Land Use Committee Chairman Ted Hess-Mahan shared this on an older thread..
Max & Leo’s, Rox Diner looking to expand is tripling in size and needs a parking and design waiver (see page 158).
Rox Diner is also seeking a parking waiver to go from 38 to 61 seats.
Wow. Ok, so some questions:
How is the Rox expanding? Packing more tables inside the restaurant, out door tables, or next door?
How about Max and Leos? Do they have empty space around them? I thought a drycleaner moved in next door?
Needless to say, I support both proposals. Rox has been a great addiiton to the neighborhood. Lots of folks now are walking the village on weekend mornings. Things seem more active, and it looks great at night. And the owners have already been interested in working with village groups to make the village a better place.
As for Max and Leos, why not? Don’t know as much about the effect on the village, but there are lots of empty storefronts in both places….
@fignewtonville, keep checking the special permit webpage or better yet, follow the Land Use committee on Twitter to receive updates. The webpage and Twitter will have updates as more info becomes available.
FYI, tomorrow nite (Tuesday 7/24), Land Use is taking up special permits to expand O’Hara’s in Newton Highlands and a new Japanese restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Blockbusters on Watertown Street in Nonantum.
I don’t see the permits from Rox or max & Leo’s on the site.
They are not posted yet. As soon as we receive the plans from the petitioners they will be posted. At the latest, that is usually the Friday before the Tuesday night public hearing.
Rox Diner has more than enough room for the number of seats it is seeking, it is just a matter of getting the parking waiver. In fact, it originally opened with more tables than were permitted and had to remove some seats.
I have not seen Max & Leo’s plans yet, so I don’t have much info on that, but, as I say, I will update on the webpage and on Twitter as soon as the plans are available.
Alderman Hess-Mahan: As always, thanks for all the time you spend answering questions and posting information here. If you ever tire of being an at-large aldermen you can always run for ward alderman from Village 14.
Thanks, Greg. I enjoy spreading good news. I will have to check the numbers, but this year it seems as though we have had more special permit applications than usual and I expect to work straight through the summer and into the fall on holding public hearings and working sessions.
Glad to see the city is helping these expansions happen. Rox has a line out the door every weekend.
I also wanted to share our new meeting and agenda management system. I have worked with the clerk’s office and the IT department to get as much information out there as quickly as possible on special permits so that interested members of the public will know what is going on in their neighborhoods and around the city. When it is up and running, this should help us be more efficient and timely in sharing information with the public. When I was the chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee of the board, we had looked into a similar system. Unfortunately, there were logistical and budgetary reasons we were not able to do it then.
BTW, Somerville had it first.
Max and Leo’s has virtually no seating now– saw that the dry cleaner’s had moved into the space formerly used by Andrew’s decorating center, but a bird told me that the current use of space by lessees was flexible– whether that is true and how that would work I don’t know- looking forward to seeing more info.
Newton Corner has three massive parking structures that are usually nearly empty. This is the most autocentric and pedestrian-hostile village ‘center’ in Newton. The irony is that there is a potentially great pedestrian crossing of the Circle of Death via the hotel walkway.
@Nathan: Would that require building a new bridge or using the existing infrastructure?
@Greg: No new structure; you can see the opening on Google street view between the parking structure and the hotel.
I love the Rox, eat there 2-3 times a week, and want them to succeed. But I think they’re asking for too much seating, both in terms of public safety, and customer comfort. The parking thing is a non-issue to me, as there is sufficient parking available.
I’d like to see a win-win, where the Land Use Committee uses the parking requirement as a negotiating tool, and allows Rox seating for another 10 patrons. I believe that’s a good amount of seats, based on the space. If the Rox wants more than 10 additional seats, they should snag the available storefront next door and expand.
@Nathan– I use that walkway all the time. But it still requires crossing two streets to get to the other side.
I totally agree with all your comments about Newton Corner and the “Circle of Death.” The real solution to that area is to develop the surrounding air-rights, and incorporate pedestrian and bike friendly components. Most significantly, additional air-rights development would allow a reconfiguration of traffic patterns that would mitigate much of the problem.
Unfortunately, people associate the Gateway Center with the”Circle of Death” problem, because it’s built in the middle of that rotary. The problem has nothing to do with the Gateway Center, it goes back to the creation of the Mass. Pike, and the physical separation of both sides, created as a result.
The walkway you referenced is one small example of how air-rights development can be used to make the area more pedestrian friendly.
The special permit applications and plans are now posted on the aldermanic website if people are interested.
@Mike, the Fire Department and/or ISD determine occupancy limits. The only relief being requested is a parking waiver. While we will certainly look at the plans, the Board does not really have authority to regulate the amount of seating through the special permit process. I strongly prefer allowing the city departments that have the authority and expertise over these matters to do their jobs without undue interference from the Board.
I have complete confidence in the Newton Fire Department. ISD, not so much. But my concern about the Rox request for 61 seats is really about the potential for a fire emergency, so I’ll trust the FD to assess it.
The Rox differs from competitors like Johnny’s or the Station Diner, in that a kitchen fire at the Rox would block use of the rear exit. Kitchen fires are common occurrences in restaurants, and can generate lots of smoke very quickly. Getting 61 people out of one door quickly, in a crowded, smoke filled venue of that size, could be a very dangerous situation. It’s not just the additional bodies, it’s the additional tables and chairs that become obstacles in a fire.
Mike, your post suggests to me that the aldermen should not second guess the NFD when it comes to public safety.
My only concern about the 61 seats is the service. Lately the service has been better, so I’m hoping a shift up in seats won’t make it worse.
Ted– Agreed.
Mike,
Could parking decks on top of freeways work economically? For a place like the Riverside Development, it would confine freeway traffic to the freeway footprint, avoiding spillover traffic. Off/on-ramps to/from parking structures would be minimal.
When I hear about parking garages over the Green Line in Newton Centre, it makes me think the general idea of using air rights for traffic management is not necessarily a crazy idea.
Is that new Japanese restaurant being located in the old blockbuster in Nonantum, or did it fall thru? Does part of the store lie in Watertown proper?
Ted,
Perhaps you can provide a permanent URL for the meeting and agenda management link? The one you provided earlier was a temporary one that no longer exists and presumably been given a permanent URL. Thanks.
Hi Jane,
The link to specific agendas changes every week. However, the good news is that all of the up to date agendas and notes for each committee can be found in the City’s Friday Packet page. The link is http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/gov/aldermen/fridaypack.asp and the items above typically get listed in Land Use or Zoning and Planning. The Friday packet is usually updated by about 5 on Friday.
Enjoy!
Chris,
Thanks for those links, but I’m curious to know more about this new ‘meeting and agenda management system’. I believe what you pointed me to is the traditional way of doing the Friday packets, etc., am I not correct? Ted was pointing me to the temporary blob IDs. Perhaps he can write more about this system, how it works, how it is different from the current system, and when it expects to be fully operational.