City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. All right.

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, Counselor Irish, would you be willing to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance for us? great thank you for that uh so tonight i do have a fairly uh lengthy list of notes yep i'm sorry i'm getting right into the microphone i heard it myself um we are being both audio and video recorded um so far online i see counselor mickley has joined us online but now he is disappeared so maybe he'll be right back or walking in the room And 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 630 p.m Pretty please I believe that we only have one person or one councillor who we know can't be here and one other who's pretty much on the bubble. So we're gonna seize the opportunity to get 22 out of 24 and hopefully we'll get to 23. And my apologies to councillor Damobed 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 gonna 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. Buker, see I knew I was going to get that 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 come in. 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 amongst the council. I will be working around all the items we just talked about from the administration to find the right night to do that. um nothing earth shattering but just a few things that have come up over the course of the summer that um 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 councillor kelly

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 is 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 um i would like to request some public hearings for september

Please proceed.

Thank you. I'd like to request 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. um 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 aware road and that concludes oh these are on page 180 of your report that concludes my report and request 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 know.

That's today.

Okay, I just, it looks like I have two of them. I have a, I have a page dated Tuesday, September 8th, and page 167, 168, 169, 170. Is that, I don't know. I don't know. I was looking at, nobody else.

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? Is that?

My page 167 has.

Oh, I'm just confused. You know what? I'm just confused because I think I have a date Tuesday, September 8th, and then I think it's just the wrong cover. I'm sorry.

Are we okay?

Yeah, I think we're okay.

Okay. Mr. Clerk? Seem okay?

I apologize for the interruption. That's okay.

All right, thank you.

So we'll proceed to zoning and planning. Councillor 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. Number 22926, appointment of Dante Capasso, appointment of Sapir Ng, an appointment of Christopher Markowitz, all of which have terms of office to expire August 10th, 2029, and they were moved, the committee approved them seven to zero each, and I moved, and then we have a reappointment of Doug Cornelius to the Newton Historical Commission as item 241.26, and the committee approved that as seven to zero.

So, four items.

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

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 5 to 0. Item 235-26 the reappointment of Janet Huttig to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was unanimously approved by a vote of 5 to 0. And item 236-26 the appointment of Linda Brenner to the Health and Human Services Advisory Council was unanimously approved by a vote of 5 to 0. With that I would move the report.

Thank you, sir. For public safety and transportation, Councillor 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 7, we're going to take public comments on possible revisions to the city's overnight parking ban, and that concludes the report.

Thank you, sir. Councillor Kalis for public facilities.

Thank you, Mr. President. The report begins on page 177. We met on August 19th, 2026. Item 123-26, request for relocation of drain easement in Rose Street was approved. 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 at Washington Street. This was approved, 2-1-1. Public hearing was closed on that. 253-26, Reappointment of David Gillespie to the Design review committee was approved 4-0. 254-26, reappointment of Peter Barrere to the design review committee was approved 4-0. 255-26, reappointment of Carol Schein to the design review committee was approved 4-0. 256-26, appointment of Stacey Roman to the design review committee, that was approved 4-0. And then 254-26, authorization to transfer 623,130 dollars and 15 cents in excess debt exclusion bond proceeds was approved 4-0. I'd also like to ask for a suspension of the rules to assign a public hearing.

Fantastic. We need a suspension of 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, Councillor Grossman. Thank you, Mr. President. There's no report this evening.

real property reuse counselor thank you mr president there is no report fantastic and i know that i fielded this question uh... just before we uh... started but i did want to mention that 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. That 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, could we get a roll call vote on the first call items, please?

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye.

I don't 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 Kelly aye with the exception of item 251-26 for which I vote no Councillor Krintzman. Aye. Councillor Leary. Aye. Councillor Lucas. Aye. Councillor Malachy. Aye. Councillor Mickley. Aye. Councillor Roach. Aye. Councillor Silber.

Aye.

Councillor Wright.

Aye.

President Oliver. Aye. 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 Kelly.

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 the four residential units and to determine the appropriate density and dimensional controls. The existing house is a non-conforming 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's no applicable dimensional standard for residential districts. So the MRT dimensions and criteria were applied. This proposal meets all of the MRT standards. The height is non-conforming currently at 37.74 feet and a non-conforming side setback of 3.3 feet has been designed, redesigned to increase the setback to 13.5 feet from the residential multifamily abutters. The neighborhood consists of a mix of uses including businesses, multifamily and single family homes with many being non-conforming. 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 counselors 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 the site heading left or north on Lexington Street. The suggestion was made that the ward for counselors 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 eight to zero and the public hearing was closed.

Thank you for that and I believe it was councillor block who put this on second if you 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 the building just below the the yellow dash outline. There's a lot of traffic going on here, a lot of signalization going on. Walcott Street has its own signal. There's 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 counselors 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 appropriate and I voted for it in committee I will be voting for it again tonight but we 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 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.

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

Aye.

Councilor Block.

Aye.

Councilor Charm.

Aye.

Councilor Dambabat. Aye. Councilor Farrell. Councilor Gatz?

Aye.

Councilor Golden? Aye. Councilor Gordon?

Aye.

Councilor Greenberg?

Aye.

Councilor Grossman?

Aye.

Councilor Irish? Aye. Councilor Kalis? Aye. Councilor Kelly? Aye. Councilor Krintzman? Aye. Councilor Leary? Aye. Councilor Lucas? Aye. Councilor Malachy? Aye. Councilor Mickley? Aye. Councilor Roach? Aye. Councilor Silber?

Aye.

Councilor Wright?

Aye.

President 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 or specific dates do let us know thank you

Thank you. Thank you.