Newton City Council - September 8, 2026

and so on.

Alright.

We have a, I don't know, I know we don't meet the list yet but can I see our list of attendees from online? Please. And as we're getting rolling Councilor Irish Would you be willing to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? Great, thank you for that. So tonight I do have a fairly lengthy list of notes. Yep, I'm sorry, I am getting right into the microphone. I heard it myself. We are being both audio and video recorded.

So far online, I see Councilor Micley has joined us online but now he is disappeared so maybe he'll be right back or walking in the room. If for anyone who's got their laptop rolling, again if you could hit mute for us that would be fantastic. None of us really like the feedback. A few things about our calendar. And you will get more notifications than just this one, but here we go. The City Council photo will be taken Tuesday the 22nd of September before our scheduled City Council meeting. Please get here no later than 6 30 p.m. Pretty Please. I believe that we only have one person, or one councilor who we know can't be here and one other whose pretty much on the bubble.

So we're gonna seize the opportunity to get 22 out of 24 and hopefully will get to 23. and my apologies to Councilor Dahmubed who unfortunately won't be here that day. But we'll get you in there. The Photoshop is an amazing thing, yes. We have an upcoming CIP hearing right? We currently have that I'm going to use the word tentatively scheduled for Monday the 19th. and I believe we're talking October there, correct? October the 19th is CIP. Our annual tax classification will also be November the 16th at least that's our current plan and there are going to be a few other things coming from the administration that will get on your calendars as soon as we can.

And if there are any major challenges or issues with any of those dates, please let myself and Dr. Willison here know so that we can take whatever measures are possible. I'd also like to make sure, and I think that they were walking around the chamber a little bit earlier. But tonight we're joined by both Jill Seppa our new deputy city clerk and election supervisor as well as Curtis, and I'm gonna make sure I get this right, Becker. Bueker, see I knew I was gonna get that one wrong. Next time I won't but thank you sir. They're both with us. Curtis is our assistant clerk of the council so if you haven't had an opportunity to meet them or say hello please do so tonight Welcome both of you. Thank you so much for all your hard work, especially during that little election thing we just went through and another one coming

All right, so with that said the only other topic that I wanted to bring up is I think we have a small chairs meeting that'll be coming up. I've had a few requests for topics to be discussed I will be working around all the items we just talked about from the administration to find the right night to do that. Nothing earth-shattering, but just a few things that have come up over the course of the summer that I think we should all or we will all want to chip into. So heads up, that's coming around the corner here pretty soon. So with that said, let's jump into first call items. Let's start with land use. Councilor Kelley?

Thank you, Mr. President. Our little cushy thing is off the microphone here in case it sounds harsh. The Land Use Committee Report starts on page 172. We met on August 25th and we discussed four items Two of them were held. One is on second call, and the fourth one which is item number 259-26 which was a request to allow a combination of retaining walls exceeding four feet in height at 83 Commonwealth Park West. That was approved eight to nothing and we will be voting on that tonight. I would like to request some public hearings for September. Please proceed. Thank you, I'd like to across three public hearings For September 15th Is that my microphone making the bad noise?

I wasn't going to point it out, but maybe.

I need the new cushy thing. Item 280-26, a request to exceed facade ratio at 40 Burdine Road. Item 281-26 which is a request to exceed facade ratio at 29 Pierpont Road. And item 282, oh thank you she's loaning me her cushy thing. Let's see if that's better, oh yeah. Item 282-26, a request to allow two parking stalls within the front setback at 45 Ware Road. And that concludes... Oh, these are on page 180 of your report. That concludes my report and requests. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Leary?

Sorry, I'm wondering if there was another... It looks like there's another report. Am I looking at page 166 Tuesday September 8th? I don't... That's today. Okay, it looks like I have two of them. I have a page dated Tuesday, September 8th and page 167, 168, 169, 170. Is that? I don't know.

And what is, I'm sorry. When I look at my page 170, I do not see land use items. Is that the right page number? 170? 167. Sorry, 167.

Is that Oakdale Road?

My page 167 has... Oh, I'm just confused.

You know what? I think I have a date Tuesday September 8th and then I think it's just the wrong cover.

Are we okay?

Yeah, I think we're okay. Good.

Okay. Mr. Clerk? Seem okay?

I apologize for the interruption.

All right, thank you. So we'll proceed to zoning and planning. Councilor Baker?

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on page 174 but all items were held except three items relating to appointments to the Zoning Board of Appeals 229.26, appointment of Dante Capasso, appointment and appointment of Christopher Markowitz, all of which have terms of office to expire August 10th, 2029. And they were moved The committee approved them 7-0 each, and I moved. And then we have a reappointment Doug Cornelius to the Newton Historical Commission as item 241.26 and the committee approved that seven to zero, so four items.

