Monday night’s “Public Hearing” for the proposed Upzoning of the Village Centers and surrounding neighborhoods was shameful. Over 6000 postcards were mailed and the Mayor promoted it as Resident’s opportunity to weigh in. It was advertised as a hybrid meeting in both the City Hall Chamber and Zoom. However, when…
Posts published in “Zoning”
More than 600 people (online and in-person) attended the first of a series of public hearings on the proposed Village Center Overlay Districts. The meeting began with a moment of silence for the victims, families, and friends of the tragic murder of three Nonantum Village elders, Gilda D’Amore, Bruno D’Amore,…
In his testimony at the Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Committee’s public hearing on the Village Center Overlay District zoning proposal, Jeremy Freudberg, President of the Newton Highlands Neighborhood Area Council, underscored the “significant amount of time” the nine-member Council devotes in its monthly meetings to discussing and analyzing Planning Department…
The City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed Village Center Overlay District zoning (maps and text) on Monday, June 26 at 7PM. It will be held both in-person (City Council Chamber, City Hall) and virtual (Zoom link). See the presentation that the City’s Planning Department…
Once an industrial and manufacturing area with large mills providing work for immigrants, Newton’s California Street is now a mix of single-family houses, small stores, unique small manufacturing enterprises, and an increasing number of multi-family buildings, including a 40B development on Los Angeles Street. Its assets include proximity to the…
One of the goals of the Newton Village Center Rezoning project is to increase affordable housing options in the city. A strategic and systemic plan for increasing density is a powerful and necessary tool for achieving this critical housing affordability goal. Other cities across the country have realized this fact. Minneapolis and three other…
The Zoning & Planning Committee voted to approve the following (see Report and watch the NewTV video): Zoning & Planning Committee voted to hold the following: Modifications to version 2: The MRT zone will not produce deed-restricted affordable housing units, it will incentivize smaller units, than currently available in Newton.…
At the meeting of the Zoning and Planning Committee Tuesday night, the City’s Planning Department — led by Director Barney Heath with Deputy Director Jenn Caira, Long Range Planner Zach LaMel, and consultants from Utile, Tim Love, Loren Rapport, and Will Cohen — provided a brief presentation to the whole…
On June 26, the Newton City Council’s Zoning & Planning Committee will hold a public hearing public hearing on proposed new village-center zoning. In anticipation, some residents have expressed the fear that by allowing multifamily housing to be built by right in and near village centers, the new zoning will encourage…
The great economist John Maynard Keynes wrote: “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any…