINGS
the weekend the City called off The season opened with a cancellation. Here is exactly what the City cancelled, in its own words, and what is on the calendar now.
The City cancelled all outdoor City-sponsored events from Friday through Monday for the nor'easter — the markets on the Common, Derby Square and Front Street included
The City's notice: "All outdoor City of Salem sponsored and programmed events during that period have been cancelled in anticipation of this weather forecast… Specifically of note, the 'Trick-or-Treating with the Mayor' element of Mayor's Night Out, scheduled for the evening of Friday, September 25, has been cancelled. Additionally, vendor markets on Salem Common, programing on Front Street, and outdoor markets at Derby Square have been cancelled for throughout the weekend." The line that matters for a storefront: "Any privately run, indoor activities will be operated at the discretion of those individual businesses." Ferry service was cancelled at least through Monday; Friday's reissue added MBTA and commuter-rail warnings and asked drivers to stay out of low-lying and flood-prone parking.
Two things to keep. First, the precedent: the City will cancel its own outdoor programming citywide on a forecast, and the line it draws is "privately run, indoor." Second, the calendar has moved. Creative Collective's Haunted Happenings Marketplace — Salem Common, Derby Square, Charlotte Forten Park, the Pedestrian Mall and Old Town Hall — has posted its current dates, including added weekday dates for the vendors who lost the weekend, at hauntedhappeningsmarketplace.com; Councillor Merkl's newsletter carried the listing Saturday. Old Town Hall's indoor market ran through the storm. Charlotte Forten Park opens tomorrow, Thursday, October 1.
→ Read the City's cancellation notice
The first October weekend, from the councillors' calendars
Saturday, October 3: the Witch City 5K starts at the Willows at 9:00 AM; the Zombie Walk leaves Salem Common at noon; the Chamber's Haunted Biz Baz runs on the Common Saturday 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM and Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM with "80+" vendors. The Howl-o-ween Pet Parade is Saturday, October 10 at Derby Wharf. Salem Night Faire at Pioneer Village runs October 16–17 and 23–24, 5:00 to 10:00 PM — the dates behind the Far From The Tree licenses on Monday's Licensing agenda. The Farmers' Market continues Thursdays 3:00 to 7:00 PM on Derby Square through October 8.
THE CALENDAR
Salem meetings and citywide dates, September 28 through early November
From the City's Agenda Center as of Monday morning, September 28, with councillor-reported dates labeled. Only a handful of meetings are posted ahead; the Clerk posts two to four weeks out, and several boards meet on known cycles. Confirm before you plan on any of them.
| Date | Time | Body | What's on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Sep 30 | 6:00 PM | City Council — Ordinances, Licenses & Legal Affairs + Committee of the Whole (Council Chambers) | Data-center zoning ban (tonight) — see START HERE |
| Wed Sep 30 | 7:00 PM | Race Equity Commission | Regular meeting |
| Thu Oct 1 | 5:00 PM | Salem Harbor Port Authority | Regular meeting (Councillor Sydoriak's list) |
| Thu Oct 1 | 6:30 PM | Haunted Happenings Grand Parade | Shetland Park to Salem Common; road closures and parking bans per the City's October notice |
| Sat–Sun Oct 3–4 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 PM | Weekend Essex Street closure | Hawthorne Boulevard to New Liberty Street, every weekend through November 1 (City notice) |
| Mon Oct 5 | 6:00 PM | City Council — Ordinances, Licenses & Legal Affairs + Committee of the Whole (Council Chambers) | Municipal and Business Composting ordinance — see START HERE |
| Wed Oct 7 | 6:00 PM | Historical Commission (remote) | 44 Derby Street heat pump after the fact; 319 Essex front door; FY27 Community Preservation Act plan comment — see LICENSES |
| Thu Oct 8 | 7:00 PM | City Council — regular meeting | Dodge Street one-way vote; earliest date for data-center second passage; agenda posts October 6 (Councillors Sydoriak and King) |
| Wed Oct 14 or Thu Oct 15 | 6:00 PM | Salem Redevelopment Authority | The DRB minutes list October 15; the SRA's second-Wednesday pattern is October 14. Confirm |
| Thu Oct 15 | 7:00 PM | Planning Board | 440 Highland Avenue continued (prior minutes) |
| mid-October | TBD | City Council — Public Health, Safety & Environment | Second camping-ordinance session, to consider amendments (chair's statement in the September 23 minutes) |
| Tue Oct 20 | 6:00 PM | Conservation Commission | Rescheduled from September 15 |
| Wed Oct 28 | 6:00 PM | Design Review Board | 6 Front Street windows and World of Wizardry trim, both continued |
| Sat Oct 31 | noon onward | Halloween | Downtown closed to traffic no later than noon; Bridge Street closed 9:15–11:30 PM for the drone show at 10:15 PM |
| Wed Nov 4 | 6:00 PM | Salem Redevelopment Authority | One week early for Veterans Day; window art expected here or in December |
LICENSES, PERMITS & ZONING
What's moving through the boards that gate what a business can do
On Monday's Licensing Board agenda: Gulu-Gulu's full-bar request, a Church Street café's fourteen October one-days, and thirty-nine fortunetelling sub-licenses on Essex and Derby
Fifteen applications are on the agenda posted Thursday. The one that changes a block: Gulu-Gulu Café, 247 Essex Street, asks to convert its annual wine, malt, cordials and liqueurs license to an annual all-alcoholic beverages license. Also downtown: Mexizol Rincon de Mexico, 26 Congress Street, for an entertainment license covering live and piped-in music; Not Ya Mama's Vegan Café, 7 Church Street, for fourteen one-day liquor licenses covering Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in October; and a change of manager at Nicole's Food Store, 406 Essex.