All set? Right, four appointments and we're good. Thank you sir. For programs and services, right? Councilor Krintzman.

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on page 175. The Programs and Services Committee met on Wednesday, September 2nd. Item 232-26, the appointment of Paul Levy to the Newton Commonwealth Foundation was approved unanimously by a vote of five to zero. Item 233-26, the appointment of Mark Grossman to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was approved unanimously by a vote of five to zero. Item 234-26, the reappointment of Dr. Carolyn Bernstein to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was approved unanimously by a vote of five to zero. Item 235-26, the reappointment of Janet Huttig to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was unanimously approved by a vote of five to zero. and item 236-26, the appointment of Linda Brenner to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was unanimously approved by a vote of five to zero. With that I would move the report.

Thank you, sir. For public safety and transportation, Councilor Lucas.

Thank you Mr President The report begins on page 176, but there is no report for this evening. I do have an announcement tomorrow evening beginning at seven we're going to take public comments on possible revisions to the city's overnight parking ban and and that concludes the report.

Thank you, sir. Councilor Kalis for public facilities?

Thank you Mr. President. The report begins on page 177 we met on August 19, 2026. Item 123-26 Request for Relocation of Drain Easement in Rose Street was approved. with withdrawal without prejudice, 4-0. 250-26 CPC recommendation to appropriate $1.9 million for a grant to the Newton Affordable Housing Trust was approved 4- 0. , 251-26, National Grid. Petition for a granted location on Commonwealth Avenue and Washington Street. This was approved 2-1-1. and others. Public hearing was closed on that. 253-26, reappointment of David Gillespie to the Design Review Committee was approved 4-0. to the Design Review Committee was approved 4-0. 255-26, reappointment of Carol Schein to the Designer Review Committee, was approved for 0.

256-26 appointment of Stacey Roman to the design review committee that was approved and then 254-26, authorization to transfer $623,130.15 in excess debt exclusion bond proceeds was approved 4-0. I'd also like Ask for a suspension of the rules to assign a public hearing.

Fantastic, we needed a suspension in the rules. All those to read in an item. All in favor please say aye. Opposed? Please proceed.

Thank you. This is Item 283-26, Eversource Petition for a Granted Location on Moody Street and we'll hear that tomorrow September 9th, 2026. and with that I conclude the report, thank you.

Thank you sir.

For finance, Councilor Grossman? Thank you Mr. President there's no report this evening

Councilor Malakie. Fantastic. And I know that I fielded this question just before we started, but I did want to mention Item 250-26, the CPC recommendation to appropriate 1.9 million for a grant for the Affordable Housing Trust That is their annual tranche of dollars from CPC. It is not tied to any particular project other than projects that are coming through the Affordable Housing Trust. Just to confirm that. And with that said, can we get a roll call vote on the first call items please?

Councilor Albright? Aye. Councilor Baker? Aye Councilor Bixby?

Aye

Charm, Aye. Councilor Dahmbabad? Aye. Councillor Farrell? Aye Councillor Getz? Aye Councilor Golden? Aye councilor Gordon? Aye councillor Greenberg?

aye

Councilor Grossman.

Aye, though Mr. President I just want to point out that on that item that you just mentioned 250-26 and 264-26 finance hasn't met on those yet so I don't think they're officially voted out before us tonight

That is correct. Thank you for the note.

Councillor Irish? Aye. Councillor Kalis? Aye Councillor Kelley?

Aye with the exception of item 251-26, for which I vote no.

Councilor Krintzman? Aye. Councilor Leary? Aye Councilor Lucas? Aye Councillor Malakie? Aye, Councilor Micley? Aye Aye. Councilor Silber?

Aye.

Councillor Wright? Aye President Oliver? On this motion, the ayes are 24. The nays are zero with the exception of item 251-26 where the vote is 23 yays one nay.

Fantastic. We have one item on second call this evening. It is a land use item. I'll turn the microphone over to Councilor Kelley.

