Final Draft of Zoning Redesign pushed to 2020
According to a letter sent to the City Council, the Mayor, with the input of Planning Director, Barney Heath, Council President Marc Laredo, and Zoning and Planning Chair, Susan Albright, has decided to “extend the time of delivery of a final draft zoning ordinance to the City Council to the calendar year 2020.
“My decision was made for two reasons. First, we recently concluded the 1st draft Zoning Redesign ward-by-ward meetings and listened carefully;we know we have considerable work to do on the second draft to ensure we have the
Zoning: Thoughts from Newton Corner
This is a guest blog post submitted by Newton resident Richard Rasala, a retired Professor and Associate Dean in the Khoury College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern. On February 7, members of the Newton Corner Neighborhood Association (NCNA)...
The “vision” test of commenting on Hello Washington Street Draft 2
Before even getting to the substance of the content, my first comment on the second draft of the Washington Street “Vision” was on the difficulty of actually reading it. Maybe it works better on one of those huge double-wide computer screens (anyone got...
Zoning and the future of transportation
Last week in West Newton the city held a discussion around the changes both proposed and underway for the village center. Unfortunately, I had a previous engagement and couldn’t make it, though I listened to much of the conversation through the Facebook feed. ...
Newton’s zoning reform; addressing race, class, and the future of our city
Ward 6 City Councilor Brenda Noel shared this with her constituents and with Village 14. Dear Constituents, As you may have heard, the current City Council has been charged with the exciting and challenging task of working with the Fuller administration to update our...
Haywood: The important need to revise Newton zoning now
Here’s a letter Rev. Howard Haywood recently wrote to the mayor and city council that a reader shared with Village 14. To: Mayor Fuller and The City Council From: Rev. Howard Haywood RE: The Important Need to Revise Newton Zoning Now Exactly four years ago I...
Mary jane at Mary Ann’s and manufacturing zones
The prospect of the bar Mary Ann’s — located just over the Newton line at Cleveland Circle — become a recreational marijuana shop is worrying some abutters and Boston College Police Chief William Evans.
Meanwhile here in Newton Ward 6 Councilor Greg Schwartz sent the email below yesterday to the Newton Highlands list serve in response to objections about his proposal to add some manufacturing zoning districts to the allowable locations for recreational
Albright: Our marijuana zoning ordinance was done with care to protect our citizens
Newton City Councilor Susan Albright, who is chair of the council’s Zoning & Planning committee, had some enlightening comments on an earlier thread about the research she conducted in her role as chair of the committee charged with determining where adult use recreational marijuana shops could locate, if Newton voters reject the Opt-Out referendum Tuesday. It seemed interesting and timely, so I republishing most of it here.I have talked to many people from states that currently allow adult use. I asked one woman in the Dept of Public Health in Oregon (whom I had called to find data on teenage use) whether there was an adult use shop in her town. She said yes – I asked her what happened there, was she scared to go there? Were there kids hanging around? Were the police frequently called? Was there Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool? (sorry I didn’t ask her about Pool). I wanted to get a sense for how she felt about this shop. She said she never went there but it was totally quiet and caused no problems in the town. I got similar answers from whomever i called, including the son of one of my Tufts college friends who works in one in Denver.
I imagine this is what life was like when they were deciding to prohibit liquor. The prohibitionists scared the public that liquor was the foundation of all our problems and the ruination of society – hence we got prohibition. And then had it undone years later.
Our marijuana zoning ordinance was done with care to protect our citizens and to put a store – which is what an adult use shop is – in a place where it was appropriate.
Where would Newton’s marijuana shops be located?
Often lost in the debate over whether or not adult-use recreational marijuana shops should operate in Newton is the fact that there aren’t very many properties where these stores can exist under the city’s proposed zoning.
Yes, I know zoning deliberations make most people’s heads ache. Mine included. But, if you have not yet dug into this, it’s worth understanding.
The first thing you need to know is that you should not expect to find these adult-only shops in Newton’s village centers. The next thing you should know is that under state law, consuming cannabis inside or in front of one of these stores is a crime.
Unlike liquor stores, which of course exist in our village centers, these shops will have bunker-like exteriors, intense security and state-mandated safeguards. You must show an ID before you’re allowed to enter a secure showroom. You must show it again when you
79% NAC Survey Prefer Mixed Use Development -Update 8-13-2018 – City Council Action on MU-4 Zoning Code Monday, August 13
Update 8-13-18 The results of Newtonville Area Council’s survey concerning the development of the Washington Street Corridor were posted on V14 today. Of seven available answers, where any number can be selected, 79% selected Mixed...Councilor Gentile to Globe: “That is not the community I grew up in.”
Councilor Gentile is putting up a proposal to hit the pause button on development. On Tuesday at Zoning & Planning Committee and the Planning Development Board, there will be a public hearing on few proposals designed to slow development, but the one that gets the...