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…
Posts published in “Zoning”
The Charles River Region Chamber of Commerce opposed the general override as a threat to Newton’s small businesses. It cited economic headwinds (inflation, high borrowing costs, a possible recession, etc.) to argue Newton’s small businesses face enough challenges and this is no time to increase their tax burden. The Chamber wrote: “Without…
The recently rekindled debate on the scope and possible impact of the proposed Village Center (VC) Zoning plan has seen a variety of reactions from citizens and neighborhood groups. In public meetings hosted by the Zoning and Planning Committee, representatives from these groups presented their concerns (without reference to any…
Let’s start with 4 values propositions on which I hope most agree: Unfortunately, it seems that some people either do not share the 4th value in this list or are readily willing to sacrifice it with the massive village centers upzoning proposal that the Zoning & Planning Committee (ZAP) is…
The Newtonville Area Council (NAC) has produced a 3D model that purports to illustrate what would be allowed by right in the first draft of the Village Center Zoning Proposal. The Building Professionals Zoning Working Group analyzed the NAC presentation. We found a number of inaccuracies and unrealistic assumptions. The…
Up-zoning Newton’s village centers will dramatically impact the future of our Garden City. Residents need visualizations of the up-zoning ZAP plans to ask the City Council to approve in May. The Planning & Development Department has not provided this basic information to the community, instead spending time and resources on…
As part of the new Multi-family Zoning Requirement for MBTA Communities Act (Mass. General Laws c.40A § 3A), the City of Newton submitted this action plan describing how it will comply with the new law either through new zoning or rezoning properties located near transit. The Act requires the 175…
As previously reported in Fig City News, at the Zoning and Planning Committee meeting on January 23 (video), Councilor Pam Wright had said that since 2020, over 3,500 housing units were either approved or in the pipeline for approval — either by the special permit process through the Land Use…
The Newtonville Area Council (NAC) unveiled modeling of the proposed Village Center Zoning at its meeting in January. According to the NAC, “After ZAP and the Planning & Development Department repeatedly asserted that 3D modeling was neither necessary nor even possible within their time and budget constraints, the Newtonville Area Council voted to allocate…
At the January 23 Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Committee meeting (watch video on NewTV), Jenn Caira, Deputy Director of Planning, briefed the committee on the current status of the Planning Department’s work on Village Center Zoning. Ms. Caira’s presentation included a recap of the seven information sessions that were held…
According to the MassDOT website: The third and final virtual public information meeting of the Route 128 Land Use and Transportation Study Team will be held TONIGHT at 6PM. Register here. Designed to establish the future land use, housing, and economic development assumptions for the segment of Route 128 between…
I want to offer two comments related to the opinion piece by Peter Harrington, dated January 9, 2023. Mr. Harrington’s piece included graphics submitted to ZAP by Marc Hershman with his suggestion of what Waban would look like with the proposed village center zoning. There are numerous errors and distortions…