The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) recently released final guidelines for multi-family zoning requirements for the MBTA Communities Act. During the comment period earlier this year, nine Newton City Councilors (Albright, Lipof, Downs, Crossley, Bowman, Kelley, Noel, Humphrey, and Kalis) submitted comments that: Supported the 25-50 acre size…
Fig City News
Massachusetts State Senator Cindy Creem has shown a genuine commitment to her constituents to get climate solutions enacted into law. Nevertheless, it was her granddaughter’s concerns about the climate crisis that prompted her to do even more to work for progress at the Statehouse in recent months. As Chair of the…
On August 11, Governor Baker signed a comprehensive climate bill into law that will hasten Massachusetts’ transition to energy free of fossil fuels, including a pilot program allowing ten municipalities, including Newton, to ban fossil fuels in new multi-family buildings. Climate activists and legislators had expressed some concern that the Governor…
At the August 8 School Committee meeting, the members discussed with the NPS administration the draft NPS Systemic Goals for the academic year 2022-2023. The Systemic Goals are in three categories: Educational Goals, Family and Community Communication Goals, and Operational Goals. Educational Goals are subdivided into Academic Excellence, Educational Equity, and Social…
Last Sunday, the Love Dogs rock band was the final act in Newton’s series of six summer concerts on Sunday evenings in Newton Centre. An enthusiastic audience of 300 — the largest audience in the series — attended this concert. Paula Gannon, Director of Newton Cultural Affairs, noted that the first four…
The Zoning and Planning (ZAP) Committee voted to set a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance — specifically on whether to allow detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) by-right, and to make changes in allowable setback requirements, in order to encourage more participation to increase housing.…
State Representative Kay Khan began her quest to ban child marriages (i.e., marriages of people under the age of eighteen) nearly six years ago when she learned that children — 89.9% girls, some as young as fourteen — could be married in Massachusetts with only the consent of their parents…
The Woman’s Club of Newton Highlands was formed in 1917, and it’s now the only one remaining among many such charitable and social clubs across the villages of Newton a century ago. Club members still meet (on the first and third Wednesdays of the month) at its Workshop, a one-story…
There are no City Council meetings scheduled for this week. The Lincoln-Eliot School Building Committee and Community meeting scheduled for August 16 has been canceled. According to an email from Building Commissioner, Josh Morse, “The City Council approved the site plan and project funds on July 11th, but the City…
The Newton Cemetery & Arboretum (NC&A) has written an open letter to the Newton community offering information and context regarding its request for a waiver of a strict application of Newton’s Tree Preservation Ordinance with regard to NC&A’s planned removal of 219 trees in order to develop more burial space.…