The event licenses tell you what October looks like outside downtown: Far From The Tree has four one-day licenses at Pioneer Village on October 16, 17, 23 and 24, 5:00 to 10:00 PM, for up to 1,000 people — the Salem Night Faire dates — plus twenty-four Thursday one-days at Major's Golf on Paradise Road running through March. East Regiment Beer Co. (Pioneer Village, October 16), Notch Brewing (SafeHarbor Hawthorne Cove, October 10) and Hamilton Hall (October 24) round out the one-days. Then the fortunetelling pipeline: three sub-licensees at Fatima's Psychic Studio, two FAIR sub-licenses at Pentagram on Derby Street, three at Crow Haven Corner, one individual license at 300 Essex, and fifteen FAIR sub-licenses at Hex: Old World Witchery (184 Essex) and sixteen at Witch City Mall (176 Essex).
The Board met Monday night, but as of Wednesday morning none of these outcomes are on the record — and it has not posted minutes for its September 16 or September 22 sessions either. If you are on or near the 247 Essex block, or you read for a living, watch for the minutes or call the Licensing office before you plan around any of these.
→ Read Monday's Licensing Board agenda
Design Review Board minutes: an installed-first sign approved, a Mall storefront warned its window signs are "close to being over the maximum," and a museum's oversized banners approved on one condition
The September 23 minutes are posted, and they set three precedents worth knowing. 2 East India Square (Sinistry): the applicant told the Board "the sign has already been created and installed"; it met the size rules and was approved as submitted. Flying Monkey, 196 Essex Street: the black trim was approved, but a Board member "noted that door cling sign, window signs, and stripes appear to be getting close to being over the maximum allowance," and staff said the owner has started a signage application. That is the first on-record window-signage warning to a Pedestrian Mall storefront since the Redevelopment Authority paused enforcement of the window-art guidelines. Peabody Essex Museum, Charter Street façade: three ten-foot fabric banner frames, approved "acknowledging that the size exceeds the maximum square footage for a program display but is appropriate given the size of the façade… and that the signs be program and event banners, not sale banners." The museum's representative noted the sign rules cap any façade at 100 square feet; the Chair's answer was that a museum is not a typical storefront and was being reviewed as a small project, not a sign.
Also: 11 Charter Street's banner swap approved; 6 Front Street's 34 replacement windows and World of Wizardry's trim both continued to October; the Lifebridge and Harborlight project on Margin Street continued with its 40R clock extended 45 days; DRB member Joseph Badowski appointed as the Board's representative to the Public Art Commission. Staff told the Board "there will be a public window art conversation at a future SRA meeting," and that it will not be a joint DRB–SRA session.
→ Read the Design Review Board minutes
Historical Commission, October 7: two after-the-fact applications on commercial corridors, and the comment window on next year's Community Preservation Act plan
Ten Certificate of Appropriateness items, mostly residential. On the corridors: 44 Derby Street, a heat pump and exterior conduits "after the fact," and 319 Essex Street, a front-door replacement. A second after-the-fact item — an A/C condenser at 107 Federal — makes the pattern plain: in a historic district, mechanical equipment on the outside of a building needs a certificate before it goes up, not after. Item 11 is a request for comment on the FY27 Community Preservation Act plan, which sets the categories — historic preservation, open space, housing — the City will fund next fiscal year. If you own a historic building downtown, this is the comment window.
→ Read the October 7 Historical Commission agenda
Still not posted: minutes for two Licensing Board sessions and Thursday's Council meeting
No minutes are posted for the Licensing Board's September 28 meeting (its agenda is summarized above), its September 16 meeting (twenty-four one-day licenses for Charlotte Forten Park, Bent Water's race-day one-days), or its September 22 special meeting (Flying Saucer's ten Lappin Park dates, the package-store transfer at 122 Lafayette, a Vampfangs fortunetelling sub-license), nor for the September 24 City Council meeting. Everything reported from those rooms in this brief comes from councillors' newsletters and is labeled that way. Confirm with the board's clerk before you plan around a September vote.
