In the last three months of 2023, Fran Yerardi has organized the path to “YES” for Nonantum and for Newton.
On September 14, an angry meeting between City leaders and Nonantum and other Newton residents sparked the beginning of a well organized initiative to limit the scope of Newton’s planned “by right” zoning redesign. Francis Yerardi, West Newton native and longtime Nonantum businessman, organized the initial local response to the City Council and Planning Department, which included a number of representatives from other village organizations also opposing the City’s upzoning proposal (known as the Village Center Overlay District or VCOD). Recognizing that the groups needed to work together to influence zoning policy — and the upcoming City Council elections — Mr. Yerardi incorporated them with his Nonantum base. Variously known as Save Our Village, Save Newton Villages, Village Business Alliance, and Newton For Everyone PAC, Mr. Yerardi’s team became Newton Needs Change.
Responding to the concern expressed by Nonantum business owners and residents that plans to target their one-story Watertown Street buildings for multi-story development — which would force them to relocate or close — Mr. Yerardi offered an alternative. He introduced the large under- and unused manufacturing area adjacent to Watertown Street, which would offer ample development opportunities for multistory residential, commercial, and retail buildings. The City Council and Planning Department accepted his suggestion, thereby removing much of the current business zone from upzoning consideration.
Among the other changes Mr. Yerardi and his organization brought to Newton were the election of five of their new City Council candidates and the much reduced “by right” upzoning requirement of the MBTA Communities Law. Under his strategic leadership, Newton Needs Change worked to identify voter support through phone calls and door-to-door contact and developed an effective messaging system. The organization endorsed five of the six winning candidates. To win, “people need to swim together,” he said.
Messaging needs to be “what people can relate to,” he explained, and the local impact of upzoning proved to be a key issue. To that end, Mr. Yerardi and his team developed a series of “Newton Needs Change” videos from the September 14th meeting, showing City Councilors making negative or disparaging comments in response to the concerns voiced by attendees. He believes “those videos changed minds.”
Concerned about the possibility that the outgoing City Council would vote for a far-reaching zoning plan — significantly greater than the 8,330 new units required by the MBTA Communities Law — Mr. Yerardi’s team threatened to launch a referendum effort, going so far as to send out an email soliciting volunteers to collect signatures. Through lengthy negotiations, City Council President Susan Albright and City Councilor Lenny Gentile negotiated a final plan that won support of twenty-two of the Council’s twenty-four members, laying to rest the threat of a referendum.
Asked about criticism that his side used “dirty tricks” and misrepresentation in the campaign — such as when it formed the Newton for Everyone PAC with the same name as the opposing group — Mr. Yerardi said, “that’s just sour grapes because we won.” Acknowledging the contentious debate over the past two years, Mr. Yerardi said, “Toxicity should never have been the approach. Do what’s right for the neighborhoods!” Above all, Mr. Yerardi warns against taking differences personally: “You might not work together on one issue, but work together on another.”
“Let’s figure out a way for everyone to get something, so it’s a win/win situation,” Mr. Yerardi suggested. “Win/lose isn’t the answer,” he said, noting, “the people in Nonantum are not evil: they’re frustrated.” A better way, he thinks, is that the people who were part of Newton Needs Change ought to sit down with the pro-VCOD Engine 6 and discuss their common goals, including more housing that is more affordable. “Let’s start with our areas of agreement,” he said, echoing the sentiment of many of the City Councilors in considering the new upzoning and City Council leadership. In the negotiation process, Mr. Yerardi recommends, “Working on things we can agree on and figuring out where people need to compromise.” Moreover, he agrees with President Albright that local government has the greatest impact on people’s lives because local ordinances and decisions directly affect local residents.
In his view, affordable and workforce housing requires creativity and more public/private partnerships, including the use of City land, with private developers providing financing and dedicating 25% of the units to below-market-rate units. Without that kind of partnership incentive, he believes developers will construct only market-rate units. Both sides of the zoning issue highlighted the need for housing that their children could afford — housing for the “next” generation. Mr. Yerardi said, “we don’t need another 2 million dollar condo in the neighborhood. We should be building housing that working class families can afford.”
A third-generation West Newton resident — having attended Franklin School, Warren Jr. High and Newton North — Mr. Yerardi is one of nine children. His father had businesses in Nonantum “so I practically grew up” there. Fran owned a restaurant in the village for eighteen years and served on Newton’s Economic Development Commission, Boys and Girls Club Board, and the Newton Chamber of Commerce, where he was the Government Relations point person and then Chair of the board.
Mr. Yerardi says that he is “pretty good at organizing and strategizing” and that he knows how to develop a model “that works for the task at hand,“ and “how to build a team to complete the mission,” which he demonstrated in the City Council election and zoning vote. Mr. Yerardi admits that the challenge in organizing is keeping a group together after the election, “so it’s a movement and not just a moment,” but he says, “My kids had asked that I keep a low profile until they graduated Newton Public Schools, and now that they are out of the house I can be a positive instigator for Newton.”
