On November 19th, Jay Walter, a Newton resident and experienced local architect, helped us to learn about the the changes the City Council is proposing to Newton’s current Zoning Ordinance, how those changes differ from current zoning, and what effect those changes will have on our community. View the presentation and audience Q&A.
With almost 90 participants, we had more questions than time to answer them. See answers to questions not addressed at the presentation.
On November 17 LWVN joined together with the Newton Free Library and Families Organizing for Racial Justice to present a virtual session with Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law, A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Mr. Rothstein argued with exacting precision and fascinating insight how segregation in America is the byproduct of explicit government policies at the local, state and federal levels, and offered several concrete suggestions for how to address the housing and economic inequities caused by these policies.
During this virtual session, attendees also heard a conversation between library director, Ellen Meyers, and community activist, Richard Evans, who told his family’s story of encountering discrimination in the 1960’s during the state’s eminent domain taking of land for the construction of the Mass Pike bypass through Newton.
To wrap up the session, Newton City Councilor Deb Crossley introduced attendees to the efforts being made by the City Council to address housing inequities in Newton by engaging in a comprehensive review of Newton’s zoning codes.
If you were unable to listen in to this informative and engaging session, you can view the recording.
September 24, 2019
Newton City Council
Land Use Committee
Newton City Hall
Dear Chairman Schwartz and Members of the Land Use Committee,
The League of Women Voters of Newton (LWVN) supports the proposed Northland project because it leverages underutilized space that offers substantial improvements for Newton residents. With this development we will be able to work towards our common goals of increasing housing diversity; mitigating the use of cars; creating new recreational open space; encouraging walking, biking, and use of the Greenway; attracting new shops, restaurants, and other kinds of employers and increasing our commercial tax base.
In the Globe article NIMBY? Not in these cities and towns Watertown, our neighbor, was cited as an example “In Watertown, which permitted 1,296 housing units in the four-year period, Community Development and Planning director Steve Magoon credited the town’s regulatory and elected boards with making the tough decisions needed to allow projects to go forward”. We believe that Newton should also continue to step up to address the housing crisis in the metro Boston area.
The Newton City Council over the past few years made the difficult decisions to approve both the Austin Street and Washington Place projects. With the Northland project, the City Council of 2018-2019 once again has the opportunity to make another tough decision and do the right thing by approving this development.
Northland’s proposal will provide a diversity of housing options that Newton needs, with an alternative to single-family homes, which many people – from young professionals, to seniors looking to downsize, to people who work in Newton – are looking for but cannot find right now.
The developer is committed to sustainability and is working with Green Newton to maximize environmentally-friendly features, including those listed below.
And finally, the project will generate increased tax revenue for the City.
Overall, the combination of increased housing diversity, environmentally-friendly design, added green space, and additional tax income provide an opportunity that LWVN encourages the City Council to support.
Sincerely,
Marcia Johnson
President, League of Women Voters, Newton
New developments with 21 or more units of housing in Newton will now have to provide more units of permanently affordable “workforce” housing. The definition of “workforce” housing is that it is affordable to households earning greater than 80% and up to 110% of the area median income (AMI). In Newton, ahousehold of four at 80% of the AMI could earn up to $89,000, and at 110%, could earn up to $124,630. The amended Inclusionary Zoning ordinance was drafted by the Newton Planning and Development Department, edited in many meetings by the City Council and passed unanimously by the City Council on Monday night. The amendment still requires that new developments of 7 units or more provide 15% of its units at prices/rents that are affordable to households earning 50% to 80% of the AMI. The new amendment requires an additional 2.5% of the units to be set aside at affordable prices/rents for “workforce” households that earn from 80% to 110% of the AMI.
Beginning in January 2021, all projects with 100 units or more will be required to provide 15% affordable units, and an additional 5% for “workforce” housing, or a total of 20% affordable units altogether. Newton’s housing is pricey and increasingly unaffordable for many households of all types and income levels. The amendment helps provide more options for people of all means to live in our City.
Mayor’s Update July 11, 2019
I’m excited to write to you as Chair of the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee (ZAP) to inform you about the important work our committee is doing regarding zoning changes in Newton. What is zoning? Zoning is the way governments control the physical development of our city. For example, it governs areas where we can have residences of various types, as well as commercial, manufacturing and mixed-use buildings. It also governs the use of properties throughout the city as well as the size of buildings on these properties.
Why does Newton need new zoning?
The City Council’s efforts to reform zoning began with the work of a group of citizens tasked by Mayor Warren and (then) Board of Alderman to develop a plan for reforming Newton’s outdated zoning ordinance. Our ordinance has not been comprehensively reviewed since 1953. In 2011, this group produced a report reflecting citizens commonly voiced concerns such as;