The city plans to install 86 new bicycle racks in Newton parks and village centers next year — at almost no cost to Newton — providing 262 new spaces for bicycle parking.

The $20,000 cost of the racks will be reimbursed through the Regional Bike Parking Program administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). The program’s funding comes from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

Bikes line a handrail at the Highland T Station.

[Read more →]

A petition by Pie Bakery and Cafe comes before the Board of Aldermen’s Land Use Committee on Tuesday night.

As you may recall from our earlier post (and op-ed in the Newton Tab), Pie’s owner Ellen Kaplansky must lease basement space in order to qualify for six of the 24 seats patrons use. This is because antiquated parking requirements make it especially hard for restaurants to open in village centers.

Kaplansky is requesting permission to add 24 seats in her existing restaurant space at 796 Beacon Street in Newton Centre. In the coming months, Panera Bread and the Deluxe Station Diner will be opening their Newton Centre locations, both with more than 50 seats.

If you would like to show support for a local restaurateur, please come to the Land Use Committee meeting at 7:45pm Tuesday, July 13, in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall. (Thanks to Philippe Wells of Prana Cafe for the reminder.)

Download the details (PDF) from the city’s planning department: 151-10_796 Beacon Street

I just got word that this week the Mayor is finalizing the membership of his new Transportation Advisory Committee.  If you care about Newton’s quality of life, and if you’re knowledgeable or simply interested in transportation, this is an opportunity you should consider.

From the City:

Have a special interest or expertise in transportation and want to serve your community? Let us know! Mayor Warren is establishing a new Transportation Advisory Committee and Newton residents are needed to assess the City’s accommodations for all modes of transportation including bicyclists, pedestrians, transit users, and motorists and will recommend ways to improve the infrastructure for all ages and abilities. For more information, please contact Andrew Warner, Community Outreach Coordinator, at 617-796-1103 or email your resume and/or letter of interest to awarner@newtonma.gov.

The city zoning ordinances that require businesses to provide off-street parking have not been revised since 1963, the same year the Massachusetts Turnpike was being constructed through Newton, when cars ran on leaded gasoline that cost around 30 cents per gallon.

A lot has changed since then. These parking requirements have not. Today, they serve to repel new business and hamper existing businesses that wish to expand. [Read more →]

For all of the concerns voiced this year about parking meter rates and parking enforcement, the city has far more important parking issues to address. For starters, as a city, we need to make it easier for businesses, especially restaurants, to open in our village centers.

Today, almost every village center has vacant storefronts. Granted, these are difficult economic times, and the cost of a commercial lease in Newton presents no small challenge. While the city has no control over these market factors, our zoning ordinances do present an effective barrier to entry: outmoded parking laws that require businesses to provide off-street parking.

Don Levy (left), with his lawyer Michael Field, offers a slice of coconut pie at the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown.

Of all village businesses, restaurants really take it on the chin. [Read more →]

The developers of the Riverside T station have rescheduled the community meeting that was recently canceled.  The next meeting will be held on Thursday June 17, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Williams school.  (Map & directions here.)

This meeting will benefit from the recently released traffic study completed by the developer’s consultant, VHB.

For more information, visit http://www.riversidestation.info, the site of the Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition:  the Lower Falls Improvement Association, the Lasell Neighborhood Association, and the Auburndale Community Association.