→ Check the Agenda Center for posted minutes
COSTS, FEES & GETTING AROUND
What changes what it costs to operate here, and how customers reach you
The gas leaf-blower ban is enacted: January 1, 2030 for residents and commercial operators, with City departments exempt
Councillor Sydoriak: "Passed second passage by a 6–4 vote and enacted," with "a phased-in compliance timeline leading to a full prohibition by January 1, 2030." Councillor King: "2nd and final passage to ban gas leaf blowers for residential and commercial use starting on January 1st, 2030." The ordinance defines a commercial operator as anyone paid to run a leaf blower and then states: "All City Departments and their contractors are excluded from this definition." Sydoriak voted for the ban and against binding the City, citing the Department of Public Services' post-season cleanup and the Fire Department's need to clear brush lines. Landscapers, cleaning contractors and property managers now have a hard date.
→ Read the September 24 Council agenda (leaf-blower text begins page 39)
Also last Thursday, per the councillors: the Living Wage ordinance is discharged, the Skipper gets five years with nine months funded, two-family parking minimums go, and the Pedestrian Mall noise extension is unreported
The full Council adopted the committee's recommendation to discharge the Living Wage ordinance — Sydoriak: "essentially killing the ordinance." It authorized a five-year contract with Via Transportation for the on-demand Salem Skipper; the City has funded the next nine months, and the item goes to Administration & Finance for the rest. King reports "many councilors were frustrated by the lack of information regarding the contract," but voted to avoid a lapse in service with a start date this week. First passage for removing parking minimums for two-family homes, closing a gap left when multifamily minimums were removed last year. The Pedestrian Mall noise-ordinance amendment — adding "the two public walkways abutting 20 Central Street running from Central Street to Derby Square" to the Mall's special regulations — was on the agenda for second passage; neither councillor mentions it, so its status is unconfirmed until minutes post. The sign-ordinance amendments referred to committee on September 10 are still not on any posted agenda.
ON THE RECORD
What the newly posted minutes say
The camping-ordinance session: 95 people on the street, Riley Plaza and Charlotte Forten Park named, and a second meeting in mid-October to consider amendments
The chair opened by putting the City Solicitor's advice on the record: amending or repealing the ordinance that night would exceed the posted notice, so the session stayed on how the 2024 ordinance has worked. Captain John Burke of the Police Department's Community Impact Unit gave the history — encampments behind Old Town Hall in 2023, then the South River, where police logged 241 calls for service, 35 arrests, 68 medical assists and 12 overdoses. Since June 2024 the unit has advised people to vacate about 92 times and made three arrests involving two people; most moves happened when a shelter bed could be secured. Salem now has about 95 people living on the street, against roughly 15 in prior years. The presentation "concluded with current concerns about people congregating at Riley Plaza and Charlotte Forten Park," and said "lighting had been installed at Charlotte Forten Park because of safety concerns," citing two recent violent incidents there.
Councillor King said that with the transition center closed the ordinance is "effectively unenforceable in many situations" and that she wants its language to match how police actually enforce it. Councillor Smith asked whether the ordinance is too lenient and raised limiting the number of tents in one place; the captain said he would support strengthening it. LifeBridge said reopening the transition center depends on funding. In public comment, "residents & business owners" described fire, cleanup costs and encampments on private land; others argued enforcement without housing moves people from one camp to the next. The chair's closing line: "We will be scheduling another committee meeting in mid-October to discuss changes to the ordinance." If your business fronts Riley Plaza, Derby Street or the harbor walk, that meeting is yours.
→ Read the September 23 committee minutes
AROUND THE CITY
Shorter signals worth having in the back of your head.
- The Mayor's podcast, released September 21, is a conversation with Creative Collective's John Andrews — per the City's release, on "Creative Collective's mission in supporting local artists and makers, and how it intersects with the City of Salem during the bustling Haunted Happenings season." Available on the usual podcast platforms and the City's Salem Compass hub.
- The Salem 400+ sculpture "Traces of Arrival" is installed at the ferry terminal, 10 Blaney Street — weathering steel by Roark T. Congdon on a pedestal of granite excavated from Old Town Hall's basement during the accessibility project. The dedication was scheduled for Thursday, September 24, ahead of the storm.
- The Salem Compass newsletter of September 18 puts the City's October estimate at "1 million visitors" — the Mayor's message, with thanks to "Salem's business community for embracing the tradition" of Mayor's Night Out. The rest of the issue is the road-closure notice and the visa workshop already covered.
- The Council's next regular meeting is Thursday, October 8 — agenda posts October 6. Councillor King notes the Council "generally" meets the second and fourth Thursday.
