As I write this, Newton’s citizens are voting on three override questions. I have no idea how that will play out. What I do know is that there is a fundamental decision that must be made in Newton. Specifically, who should carry the burden of the cost of increased services and infrastructure resulting from the development that is being proposed? According to Ward 3 City Councilor Pam Wright, since 2020, over 3,500 new units have been approved or are in the pipeline. Given Newton’s current 30,756 households, that represents an 11.4% increase. This is before the expected development that will result from the current Village Centers upzoning initiative designed to increase density in Newton.
This is also all before factoring in the additional 8,330 units that the MBTA Communities Law is requiring Newton to zone for. The state agency responsible for this, the members of which are elected by no one, is using strong-arm tactics by threatening the loss of state funds for non-compliance, while not addressing how municipalities will manage the costs associated with this development.
Since by state law Newton cannot impose Impact Fees, the only tool the City has is the now-endangered requirement to obtain a Special Permit for building projects. Case in point: As a condition of its Special Permit, Northland was required to contribute over $10,000,000. But that tool is being marginalized with the upzoning proposals. If we adopt the proposed BY RIGHT approach, we give away all our leverage. We shift from imposing requirement on developers to offering incentives.
Regardless where you stand on development or the overrides, why should Newton taxpayers underwrite developers’ profits? One does have to ask if we could have avoided the override debates if we just required more of developers.
MaryLee Belleville
Editor’s note: At the writer’s request, the second paragraph of this letter was corrected to change “is requiring of Newton.” to “is requiring Newton to zone for.“
