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…
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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…
I write with grave concern for our city trees, public and private. They are being lost at a precipitous rate through development, teardowns, aging out, and disease (including gas leaks). Several city councilors put together a tree ordinance in an attempt to address this, modeled after Cambridge’s. The Mayor’s administration…
I sent the following email to the City Council, Zoning Department, and Mayor Fuller regarding the proposed Zoning Redesign. I hope Newton citizens will review the exhibit, check out the survey, and reach out if they agree that the survey is problematic: As encouraged by our City Council, I reviewed…