The Newton Zoning Reform Group, appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, will hold a public workshop to present its work to date and solicit input and ideas from the public on the process and substance of Zoning Ordinance reform.

The workshop will be held from 7-9pm on Wednesday, July 27, in the War Memorial Hall at City Hall, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue.

The Zoning Ordinance shapes development in residential and commercial areas of the City, as well as for religious and educational uses. Based on the City’s new Comprehensive Plan, the Zoning Reform Group is studying the current Ordinance to identify parts in need of updating or clarification.

Newtonians from all walks of life are encouraged to attend and join the conversation.

For more information please contact Alderman Deb Crossley,  dcrossley@newtonma.gov,  or Seth Zeren, Chief Zoning Code Official,  szeren@newtonma.gov.

Newton resident and architect John Pears, who has served on our board of directors since the inception of Newton Villages, spoke last night at the community meeting about the proposed development at the Riverside MBTA property.

In today’s Boston Globe article by Stewart Bishop, Pears was quoted saying:

I think the way is sits now there’s a good mix of office, residential and retail.  I think its good they reduced the office and increased the residential  They’ve got the right mix, but it needs some tweaking on the site,” Pears said.

Although he said he still had concerns about the design of the project, Pears said he was not too concerned about the increased traffic the growth would bring.

They’ve put, in my opinion, a huge amount of time into the traffic thing.  I’m a big fan of, not rotaries, but roundabouts, they work very well.  I’ve watched them in London and in Holland and they just work fabulously, and pedestrians can use them very effectively as well,” Pears said.  “I think the volume of traffic will increase but the new design will even it all out.  It might not be better than it is now, but I don’t believe it will be worse.

The article did not mention the Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition, which has done an excellent job getting the word out, organizing residents, and defining potential neighborhood impacts. In fact, the group has brought concerns to the developer and to city officials that may have otherwise been overlooked.

But this is an important conversation for all Newton residents and businesses — and even for our neighbors, near and far, who are also stakeholders in what happens at Riverside. It is commendable that the public conversation over the past year has not solely focused on the negative impacts of change. Instead, the community is weighing both the costs and the benefits in its decision-making process. We look forward to this conversation continuing.

At the monthly meeting of the Chestnut Hill Association, WS Development Associates LLC will present its proposal for the demolition and reconstruction of part of the building at 33 Boylston Street.  The proposed new building will include three stories, with new ground floor retail uses, potential second floor office or retail space, and the development company’s corporate offices on the third floor. The developer is also requesting a zoning change because the building will be 50 feet in height.

The meeting will be held at 7pm on Tuesday, June 7th, at the Church of the Redeemer, 379 Hammond Street, in the Parish Hall. For more information, please contact Alexandra Ananth, 617-796-1121, aananth@newtonma.gov.

At City Hall last night, more than 30 residents and land owners gathered to participate in a workshop organized by the city’s planning and development staff. After a short presentation of discussions to date, including the 2010 study done by MIT planning students, the group was sorted into individual discussion tables where participants brainstormed goals for shaping Needham Street’s future.

Interestingly, many of the seven discussion groups echoed some of the same sentiments about the qualities Needham Street should have in 20 years: better pedestrian experience; multimodal transportation options; a balanced mix of retail, office, and residential uses; more beneficial connections to the rest of Newton. In short, Needham Street should be a place one wants to be.

Eight of the city’s aldermen attended the meeting, including Lisle Baker, Deborah Crossley, Vicki Danberg, Ruthanne Fuller, John Rice, Amy Sangiolo, Charlie Shapiro, and Brian Yates. Mayor Setti Warren, who’s office has initiated these discussions, was attending a village meeting in West Newton and could not attend.

We look forward to seeing these conversations continue.

Want to voice your thoughts about the future of Needham Street? If so, then mark your calendar for a community meeting at 7pm on Thursday, April 14, in the War Memorial in City Hall.

The city’s Planning and Development Department is moving forward with its efforts to develop a “master plan” for the commercial corridor. These conversations will build on work done last fall by graduate urban planning students at MIT whose semester-long project envisioned some redevelopment options and recommended some implementation strategies to shaping future development along the commercial corridor.

The April 14 meeting, which is open to the public, will provide “a summary of the development ideas to date, and will invite participants to share their thoughts about what’s good and not so good about the existing conditions” on Needham Street. The planning department encourages property owners, business owners, and all interested Newton residents to attend this and subsequent meetings.

For more information, please contact Candace Havens, 617-796-1137, chavens@newtonma.gov.

Earlier posts on this topic:

• Needham Street 2.0
• Envisioning Needham Street

A group of residents held its first meeting tonight to initiate public deliberation of the potential redevelopment of the Newtonville’s underutilized Austin Street parking lot.

The Joint Area Planning Group (JAPG), whose members were appointed by the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen, is charged with evaluating potential uses of the site, possibly including housing, retail, and/or office space.

Members of the group include one direct abutter and 12 Newton residents who have professional backgrounds in architecture, housing, law, real estate, and urban planning. One member, from Needham, represents the interests of the abutting Swedenborgian Church.

Discussions of potential redevelopment of this site date back 3-5 years, often pitting residents who want housing in village centers against those who argue against development because of existing enrollments in the public schools.No doubt, JAPG will address questions about potential impacts on schools, as well as on parking, pedestrian flow, nearby retail space, and transportation. (Note that aldermen stipulated that any redevelopment proposal must retain 85 public parking spaces on site.)

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