The Zoning and Planning Committee voted to approve the following (see Report and watch the video on NewTV):
- Appointment of Jyothsna Buddharaju to the Planning & Development Board
The Committee voted to hold the following:
- Discussion and review relative to the draft Zoning Ordinance pertaining to Mixed Use, Business Districts, and Village Districts. NOTE: According to the Report, the discussion focused on specific topics:
- Reducing Residential Parking Minimums in Village Center Overlay Districts: The Planning Department is proposing 0.5 parking spaces/unit as a residential parking minimum. For new residential development within 0.25 miles of transit: no parking minimum requirement, and a maximum of one parking space/unit be allowed. For adaptive reuse of existing residential structures, no parking minimum is proposed.
- Eliminating Special Permits for Additional Building Height and Footprint: In the first version, the Planning Department proposed allowing for a special permit to increase the maximum building height by one story and increase the building footprint by 2,000 sq. ft. in VC1 District, and 2,500 sq. Ft. in the VC2 and VC3 districts. The Planning Department is now proposing eliminating all of these special permit options in order to provide predictability. The Planning Department is working with the Newton Housing Partnership to consider allowing increases in height and footprint if the project increases the percentage of deed-restricted affordable units above the Inclusionary Zoning requirement.
- Applying Consistent Policy to Zoning of City-owned Parcels: Planning Staff propose that all publicly owned parcels with municipal buildings be zoned for Public Use only and that City-owned surface parking lots within a VCOD be zoned to allow one of the proposed VCOD districts. This policy would apply to all City-owned land within the village center boundaries.
- VC1 Revisions: The proposal from the Planning Department includes: a maximum building footprint of 1,500 sq. ft., a maximum of 4 units, and a minimum of 3 units/parcel; 2.5 stories for a pitched roof, 2 stories for a flat roof, 7.5 ft. for the side setback, and a special permit requirement for multiple buildings on a lot. For adaptive reuse of existing buildings, the proposal includes a building footprint addition of 400 sq. ft. on rear/side elevations, a maximum of 6 units with a minimum of 2, no minimum parking requirement, and a site-plan review requirement for multiple buildings on a lot.
Sustainability issues will be discussed at the March 27 meeting. In that meeting, the following will be presented:
- Requirements for Newton’s participation in the Ten Communities program (pilot program to ban natural gas hook-ups in new buildings)
- Draft ordinance requiring reporting of embodied carbon in new construction seeking special permits .
