Although the Land Use Committee had voted unanimously to accept the withdrawal of applications for a zoning change and a special permit to allow for a four-story, 13-unit project at 386-390 Watertown Street, the topic was discussed again in the March 17 City Council meeting. The docket included both items on Second Call because Susan Albright, former City Council president, wished to speak to the issue. Her remarks focused on the confrontational manner in which local Councilors and neighbors debated the proposals.
She told her colleagues that she wanted to speak because “I don’t think we found enough ways for protagonists in this project to really listen and talk to each other and compromise” — a point she emphasized in an interview with Fig City News. Specifically, she said the Ward 1 Councilors – her “buddies” – did not facilitate enough opportunities for neighbors and the developers to talk to each other. She singled out the Planning Department for not contacting local Councilors to let them know about projects and encourage discussions. Among the negatives she noted in the rezoning process was the comment by a member of the Newton Planning and Development Board that the MU4 zoning change might be used all along Watertown Street — a comment that underscored the fears of many neighborhood residents who worried that wholesale rezoning would drive out long-term local businesses. Councilor Albright ended her comments expressing her hope that the Councilors would learn more effective ways of dealing with one another than they did in this project.
In response, Alison Leary, Ward 1 Councilor-at-Large and member of the Land Use Committee, rose to agree with Councilor Albright. As the consistently strongest proponent of the two applications, Councilor Leary said she had erred in not looking more closely at the very beginning. She said that Nonantum is a “wonderful village” and she thought the thirteen units, providing housing for thirteen families or individuals, olus a new business opportunity and increased tax revenues were good things and therefore she “dug in.” She said she learned from the experience and promised to be a “better communicator.”
Not part of Monday night’s discussion was a new building permit application for the original project in its approved configuration — three floors and ten units. The architect for the project, Trevor O’Leary, filed the application and told Fig City News that the principals would be exploring the costs of the new project, for which they have been granted a $5,079,000 mortgage.
