Sign up to receive Ward and political newsletters by email here.
Welcome to December. Today’s newsletter covers:
the two zoning redesign public forums this week
two City Council special elections
the Newton Cultural Council’s proposal deadline,
updates on yard waste collection delays and changes to the winter parking ban rules
my report from a state meeting on pedestrian safety at Route 9 between Hemlock Gorge and Quinobequin
and temporary tax changes to deal with the covid-19 economic crisis.
Zoning redesign public forums tomorrow (Dec 2) and Thursday (Dec 3)
The Planning Department staff will be holding informational & community engagement sessions on the ongoing process of comprehensive zoning redesign in Newton. The two sessions (before the presentation is posted online) will be held on Zoom at the following dates & times:
Wednesday Dec 2 7-9 PM
Thursday Dec 3 12-2 PM
You can sign up for them here.
There has been some misinformation floating around, especially around various points that are still being debated or fine-tuned by the City Council’s Zoning & Planning Committee, so this is a good opportunity to find out more about the process and where we are at currently, as well as to ask questions or make suggestions (via Zoom Breakout Rooms) for the Planning Staff to incorporate into their revisions.
Zoning Redesign is the City of Newton's multi-year effort to update, clarify and rewrite Newton's Zoning Ordinance. [Learn more at www.newtonma.gov/zoningredesign and read my detailed personal analysis of the process from my October 31 newsletter.] Our Zoning Ordinance governs what and where buildings, homes and uses can be located as well as the shape of structures. This matters for sustainability, housing, the viability of our village centers and how our city looks and feels.
City of Newton's Department of Planning & Development is reaching out around this important project. This stage of "Zoning Redesign: Where We Are Now," is focused on (1) updating Newton community members and on (2) getting feedback on what questions the City Council should focus on in 2021.
Join us for a forum that includes a presentation, ample time for small group discussion, and opportunities for you to tell us what questions should be explored and how to best communicate with you in the coming year.
This presentation will be posted on December 4 on the Zoning Redesign web page for you to view at your convenience. There will also be a Zoning Redesign survey so that you can provide your ideas and feedback in addition to the 'Zoning Redesign: Where We Are Now' forums.
Two special elections (and endorsements)
In November, the City Council was reduced by two members with the untimely passing of Councilor Jay Ciccone (Ward 1 at-large) and the departure of Councilor Jake Auchincloss (Ward 2 at-large) for Congress. We have not yet set the date of the joint citywide special election for these two seats, due to the process of negotiating with the state for permission to continue soliciting ballots by mail due to the pandemic, but we are anticipating to hold them at some point before the month of April.
As a brief political digression from my Council update: I am endorsing Madeline Ranalli and Bryan Barash for the Ward 1 and Ward 2 seats respectively. The pandemic & longer-term economic trends have created a much larger young adult population living at home here, and I need Madeline's help representing our interests. Bryan shares many of the positions Madeline and I hold, but he also brings an unusually important asset to local government right now – his senior staff role in State Sen. Harriet Chandler’s office within the state legislature’s leadership team. During this pandemic, we not only need experienced officials and new ideas, but also we really need help navigating state assistance to our city government, and Bryan would be invaluable on that front. I have known Bryan closely for six years now, and I have gotten to know Madeline over the course of this year through her activism with other young people stuck at home during the pandemic. They both have my full confidence for the upcoming citywide elections.
Newton Cultural Council deadline extended to Dec 14
The Newton Cultural Council (NCC) seeks proposals in art, music, literature, drama, science and the humanities from individuals who live or work in Newton and from organizations that serve the city.
“In this time of Covid-19, we invite creative ways to offer on-line events and exhibits. The NCC seeks a wide range of diverse projects, including those that elevate the experiences of historically marginalized groups to highlight the current and historical diversity of Newton.”
For an application, please visit http://newtonculturalcouncil.org/grants Applications are due by December 14, 2020 and must be completed online.
Yard waste delays, overnight parking ban temporary revision
You might have noticed that last week and this week the City of Newton has fallen behind on yard waste collection and is trying to make it up. The Department of Public Works distributed this memo to the City Councilors today to explain what is going on and how soon we hope it will be resolved:
“There is currently a delay in yard waste collection this week. We are seeing an unprecedented amount of yard waste at the curb this year (80% increase over this same period last year). We expect that this is due to the timing of the leaves falling and residents having more time on their hands to handle yard waste themselves. The good news is that yesterday’s storm brought down most of the remaining leaves.
