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Washington Street Zoning Code - Draft Two

Public comment period ended on March 13, 2019. To read and view the entire spread, be sure to zoom out using + and - buttons in menu at top of document.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 3:12AM on page 96

Or New Center in Detroit. (New was new around 1920 or 1930, I think, so the trees are big.) link
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 3:06AM on page 93

Other nice trees for variety: Sweetgum, Kentucky Coffeetree ('Espresso' cultivar if you don't want big pods). Tuliptree where there's a big enough space. See Marc Welch for a more comprehensive list.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 3:03AM on page 93

Zelkova also vase-shaped.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 3:02AM on page 93

Do you mean Katsura as a separate line?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 3:01AM on page 93

Love Amur maackias! Not native, but bulletproof. They seem to survive trauma, and not get attacked by caterpillars.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:58AM on page 93

Nobody should be recommending green ash until/unless there is an effective biological control for Emerald Ash Borer. I doubt you could even buy ash trees from a reputable nursery. They probably haven't even been growing them for years.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:56AM on page 93

Sugar maples and red maples are beautiful, but the city has not done a lot of planting of maples in recent years, in an effort to diversify species, since most street trees are still Norway maples.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:55AM on page 93

Suggestion
I hope this list is meant to be suggestions, not a list from which trees must be chosen? There is a much longer list of species on the city's Tree Species planting list.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:52AM on page 92

This is where columnar trees would be appropriate.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:51AM on page 92

Again, this should be the jurisdiction of the Director of Urban Forestry, not the ISD commissioner.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:50AM on page 92

No,no, no - this should not be up to the ISD commissioner. It should be the Tree Warden or his/her designee, who in Newton is the Director of Urban Forestry. Someone who cares about, and is knowledgable about trees.
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in reply to amysangiolo's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:45AM on page 62

It does say set back 20ft from the primary facade. Maybe that's the front of the primary building, not the back? But it's not clear because 'primary facade' is not yet defined. This is what's in the definitions on pg 6-209: Façade: The exterior wall of a building oriented in whole or in part toward a civic space or a thoroughfare. Facade, Primary: [blank]
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:25AM on page 61

Question
Say what? Chassis? The back cottage can be a mobile home?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:22AM on page 60

This is huge for an 'accessory building'. I think 24x36 is about the footprint of my whole house. And why a first floor height of 15ft, and upper floor height of 12, when 8ft ceilings are pretty standard in houses. And it's really 2-1/2 floors since the top doesn't count. We're supposed to be reducing carbon footprint. Why heat all this extra volume?
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in reply to amysangiolo's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:16AM on page 60

Agree. 3ft way too small. Abutters would be able to hear music, smell cigarette smoke, be woken up by noise.
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in reply to NRensing's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:12AM on page 57

Question
Does Logan Airport have something like that?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:09AM on page 51

Question
Same question about each of these: will the rent be discounted for independent local retailers, or will they have to pay same as national chains?
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in reply to Pam's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:07AM on page 50

Thank you for making this point repeatedly! I think every building type proposed is taller than the preferences found in the Newtonville Area Council survey, and that survey only asked about floors, without getting into the heights of stories potentially being taller. Who expected a new 3-story building would be so much taller than current 3-story buildings, when they were taking the survey?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 2:04AM on page 49

Would the space reserved for independent local businesses be at market rents or lower rents than the rest of the building? Ending up with upscale 'boutique' local businesses is not the same as keeping the local businesses we have now because they're in older more affordable buildings.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:58AM on page 41

All of these residential uses appear to allow "Lodging" which according to the Use section, includes hotels, hostels, rooming houses and tourist rentals. This would be a major change that has not gotten much attention.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:47AM on page 41

Why are stories allowed to be so high? Thought we were trying to reduce energy consumption.
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in reply to albemarle's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:42AM on page 39

I believe historically, 2 kitchens were not allowed in a single-family. But now with the accessory apartment ordinance, that may be different.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:36AM on page 36

Are you adding drive-throughs because you realize there won't be enough parking? How does adding drivethroughs 'reduce the negative impacts' on abutting properties? If the impacts are negative, don't add them.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:31AM on page 35

This would be very tall when added to the too-tall building heights that are being proposed.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:26AM on page 34

Need to require preservation of historic buildings, not just the facades, and not as an excuse for an extra story.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:22AM on page 34

Who wants to encourage tall stories? Most people want to keep heights lower than what's being proposed.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:16AM on page 33

"Should be considered" is has no teeth. If we want to retain shopfronts, require it. "Average shopfront can be no larger than average of what's being replaced" for example.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 1:09AM on page 33

