This is from the Newton Planning Department
On Monday, February 11, 2019 the Principle Group and City of Newton will release Draft Two of the Washington Street Vision Plan and Zoning.
Please join us for a community reception 6:00 – 6:45 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall and stay for the presentation to the Zoning and Planning Committee of City Council at 7:00 p.m. Members of the public will see up close display posters of pages from Draft Two during the reception. Draft Two documents and a video of the presentation will be posted online following the presentation. Printed copies will be made available in the Library and at the Planning Department for a month long community comment period. In addition to the release of the Draft Two Vision Plan and Zoning documents, the team will release a summary response to the comments received in Draft One.
Draft Two Comment Period
The Draft Two comment period will overlap with the City Council’s review. Comments received will be summarized as big themes to inform Council decision making regarding finalization of the Vision Plan and Zoning recommendations. The Final Draft is anticipated to be released in late April. As part of the City Council process, a Public Hearing will be held when the Council considers adoption, during a timeline to be determined.
Draft One Comments – Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who commented on the Draft One Vision Plan and Zoning Toolkit for Washington Street. Over the past several months the planning team has been reading comments received on the first draft – we received approximately 2,500! We have been adjusting the plan, refining ideas, and completing more analysis. We will release a summary response with the Draft Two Vision Plan and Zoning on February 11, 2019.
Recent Memos and Presentations to City Council
Available online at www.newtonma.gov/washingtonstreetvision
What’s Next?
- Final draft Vision Plan and Zoning recommendations anticipated late April 2019.
- Join the Ward 3 City Councilors, Newton Ward 3 Democratic Committee, City of Newton for a Community Meeting. Wednesday, February 27, 2019 from 6:45 – 8:30 p.m. at the Franklin School Gymnasium (125 Derby Street, West Newton) Everyone is welcome! Free event. Kid friendly. Light refreshments.
- The Zoning and Planning Committee of City Council will continue its review of the Washington Street Vision Plan and Zoning recommendations. All meetings are open to the public and information is available here http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/aldermen/committees/zoning/default.asp.
The Planning Dept. will provide in future the public response
to their out reach effort?
Will they also provide a summary of the Ward 2 public charrette
findings and the survey results from the Newtonville Area
Councils public outreach in Wards 1,2 and 3 conduct in 2018?
I believe the community would appreciate both venues of
public participation.
I wasn’t able to attend, any revelations?
I attended and highly recommend you read and STUDY the plan as it now exists. People are worried about scale, but much of this is addressed. Village Centers max at 3 levels, Village General max at 4 stories. Residential and Neighborhood at 2. There are specific additional special permit considerations, and additional considerations for commercial space and transit stations. But if we want the change that a lot of people in Newton suggested (better transit stations, transformational changes to the Mass Pike scar), housing that people can afford, then we need to find creative approaches with the private sector to fund.
I believe the Washington Place building will be 5 stories ( 5 setback a but ) . Will it be out of code?
In general, the plan was very similar to the one presented before, but the maximum height of 12 stories for office buildings near the commuter rail stations was reduced to 10 stories. They did a better job of explaining the benefits of these large buildings, should the city decide to accept that recommendation. They stated that large-ish office buildings (only near train stations) would bring in significant tax dollars that could fund improvements to the train stations, roads and train service. HOWEVER, no numbers were given to explain how much revenues would come in vs. how much would be required for the improvements that people are expecting. That’s a major deficiency of this planning process that I hope will be resolved before this progresses any further. No numbers were given for the financial implications of the other types of buildings along Washington Street either. I doubt that analysis is really in the wheelhouse of most architects, so they city will need to hire a financial analyst to determine if these plans make economic sense.
Based on what was shown Washington Place would be:
• Commercial ground floors
• Building types with smaller footprints
• Maximum height by right: 4 stories • Maximum height by special permit: 5 stories with conditions
Whilst 3 stories is encouraging, we also have to keep in mind that 3 stories still allows for a sizable amount of massing. The proposed new ordinance allows 24 feet for the bottom floor, and 14 feet for each subsequent floor. So a 3 story building could be 52 feet high. Washington Place is 5 stories, and 58 feet high. Under the new ordinance Washington Place could be 4 stories, 66 feet tall (8 feet higher), and by right.
Simon, true statement but no developer is likely to build to the max unless there is some sort of economic benefit. It costs money to build at the tails. I see this as allowing variation in design.
Here is the revised draft of Washingon St. zoning recommendations:
http://principle.civicomment.org/washington-street-zoning-code-draft-two
I mostly like what I see. My two concerns are the schools and empty storefronts.