On Wednesday, February 28th, Andrew Copoletti of Boylston Properties appeared before the Newton Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) to present an updated progress report on the planned development slated for 78 Crafts Street. Since the project is proposed under Chapter 40B (with 20% of the 307 units priced for people…
Posts published in “Zoning”
At the February 15 meeting of the Zoning and Planning Committee, members received an update from the Planning staff regarding the submission of Newton’s documents requesting certification of compliance with the MBTA Communities Law. According to the law, Newton was among 177 communities required to enact a zoning ordinance or…
Thank you to David Mickley for his 1/9/24 Letter to the Editor, criticizing Greg Vasil’s Boston Globe editorial (Massachusetts can make housing more affordable, 12/27/23). Vasil called the Newton zoning law “watered down” and claimed that suburban voters fear that “apartment buildings and dwellers will change their neighborhood’s character and…
A recent Boston Globe Op-Ed compares Newton’s and Brookline’s zoning updates to address the regional housing shortage. Brookline is framed as the housing hero that “adopted one of the most significant zoning reforms in town history” while Newton is described as passing “a watered-down housing plan.” As a current Newton City Councilor…
This week, the City of Newton achieved Safe Harbor status with regard to a state housing law, Chapter 40B — over 50 years after the law was enacted in 1969. In communities where Safe Harbor status has not been achieved, developers may bypass some local zoning requirements for projects that…
The Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Committee held its first meeting of 2024 on Monday, January 8 with its new chair, veteran City Councilor Lisle Baker, presiding. In a memo to the Committee, Councilor Baker proposed that the members engage “in a preliminary discussion about where the Committee might spend its…
As a lifelong resident or homeowner in Newton, I learned the 13 villages of the City of Newton in 4th or 5th grade. I can assure you that Four Corners is not an official village. To list it as one is misleading. It is a neighborhood of Newton Center and…
After months of heated debate, the City Council voted on December 4 to approve a zoning package designed to comply with the MBTA Communities Law before the December 31, 2023 deadline. That law, as applied to Newton, requires zoning that allows “by right” development of multi-family housing within a half-mile…
On Wednesday, November 29, the Newton City Council met to continue consideration of amendments to a proposed zoning plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. The deadline for compliance is December 31, 2023. Compliance requires zoning for a minimum of 8,330 residential units within one-half mile of the selected…
There has been a lot of controversy over the data that has been presented regarding the impact that the proposed Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) would have on Newton’s housing production. Different sets of charts and numbers have been offered by the Planning Department, by Councilors Wright and Oliver, and…