Question
Why would we want corrugated metal siding?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:47AM on page 29

Answer
For anyone wondering what a 'pork chop return' is. (I was) link
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:37AM on page 29

Um, yes. How would you have a gambrel or mansard roof if that were not true?
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:21AM on page 26

"Except by special permit" basically means it'll be approved, the way our City Council works.
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NRensing Mar 14 2019 at 12:21AM on page 89

Somewhere in the code it should specify that plantings should not encroach on sidewalks/passageways. I'm thinking of the properties where the hedges have grown into the sidewalk easements, requiring pedestrians to step off into the street.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:19AM on page 26

Question
Is the building in the civic space required to be a civic builging?
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NRensing Mar 14 2019 at 12:16AM on page 88

I'm concerned that too much screening might encourage break-ins and other unlawful activity.
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NRensing Mar 14 2019 at 12:15AM on page 88

This is important. Making people move their car multiple times because they are patronizing different businesses just adds traffic and discourages them from making a stop at the smaller businesses along the way. Needham street is a case in point.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:12AM on page 24

Question
8 parking spaces for 12 houses? Are the rest of them living car-free? Where do they park? Where do their visitors park? Service and delivery vehicles?
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in reply to TaiSut's comment

NRensing Mar 14 2019 at 12:11AM on page 87

On the other hand, failing to require onsite parking and providing free street parking (as is now the case) just transfers the costs from the individuals to the community!
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in reply to Jane Hanser's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:07AM on page 22

Agree! Recipe for gridlock. Not enough people could potentially get to work in this area by transit -- only those who happen to live on commuter rail further west who can commute inbound in morning etc. Or a feasible bus route. Most would be in cars.
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Julia Malakie Mar 14 2019 at 12:03AM on page 22

Where are the solar roofs?
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Julia Malakie Mar 13 2019 at 11:50PM on page 20

Looks like HUD or Agriculture or those huge Senate Office Buildings in Washington DC. Or Moscow. Not preserving village feel. Only 12% of NAC survey respondents expressed a preference for 5 or more stories as maximum height. And the 59% who wanted 3- or 4-story maximums were probably thinking of story heights of exisiting buildings, not buildings with extra tall first floors, and first floors elevated up to five feet above ground level.
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NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:49PM on page 57

It not be possible to include in the code, but parking garages should have electronic monitoring/indication of available spots with either online reporting or exterior signage indicating how many are available, to limit drivers circling the area searching for spots.
1 reply

NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:46PM on page 55

Would the additional floor by special permit have to be set back from the facade?
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NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:45PM on page 55

This seems like a very important and desirable development option (think Marty's and Whole Foods). Requiring a flat roof might be too restrictive.
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Julia Malakie Mar 13 2019 at 11:42PM on page 18

Different set of building types, and some with similar but different names, vs the list of building types in the city Zoning Code draft. Is a duplex the same as a Two-unit residence? Shop vs shophouse?
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in reply to Pam's comment

NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:41PM on page 52

Agreed. The roof of this building would be about level with the fountain on Chestnut street!
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Julia Malakie Mar 13 2019 at 11:39PM on page 17

This is a completely different set of numbers, with smaller setbacks and therefore less open space than "Neighborhood General" in the draft Zoning Code for the rest of the city, where "Neighborhood General" is also supposed to be the transition between village centers and residential areas. Ridiculous and confusing to have two districts with the same name be different based on where in the city they're located.
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NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:38PM on page 51

A 10 story building could be about 160'-170' tall. According to the city's topographical map, West Newton Hill is only about 215' tall. That's totally out of scale with anything else in the neighborhood.
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in reply to lpalepu's comment

Julia Malakie Mar 13 2019 at 11:30PM on page 15

I don't expect it will be enough to pay for the public improvements. The net positive fiscal impact (if in fact it really is positive -- that needs closer examination) was described as being available to help fund public improvements. But if it's used toward public improvements, it's not helping the overall fiscal situation (e.g. our $1billion pension and OPEB liability). And the Vision Plan estimates the cost of just making the WN and Newtonville stations ADA accessible at $31-46 million. Making them ADA accessible AND increasing frequency (which I think means having two tracks) at $86-129 million. See pg 183 of Vision Plan draft 2 for their ballpark estimates of costs of improvements.
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EliotAve Mar 13 2019 at 11:27PM on page 20

The density of these buildings are too big for the village of West Newton and its narrow streets and historic homes. This looks like the Back Bay.
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NRensing Mar 13 2019 at 11:26PM on page 46

I see the need to include this in the code, but I hope the city would encourage 2 story retail/office or mixed used buildings wherever possible.
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