I am writing to thank the City Council for passing the revisions to the zoning ordinance regulating accessory apartments. I believe these changes are consistent with the goals of the zoning redesign, helps the City comply with the MBTA Communities Act and will allow greater density within our community while…
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I agree the Zoning survey was poorly done. It was highlighted when it tried to explain the differences among villages by comparing Auburndale with Waban. Neither are large, and I consider both to be small. A better comparison would have included Newton Corner or Newton Center as large and Waban…
Like most people in Newton, I never planned to follow zoning redesign efforts, but now that I do, I’m hooked. At last night’s Zoning and Planning (ZAP) meeting, the planning team presented draft maps for the village center rezoning effort. (Zoning is the process by which rules are made that…
On October 7 a group of Newton’s clean energy advocates sent a proposal to the Public Facilities Committee suggesting changes to the permitting procedure for National Grid’s new high pressure plastic gas pipelines. The proposal asks the Committee to first develop a city-wide plan for pipelines instead of automatically approving…
I agree that the City village rezoning “survey” in play is inadequate. More needs to be done to inform residents about the nitty-gritty building height proposals. Detailed maps for the areas under consideration must be supplied for any result to be meaningful. But the larger question, not broached, is the…
There is still time to give your input on the zoning for village centers. The feedback tool will be online for only a few more days. It’s been online since Sept. 1st but you still have time. It doesn’t take long to complete. To me one of the important aspects…
The Newton Planning Department has developed a survey to measure community response to several proposed zoning changes for our village centers that the Zoning & Planning (ZAP) Committee is debating. The crux of the survey (found here) is “What is the maximum building height you would like to see in…
In the discussion about new zoning ordinances, the City has proposed characterizing current village centers as either small, medium, or large and imposing different height limits per village size category. Also, parking space requirements would be significantly reduced for residential, office, and commercial construction. Both with respect to basing future…
As a resident of Newton for over 50 years, I am writing about the need to preserve our trees as a measure to fight climate change and rising temperatures. This is a citizen alert. ACT NOW The City of Newton has pledged to address climate change by promoting green housing…
We are at a critical juncture in the climate crisis and need a drastic reduction of CO2 in our atmosphere to prevent the catastrophic effects of further warming — and we need it now. Every action counts. What if we could sequester carbon, cool relentless summer heat, reduce pollution, and…