In addition, there continues to be operational delays for yard waste collection. Some employees of our yard waste collection contractor, Waste Management, are quarantining due to COVID-19. The City and Waste Management worked together to provide a “catch up” week for yard waste collection the week of Dec 14 in case there continues to be operational delays and/or residents who miss their yard waste collection deadline.
Many yard waste bags were damaged or tipped over as a result of yesterday’s storm creating piles of leaves in the public way. Yard waste collection crews have been instructed to pick up loose material on sidewalks and streets to the best of their ability.
We understand that the situation is frustrating and appreciate your patience and understanding while we address yard waste collection issues.”
In other news: The overnight winter parking ban in Newton has been delayed this season until Jan 15 in an effort to try to accommodate the greater number of vehicle-owners (including college students) who are at home each night. (Snow emergencies would still result in a brief parking ban.)
This decision will be re-assessed again at the beginning of January for a possible further delay.
Hemlock Gorge / Quinobequin pedestrian safety meeting report
At the request of the Friends of Hemlock Gorge group, in conjunction with the Friends of Quinobequin group, State Rep. Ruth Balser facilitated a meeting on November 20 with city & state officials from Mass DOT and Mass DCR about a proposal from those local Ward 5 community groups to add crosswalks to connect Hemlock Gorge to the Quinobequin trail via the Route 9 underpass.
There are some challenges to even a small project like this (beyond cost or pedestrian safety from vehicles) because some of the existing sidewalks are not ADA compliant and/or wide enough and some have utility poles blocking the way. It also crosses two different state agencies' turfs, so to speak. All of this needs to be addressed in order for any part of this to work.
Curb intersection radiuses probably also need to be adjusted for safer, better sight lines for drivers. This is a good example of a project where working to improve pedestrian safety could end up significantly improving driver safety too!
Mass DOT is hoping to work on a preliminary design & cost estimate next year, ideally before the next state budget drafting process begins in the spring. When I hear more, I will try to update everyone.
Temporary tax changes to deal with the covid-19 economic crisis
On November 16, the City Council held its annual tax hearing, which is when the Council decides (after recommendations from the executive branch) on how much of the city's total allowable tax revenue should come from commercial sources or from residential sources – and whether to raise the total tax levy cap up to the usual yearly “prop 2½” limit (not including new growth) to keep up with costs.
This year, the City CFO and Mayor Fuller spent a while before this hearing trying to figure out what the balance point should be on taxes from commercial vs taxes from residential, given that both businessowners & homeowners have been hit hard financially this year.
Each year, if the Council opts to reduce the revenue share from commercial sources, it must legally be balanced by an increase in the revenue share from residential sources. The past several years, the Council had always opted to use the highest allowable commercial share within that balance (i.e. the lowest allowable share from the residential side).
In Newton, generally commercial taxes get attached to the commercial business leases as a separate item (“triple-net” leases); so if we reduce their burden (at the expense of residential owners), that relief would go to the business tenants directly, not to their landlords, in the vast majority of cases. We discussed this in our hearing.
Another concern with deciding the precise tax split between residential & commercial is that due to rounding it can leave some inaccessible "money on the table" that the city cannot collect – and that number varies by the split point. We also considered this in our hearing. However, that “money on the table” tends to be relatively small anyway compared to other yearly fluctuations in revenues or expenses that are hard to predict.
We as a Council decided, following the recommendation from Mayor Fuller, to go with a slightly lower split for commercial tax sources (with a balancing higher split from residential tax sources) this year for the first time in several years in an effort to relieve businesses. A compromise value was chosen to mitigate residential impact, but residential taxes will indeed rise slightly more than usual due to this decision.
There was no good answer here during this crisis, given the constraints of state law, but the Council and Mayor were very concerned that if Newton’s commercial sector collapses completely during the covid-19 recession that we will face vastly greater economic problems and a much larger shift of the tax burden onto residents as a result of lost revenue from the commercial side. By making a modest adjustment now, which will be reconsidered each year, we hope to keep businesses open and to keep the residential burden from becoming much worse.
That being said, as noted in past newsletters, the Finance Committee is continuing to hold discussions, which I have organized with a number of other Councilors, on what else might be done to ease the tax burden on low- and fixed-income Newton residents by tapping into other revenue sources from people or entities that can afford to pay more despite the current crisis. If we have any breakthroughs, I will keep you posted.