Want a chance to weigh in on future development in the City? The Newton Zoning Reform Group will be holding its second and final public meeting on Thursday, November 3.

The ZRG was appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and includes working groups which have examined how well the City’s current zoning ordinance and process support the goals put forth in the 2007 Comprehensive Plan

The ZRG’s final report includes:

• A determination of short and long term reform objectives
• Research on best practices of communities that have undergone zoning reform
• Lists of potential resources, including funding sources, which may be used to assist the City in the process of revising and adopting the revised ordinances.

Several of the changes under consideration have direct implications for the future development forms for the Village centers and could include recommendations for mixed-use, residential, and parking components in these vital and vibrant areas of the City.

The meeting will take place from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Newton Senior Center in Newtonville.

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.

Many challenges face merchants in Newton’s village centers, among them expensive rents and a down economy. Yet, an enduring and even perplexing foil to business development remains our city’s antiquated parking requirements.

As we’ve written before — if not for the forward-thinking actions of city aldermen — these city ordinances would have kept the Newton Centre T station vacant and prohibited several recent restaurant expansions in village centers.

But parking requirements are just one facet of zoning, the codified vision a municipality uses to shape decisions about how commercial and residential land is to be used. These decisions ultimately determine the social and economic health of a city.

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