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…
Posts published in “Zoning”
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…
Thank you to Councilor Marc Laredo for his recent questions to the City Council, as reported in Fig City News, regarding the zoning proposal. His thoughtful and thought-provoking questions raise many of the issues that the City has so far failed to address, despite similar feedback. He not only raises the…
Adding density, as legislated in the MBTA Communities Act and proposed by Newton, would transform the built environment in our village centers from New England village feel to Urban/City. It is unnecessary and does not address housing affordability. The Urban Institute has concluded that up-zoning does not lead to greater affordability.…
The Programs and Services Committee will hold a virtual (Zoom link) public hearing Thursday at 7PM (see Agenda) regarding a petition filed by Peter Harrington and other residents calling on the City Council to place a non-binding question on the November 7, 2023 municipal ballot. The proposed ballot question is…
On Friday, May 26th, the Newtonville Area Council (NAC) launched a survey soliciting citizen input as the City Council and Newton’s Planning Department develop new zoning rules for Newtonville’s village center. The NAC invites any resident who lives in or comes to Newtonville to participate in the survey. When completed,…