Where can Newton grow?

According to the recommendations of the  Citizen Advisory Group (2009) and the City of Newton’s Comprehensive Plan (2007), our city’s long-term financial health will require moderate growth — some commercial and some residential development.

The Comprehensive Plan recommends “Flexible Moderate Growth” that “involves preservation of Newton’s residential amenities, strengthening of business in Newton’s village centers, and promotion of commercial development along Newton’s commercial corridors.” (Comprehensive Plan, page 6-7)

So, where can Newton grow?

For commercial development along commercial corridors,  Newton does have a handful of suitable properties, although nothing on the scale of proposed developments in Waltham or Westwood. Newton simply does not have as much undeveloped land. Below, let’s examine three “commercial corridor” and three “village center” properties that are under consideration for development.

Riverside (22 acres)

Perhaps the longest-proposed development in Newton is at the MBTA’s Riverside Station in Auburndale. Due to its size and proximity to multiple transportation modes, this site has been identified for over twenty-five years as a potential for development. The 22-acre site is bounded by the Charles River Basin on the west side, the major north-south highway Route 128/I-95 to the southwest, and the Massachusetts Turnpike connecting western Massachusetts to downtown Boston running east-west off that. To the north and on the site is the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Riverside Station, the final stop along the T’s Green Line. Several bus lines meet at that terminal, and taxi, Zipcar and bicycle access exists there as well. Bounding the site on the east side is Grove Street, which has single family, apartment, condominium and senior housing, a high-end hotel, private golf club, as well as commercial, educational (an elementary school, college and non-profit educational institution) and community center facilities.

Currently a development and design team, BH Normandy Riverside LLC, is proposing a mixed use project with commercial, small scale neighborhood retail, residential, open space, pedestrian links to the natural environment and Charles River, and connections between the Auburndale and Lower Falls communities, which it straddles. The team has made multiple presentations to the site’s neighbors, and in January 2010, made its first presentation to a city entity, the Economic Development Commission.

The Comprehensive Plan specifically recommends “appropriate development” at Riverside:

It is clear that Riverside represents a significant development opportunity which the City can ill afford to ignore. Riverside has the capacity, access to highways, public transportation and location to attract several million square feet of high quality mixed use development. In fact, it is important to develop a dense enough project on this site to help pay to solve the access issues. The notion that a major parcel of land at the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike and Route 95 should remain undeveloped (and untaxed) is fiscally irresponsible and physically illogical. (page 3-31)

Update (Feb. 2, 2010): Elected officials and neighbors at public meetings during the past two months have been asking important questions about how this development will affect two existing villages, Auburndale and Lower Falls. Legitimate concerns are being raised about:

• the overall scale of the development, including total square footage, building heights, and density,
• increased traffic volumes,
• traffic flow (especially cut-through traffic on Grove Street), and
• the impact of traffic and roadway changes on pedestrian safety for school children walking from Lower Falls to Williams School and to school bus stops.

The developer cannot move forward without a zoning change and a special permit, both of which would require a two-thirds majority vote by the city’s 24 aldermen. The developer has not filed paperwork for a change or a permit to date but may do so by June 2010. State Representative Kay Khan, the three Ward 4 aldermen, and the three neighborhood associations are staying involved with these discussions.

Northland–Marshall’s Plaza (22 acres)

Northland Investors owns a 22-acre site along Needham Street near the Charles River, which is commonly referred to as the Marshall’s Plaza. Northland has not officially submitted plans for a multi-use development for review, but the former Planning Director Michael Kruse put forth a rezoning request on their behalf, which was withdrawn amidst protests that there was no plan for Needham Street, and a “visioning” for that area is pending, according to Candace Havens, Newton’s Chief Planner. Zoning changes would have been necessary, and some neighbors felt they had not been effectively involved. It is unclear whether the City has approached Northland to further consider development plans at this time.

Update (Feb. 3, 2010): According to a news story in the Newton Tab, at least a portion of the Northland property may be sold at auction on March 4, 2010.

Chestnut Hill Square (11 acres)

Along the highly traveled, and often congested, two-lane Route 9 (Boylston Street) in Chestnut Hill sits an eleven acre parcel that has been flexing its development alternatives. After a fire gutted a commercial/retail mall and Omni Foods supermarket, several variations of prospective mixed use plans have been vetted at City Hall since 2002, according to Aldermen Ken Parker. All have required zoning changes that were not acceptable to either the developer Bob Karp, or the City. To make permitting and hence development easier, consideration may be underway now for medical offices.

This site, according to the Comprehensive Plan, might house a variety of uses:

Chestnut Hill still has several underutilized parcels which are too valuable and too desirable to remain as they are. These parcels are primarily on the south side of Route 9 and they should be targeted for major mixed use development at a scale and design consistent with the area, following a careful review process. (page 3-30)

Firemen’s Triangle (1-2 acres)

In Newton Centre, a triangular site between Centre, Willow and Lyman Streets is under consideration for mixed use development. This site was originally called Powderhouse Hill, and was a targeted site a decade ago for park, open space and recreation as last in a series of open spaces lining Centre Street, consistent with the Massachusetts Town Commons plan. Mayor Cohen chose to build the park on the City Hall grounds instead. A fire station currently abuts the site.

Austin Street (1.7 acres)

Another parcel identified for possible development is on Austin Street in Newtonville. The site is a 159-space municipal parking lot, over an acre in size. There is residential nearby, access to public transportation with the commuter rail and buses, a supermarket across the street, local elementary school and high school within walking distance. Working over much of 2009, a citizens’ group assembled a Request for Information (RFI) for the lot, which was delivered to then Mayor-elect Warren in December. Mayor Warren is considering alternatives for next steps on the project.

39 Herrick Road (.25 acre)

The BOA just voted in favor of two projects going forward on December 21, 2009. 39 Herrick Road is a tight site in Newton Centre, behind the Health Department, bounded on one side by the T subway tracks. The current proposal is for a mixed use, 3-story building of four 2-bedroom apartments above a 75-seat restaurant, with underground parking for 20 spaces. This plan may require  a parking waiver and an easement from the City to access the underground parking structure. The economic factor of construction costs related to profit enters the picture on this project, as the developer will have to weigh in on the high price of building that parking for so few residential units and a relatively small restaurant is, as Ellen Dunham-Jones states that generally, “the cost of structured parking, even when shared between commercial and residential, tends to raise rents beyond competitive rates in the suburbs.”

This is a continuing conversation about where growth may occur in Newton.  In future posts and in FAQs being composed for this website, we will address other questions:

• “Why does Newton need to grow?”
• “How should Newton grow?”
• “Who controls how growth happens?” and
• “How can the citizens of Newton help shape future growth?”

We invite Newton’s residents, merchants, and commercial property owners to take part in this online conversation as we all try to define and shape, as the Comprehensive Plan calls it, “The Newton That We Want.”