Thank you again, Mr. President. To update the other 16 of you that are not on the Land Use Committee I'm going to try and give a concise yet thorough description of this project so you know what we're talking about tonight. The Land Use Committee met on August 25th to take up item 258-26. A request to change from an existing non-conforming residential use to another, to allow four residential units in one building with the City Council determining appropriate density and dimensional controls. to allow reduced maneuvering aisle and driveway width, and to allow parking within the setback at 395 Lexington Street. The petition is for a special permit and site plan approval to raise the existing dwelling and construct four residential units in one building, requiring relief to allow that parking within the side setback which has since been removed.

as a request, reduce maneuvering aisle width, reduce driveway width and to alter and extend the non-conforming two family use to allow for residential units and determine appropriate density and dimensional controls. The existing house is a nonconforming two-family home in an SR3 zoning district, which operated actually as a three family home in the past. One of those units with five bedrooms rented to adults each with a car The proposed building design is for four units detached with only two entrances, which makes it not fit into any of the zoning categories we currently have. We can talk about that if people don't quite understand what's going on. So this design of the four attached units with separate entrances doesn't fit into current zoning as there is no applicable dimensional standard for residential districts so the MRT dimensions and criteria were applied. This proposal meets all of the MRTs standards.

The height is nonconforming currently at 37.74 feet and a non-conforming side setback of 3.3 feet has been designed, redesigned to increase the set back to 13.5 feet from the residential multifamily abutters. The neighborhood consists of a mix of uses, including businesses and multi-family and single family homes with many being nonconforming. All required parking will be on site and the driveway will remain in the same location to maintain the current streetscape. All cars on the property will be able to turn around in order to exit, so none will need to back out onto Lexington Street. Input from the city's transportation department and private traffic consultants had consensus that increasing the site by two units is unlikely to create a significant impact on traffic. Newton Historical Commission approved the new design, which has a front facade very much in keeping with the character of the existing house and neighborhood.

Most councilors agreed that this large 14,426 square foot site in a village center near public transportation and amenities is appropriate for four units. but concern was expressed about the inability of vehicles to exit this site heading left or north on Lexington Street. The suggestion was made that the Ward 4 Councilors can work with DPW and the Traffic Council to look for solutions to help make that easier such as painting an X block on Lexington Street at the driveway to allow cars to get out more safely. Land use approved this 8-0 and the public hearing was closed.

Great, thank you for that. And I believe it was Councilor Block who put this on second if you'd care to take us through your objection please or comments I should say.

Thank you, Mr. President and thank you for indulging this topic especially in light of the unanimous vote in land use to recommend approval of this special permit Thank you. Is the clerk putting up the slide of the intersection? Thank you very much My purpose is to draw our attention to this intersection, Lexington Avenue Lexington Street is intersecting Commonwealth Avenue just to the bottom of this slide, which you can't see. And Walcott Street is entering is intersecting with Lexington Street. This is the edge of Auburndale Square, The project is in the yellow dashed outline to your left.

For those of you who might be familiar with this intersection, the Starbucks is building just below the yellow dash outline. There's a lot of traffic going on here, a lot signalization going on. Walcott Street has its own signal. There is a signal opposite the Starbucks exit In fact, I don't have a cursor here but you can actually see a vehicle pointing out of the Starbucks parking lot, and sort of waiting I suppose for a break in the north-south traffic on Lexington which hasn't materialized yet but maybe will.

This proposed project is going to have vehicles entering this very busy intersection, presumably without any signalization. I don't know how that would be installed. I'm just concerned about the safety of this intersection It's all well and good to state that the Ward 4 Councilors could get together and work on this. I think this is a city responsibility This is not the developer's responsibility. The proposal for this particular parcel is appropriate and I voted for it in committee, I will be voting for it again tonight but we need to take the steps necessary in order to keep this intersection as safe as possible and it's very complicated as it is now. So those are my comments, Mr. President thank you.

Okay, with that said, do I see any other comments, questions, thoughts on the item? I am. I do have one quick question and I'm wondering How did or how has city staff reacted to the idea of modifications to either the plan or this intersection? if they have had a chance to react to this.

I haven't heard any reactions myself.

All right, fair enough. Anyone else? Comments, thoughts, questions, concerns? Seeing none, I think we need to put a roll call vote to this item as well Mr. Clerk

Albright, Baker, Bixby, Block, Charm, Dahmubed, Farrell. Gatz, Golden, Gordon, Greenberg, Grossman.

Aye.

Councilor Irish? Aye. Councillor Kalis? Aye Councillor Kelley? Aye Councilor Krintzman? Aye Lucas, Malakie, Micley, Roche, Silber, Wright, Oliver. Aye. On this vote, the ayes are 24, the nays are 0. The motion carries.

Thank you, sir. Councilor Irish? Do you have a motion? To adjourn. fantastic I'll second that motion thank you everyone have a lovely night and again if you have any questions about the dates or challenges or just challenges with the way the calendar is coming together specific dates do let us know Thank you.

Thanks for watching!

and so on.