LWV Newton logo

Visit us on Facebook!

ACT - Action & Advocacy

Special City Council Meeting to Consider Village Center Overlay District

On Wednesday, November 29, at 6:30 p.m., the City Council will hold a special meeting in person (Council Chamber) and virtually (Zoom link) to vote on the proposed Village Center Overlay District (VCOD).  The City Council met previously to vote on the VCOD on November 15 and November 20.  In each meeting, there were a number of proposed amendments, and the City Council was not able to get through them all.  The November 29 special meeting continues the process.

LWVN supports the VCOD, and we encourage LWVN members to show support for passage of the VCOD by attending the meeting in person at City Hall or on Zoom.  In addition, LWVN members can call or write to their city councilors to encourage passage of the VCOD with, at a minimum, the five villages required by the MBTA Communities Law (Newton Centre, Newton Highlands, Waban, West Newton, and Newtonville), plus Auburndale. While including Auburndale in the VCOD is not required by the MBTA Communities Act, the City has received indications that failure to include Auburndale will decrease the likelihood of receiving long-hoped-for funding to renovate all three of Newton’s commuter rail stations.

The VCOD furthers the regional plan adopted, through a 2021 state law, the Massachusetts Housing Choice Bill (MBTA Communities Act), to address the state’s critical housing shortage by increasing the housing supply statewide, particularly in connection with transportation hubs.  The VCOD is structured to promote safe and secure housing at a range of price points, while incentivizing increasing the supply of smaller housing units.  The VCOD concentrates the opportunity for compact development near transit and where key infrastructure exists, providing support to our local economy with minimal increase in car trips, while supporting walkable village centers. Newton, along with other communities that have transit stations, is required by the MBTA Communities Act to change zoning regulations to comply with the law.

On June 26, 2023, and November 13, 2013, LWVN sent letters to the City Council in support of the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD), which furthers the positions of LWVN and implements the MBTA Communities Act.  You can read the entirety of LWVN’s letters here: November 13, 2023 and June 26, 2023.

In October 2023, LWVN joined the Newton for Everyone coalition (NOT the Newton for Everyone PAC formed shortly before the November 2023 municipal elections), a group of civic, housing, climate activists, clergy, and local businesses supporting the proposed VCOD.

For further information about the VCOD, see the City of Newton’s website page on the Village Center Overlay District.

Read more →

LWVN Reaffirms Its Support of Village Center Overlay District in its Current Form

On November 13, 2023, LWVN sent a letter to the City Council reaffirming its support of the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) in furtherance of the positions of LWVN and implementation of the Massachusetts Housing Choice Bill (MBTA Communities).  We first wrote to support the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) in our letter dated June 26, 2023. We write now to urge the Newton City Council to adopt and implement the VCOD in its currently proposed form, without further changes.

You can read the entirety of LWVN’s letter below:

LWVN Joins Newton for Everyone

The LWVN board voted in October to join Newton for Everyone, a coalition of civic, housing, climate activists, clergy, and local businesses supporting the proposed Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) under consideration by the Newton City Council. This is a non-partisan coalition.

As Newton goes through the process of considering the VCOD, its citizens will need a reasoned and well informed coalition that can present factual information regarding the changes being proposed.  LWVN will be lending its name, reputation, and experience as Newton for Everyone works to ensure that correct information is being given to citizens through leafleting, signs, and ensuring there is a balanced representation at community forums.  

To learn more about the coalition, visit Newtonforeveryone.com.

Read more →

Banned Books Week: October 1-October 7

October 1 – October 7 is Banned Books Week

According to the American Library Association (ALA), “Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. For more than 40 years, the annual event has brought together the entire book community — librarians, teachers, booksellers, publishers, writers, journalists, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”

ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021.

PEN America counted school book bans in the 2022-2023 school year, and found 3,362 book bans affecting 1,557 unique titles, with more than 40% of the bans occurring in Florida.

We invite you to take action on “Let Freedom Read” Day – October 7, 2023!

To better explore the issue of banned books, LWVN is inviting all community members to join us in a December book group discussion on one of the most banned books of the last two years, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe.  We will be discussing the book (and other books on the banned books list, if you are inclined to read others), why it has caused so many schools and libraries to remove it from the shelves, whether LWVN or any League should take a position on book banning, and more.

Following the discussion, we invite all to celebrate with us the holiday season and join in some holiday cheer.  More details to follow.

For more information on Banned Books, read below.

Read more →

LWVN Supports Northland Charlemont Project

On July 28, 2023, LWVN sent a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals in support of Northland 160 Charlemont LLC’s request for a Comprehensive Permit for a project to feature 370 residential units comprising 465,654 gross square feet of area in two seven-story structures on 6.98 acres of land located at 160 Charlemont Street and 56 Christina Street in the Mixed Use 1 Zoning District (Northland Charlemont Project). The project includes 438 parking stalls and 93 affordable units.

The Northland Charlemont Project will help make Newton’s housing stock more diverse by providing an alternative to single-family homes.  In addition, 25 percent of the units will be affordable, producing 93 new affordable units in the City of Newton.  LWVN supports Zoning Board of Appeals Member Brooke Lipsitt’s request that the developer make affordable units available at a deeper level than the 80 percent of area median income required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We believe deeper affordability is necessary to meet community
needs, particularly given the shortage of affordable housing in the City.  Furthermore, the developer has stated its goal to reduce the project’s energy consumption over its lifetime, include include shuttle service and a bike path, and provide access to electric vehicle charging to 20 percent of the parking spaces.

The Northland Charlemont Project will help meet goals common to the City of Newton and LWVN: increasing housing diversity; building sustainably; mitigating the use of cars; encouraging biking and walking; and increasing tax revenue for the City.

You can read the entirety of LWVN’s letter below:

Contact Your State Representatives Regarding HD4220, An Act Modernizing Firearm Laws

Please contact your State Representative in support of An Act to Modernize Firearm Laws, HD4220.

We are not immune to gun violence in Massachusetts.  While the Commonwealth has the lowest rate of gun deaths nationwide, according to the Gun Violence Archive, 387 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in Massachusetts in 2023.  In the first 18 days of July alone, eight people have been killed and 18 injured by firearms across the Commonwealth, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The opposition to this bill is organized, loud and fierce. It is critical that legislators, even though they are pro-gun control, can count the number of constituents on the other side.  Each of us needs to contact our state representative and state senator in support of this bill.

On Monday, July 17, Representative Michael Day of Stoneham, Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, briefed LWVMA members on this new omnibus bill. View the recording here.

Read the LWVMA summary and press release here.

If you have access to the Boston Globe, check out their July 10 editorial on this bill: Why Massachusetts can’t wait for Congress to enact stronger gun safety laws (bostonglobe.com)

Read more →