On July 8, 2025, LWVN sent a letter to City Councilor, Lisle Baker, Chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee, expressing its disappointment with Chair Baker’s decision to exclude representatives of the business community from the planning “discussion” scheduled for the July 9th Zoning and Planning Committee meeting.
Read the letter:
On September 19, 2024, LWVN sent a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals in support of the request of Boylston Properties for a Comprehensive Permit, pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 40B, for a project to feature 295 residential units on a 4.76 square acre lot located on Crafts Street in the MultiResidence 1 and Manufacturing zoning districts. The all-residential project will feature four multifamily buildings as well as a separate two-story parking structure and will include 278 parking stalls. The proposal includes 59 affordable units (20 percent) at 50 percent of area median income (AMI), and affordability protections will be placed on these units in perpetuity.
The Crafts Street Project will help make Newton’s housing stock more diverse by providing 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. In addition, 59 of the units will be affordable at 50 percent of AMI, a much deeper level of affordability than the legally required 80 percent of AMI. We believe that the deeper affordability of these units is critical to help meet community needs for low-income families and individuals, particularly given the shortage of affordable housing in the City and surrounding cities and towns.
You can read the entirety of LWVN’s letter below:
On Monday, December 4, the Newton City Council enacted the most significant zoning reform in the City in decades. The new zoning rules will make it possible for denser multifamily housing to be built in six of Newton’s villages: Newton Centre, Newtonville, Waban, Newton Highlands, West Newton, and Auburndale. The zoning has been designed to help make the villages more vibrant, meet the great need for more, and more affordable, housing in Newton and throughout the region, and address urgent climate change concerns. Updated zoning will help the City meet the need for housing opportunities for seniors looking to downsize, small families and families just starting out, and people who serve our community.
The zoning reform will permit multifamily housing to be built in the six village centers for which it was approved. Clustering multifamily housing near transit stops in village centers is intended to help address the climate crisis. Residents with easy access to public transit and with revitalized, walkable village centers would presumably rely less on their cars. In addition, market-rate units in multifamily structures will cost less than the single-family homes that are now out of the price range of so many who wish to live in Newton. Deed-restricted affordable units are also incentivized in the plan.
The City Council’s nearly unanimous vote (21 to 2, with one councilor absent) was the culmination of a three-year process that included analysis and planning by the Zoning and Planning Committee of the City Council, public discussion and input, revisions to plans, Council debate, and compromise. The zoning package furthers the regional plan adopted through a 2021 state law, the Massachusetts Housing Choice Bill (MBTA Communities Act), and meets the December 31, 2023 deadline under that law for Newton to revise its Zoning Ordinance.
On Monday, December 4, at 6:30 p.m., the City Council will meet 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, November 20, and November 29. In each meeting, there were a number of proposed amendments, and the City Council was not able to get through them all. The December 4 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 without further compromises. Currently, the City Council has voted to exclude from the VCOD all but 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 would 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.
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.
Newton’s Zoning Redesign began in approximately 2010. The Village Redesign and ultimately the Village Center Overlay District (VCOD) work began in 2021 with the Community Engagement initiative.
Given our goal of educating and informing citizens by engaging them through public conversations on timely and important issues, we thought it important to participate in the City’s extensive community engagement process. One of the ways in which we did this is offering a League Presents series.
Jennifer Caira
Deb CrossleyHere is the third in our League Presents series on Zoning Redesign. In this episode, Marcia Johnson has a conversation regarding the Village Center Overlay District Ordinance with Jennifer Caira – Deputy Director, Planning & Development Department and Councilor Deb Crossley – Chair Zoning & Planning Committee. Issues discussed included:
For background purposes, we encourage you to also view Parts 1 & 2 of our series: