On November 15 the City Council received two letters — and the Mayor received another letter — from federal and state legislators and officials explaining the benefits of Newton’s Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) zoning proposal and specifically mentioning Auburndale.
In this letter to the City Council president, Representative Jake Auchincloss (who formerly was a Ward 2 At-Large Newton City Councilor) responded to “several interested parties” who have asked how the “city’s land use policy might affect its competitiveness for federal transportation grants.” He pointed out that the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg “value density near transit nodes.” His letter mentions Auburndale specifically and says that the Department of Transportation (DOT) “is likely to factor in how land use might generate more transit trips when scoring applications to the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP), to which the MBTA applied last year on behalf of the Newton commuter rail stations.” While stating the City Council’s vote “neither guarantees nor precludes the success of the application,” he noted that such grant applications “could benefit by zoning for more housing near the station.”
In this letter to the City Council dated November 15, State Representatives Kay Khan and John Lawn urge the City Council to include the village of Auburndale in the VCOD zoning because otherwise “Auburndale will be excluded from the effort to enhance transit-oriented development,” which could “impact the Newton rail stations’ ability to be upgraded.”
[UPDATE: On November 20, hours before the City Council’s meeting that evening to continue discussion of VCOD, State Representative John Lawn sent another letter to the Mayor and City Council to say that he has withdrawn his name from the November 15 letter sent by State Representatives Khan and Lawn. In this second letter, State Representative Lawn says, “After a careful review of the matter and speaking with my constituents, I feel it’s best to remain neutral in my position on the matter …best handled by the Mayor and City Council.” (This second letter, perhaps mistakenly, is dated November 11, while its PDF file was created on November 20.)]
In this letter to the Mayor, Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus said, “Without taking a position on any specific aspect of the VCOD proposal, I want to point out some advantages of adopting zoning that will achieve” the dual goals of compliance with the MBTA Communities Law and addressing “the City’s current and anticipated housing needs.” Specifically regarding VCOD zoning, he mentions Auburndale in particular and says, “Supporting more housing options is one of the important lenses, perhaps the most important, that the Healey-Driscoll Administration considers when making transportation investments. …I hope the City Council carefully considers its vote on the VCOD…”
Ed. Note: On November 20, we updated this article to reflect State Representative John Lawn’s second letter stating that he has withdrawn his name from his first letter.