The Newton City Council’s Finance and Zoning & Planning Committees will meet tonight (Monday) to consider a request from Mayor Fuller to accept and expend funds from Mark Development to to cover the cost of independent consultant support for a vision plan for the Riverside MBTA property.
In a comment on another thread, former City Councilor Ted Hess-Mahan puts the request into perspective…
To those who are concerned about possible conflicts of interest, please note that the City Council acting as the Special Permit Granting Authority through its Land Use Committee, hires and supervises the outside consultant, and requires that the petitioner pay for it. Section 7 of the Article X of the City Council Rules (starts on page 30). The Planning Director, in consultation with the City Council, selects the consultant, who must satisfy certain qualifications criteria. The petitioner paying for the consultant’s services may appeal the selection, but only on the basis that the consultant has a conflict of interest or lacks the requisite qualifications.
I am not disagreeing with Ted but this “visioning process” is not as part of the Special Permit process and does not fall under the Rules he cited. (By the way, I was lead sponsor to allow the City to get funds from project proponents for peer reviews – back in the day…).