Update from Ward 4 Councilor Chris Markiewicz
September 2018
Current Events / Office Hours
Meetings of Interest:
- Sept 13th - Special City Council meeting on Newton specific marijuana items being considered for this November's ballot. 7 p.m. City Council Chamber
- Sept 17th - Update on Riverside Greenway project - 7.30 p.m. at the Auburndale Community Library
- Sept 24th - Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting - Ongoing discussions about zoning changes planned for Newton - 7 p.m. City Hall Council Chamber
- Sept 27th - at Newton North - presentation of the latest proposal for Riverside
Office Hours
- Those folks who came to my September 8th office hour session will hear back from individually regarding items we discussed.
- I will send out an email for my next session in October. Sessions are held either at the Auburndale Community Library or the Lower Falls Community Center.
- You can always contact me for any item of ward or city business or questions regarding them at cmarkiewicz@newtonma.gov. You can also reach me at 617.513.5963 (cell)
IN THIS ISSUE City Wide and Neighborhood topics
- City Wide - Recreational Marijuana Sales in Newton
- City Wide - Newton Power Choice
- City Wide - Streets
- City Wide - What's ahead for zoning Reform
- Neighborhood Issue - Lights at Lasell
- Neighborhood Issue - Auburndale Square Advisory Group formed
- Reminder - Who to call - Trash, Noise and Repairs etc.
Recreational Marijuana - Quick History: The Commonwealth's voters approved the sale and use of recreational marijuana in November 2016. Since then many cities and towns, including Newton have imposed moratoriums on the opening of retail establishments. The Newton moratorium which prohibits the sale of recreational marijuana expires on December 31, 2018. The Cannabis Control Commission has also been reviewing and issuing various rules and guidance. To date no recreational sales have occurred in the Commonwealth.
A city or town has the option to determine if it wants to ban recreational sales. This was included in the wording of the ballot issue in 2016. So called "opting-out" would not ban the use or possession of marijuana, it would ban commercial sales of recreational marijuana.
A group of citizens submitted a petition to the City Council in June asking that the Council vote to place the item to opt-out on the ballot. The Council did not approve the petition.
Although the City Council (including me) did not vote for the item to be placed on the ballot initially, Newton voters can still get the item on the ballot. This can be done by getting either 10% of the registered voters with subsequent council approval or 15% without council approval, to sign the petition. The "opt-out" campaign has met the 10% threshold so the item will be back in front of the council on September 13th. The council can now vote to place it on the ballot this November or again deny it. If the Council votes to accept the petition supported by the 5900 signatures , "opt-out" will be the ballot this November. Stay tuned.
There are additional items that may be on the ballot. These are items that restrict the number of recreational sales shops to either 2- 4 or 2- 8 in two separate questions. These are independent questions from opt-out so you could have as many as 3 questions regarding recreational marijuana and multiple questions could pass. This may create confusion for the voter, so should either or both of these items get approved by the Council to appear on the ballot in addition to the opt-out question, careful consideration of how to explain this to the voters will have to undertaken. The Mayor currently supports the three questions of: opt-out; no fewer than 2 nor more than 4; and no fewer than 2 and no more than 8; being placed on the November Ballot. The special Council meeting and vote on all of this is September 13th at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber. I expect it will be on NewTV as well.
The permitting of retail recreational marijuana shops is determined by special permit which references zoning ordinances governing these " special permit" petitions. As of today, the zoning ordinances are a draft. The proposed ordinance would allow these shops in certain business zones ( BU 2 -5) and one multi-use zone. The majority of these zones are located on the North side of Newton, there could eventually be a one shop or more in Auburndale, Newtonville and possibly Nonantum if marijuana sales are allowed in Newton. The rules are still being developed so it is not possible to predict exactly how many and where shops may be located. Stay tuned to the upcoming zoning hearings to be conducted by the Zoning and Planning Committee.
Note that one medicinal shop, Garden Remedies, on Washington St. is grandfathered in and exempted from the moratorium on recreational sales, therefore Garden Remedies can and has applied for a permit to sell recreational marijuana. That petition is currently before the Council.
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Newton Power Choice(NPC) is coming to Newton this fall. This group electricity purchasing program, called an aggregation, is a State law allowing communities to bulk purchase their power. Over 130 cities and towns in the Commonwealth have already aggregated for the various benefits it offers such as consumer protections, price stability and most importantly for the opportunity to address climate change by significantly increasing the amount of New England-based renewable energy in the supply.
Eversource Basic Service customers will be automatically enrolled in NPC, (Those who have already switched to a third party provider may opt in to NPC). Residents and businesses may choose to "opt out" of the program before being enrolled or at any time after enrollment with no fee or penalty. Other choices include "opt down" to receive no additional renewable electricity above the state mandate, or "opt up" to 100% renewable electricity.
For details about how the program works go to the City site here:
http://masspowerchoice.com/newton
Yet to be determined by the Mayor, is the level of renewables of the standard option. The Newton Coalition for Climate Action (NCCA), strongly supports a 40% percent standard option of New England Class 1 renewable electricity in the initial aggregation contract. This number was based on a survey done of Newton residents’ willingness to pay more for ‘green’ electricity. An additional 40% would be like instantly removing almost 10,000 gas cars off the road—the easiest, and fastest way to address climate change, right here in Newton!
Fighting climate change is good for our children, to ensure a sustainable future; good our economy, by providing jobs and keeping billions of dollars in State; and good for our health, by preventing disease from dirty fossil fuels.
Please sign the letter of support for 40% more ‘green’:
http://newtonclimateaction.org/ncca-letter-of-support/
http://newtonclimateaction.org/coalition-letter/
A list of those who have already signed the letter:
http://newtonclimateaction.org/letter-of-support-signers/
( Thanks to Laya Steinberg for providing the above information )
Streets
I get a lot of calls and emails on streets. I recommend reading the Accelerated Pavement Management Program - Program Update
This publication will give you a background on the City's strategy to improve and maintain the streets. There is a complete listing of all of Newton's streets in this document. Each street has a rating of its overall condition. An interesting read.
Note that much of the work done in Auburndale this summer was actually maintenance, not reconstruction. The City has a schedule of major reconstruction in the guide. This can change given funding and other factors.
The City has budgeted $9.5m this year and likely for subsequent years for road construction and maintenance. Despite this significant budget, more roads need rehabilitation than can be addressed in the short term. The reason for this is that it isn't only about money. Work crews, police details and contemporaneous projects undertaken by the utilities and other government agencies limit how much work can be done at any one time. It's about resources to do the work and traffic flow affected by concurrent projects. In plain English, they're going about as fast as they can given the constraints I just mentioned. The current administration is serious about improving our roads and ensuring our safety, but we have some catch up to do.
I will continue to circulate road construction and maintenance schedules to Ward 4 residents as I receive them.
Lights at Lasell
You may have noticed signs in the neighborhood surrounding Lasell College referring to 70 foot lights. Lasell plans to install 70 foot light towers at Grellier field ( bounded by Aspen, Forest and Studio in Auburndale). There is significant concern from the immediate neighborhood about the lights and about plans to have them on in the evening as often as 197 nights per year. The concerns are related to noise, parking and the illumination of the filed until 9.30 p.m. This is for information. If you want to learn more contact me and I will connect you with the appropriate parties.
Auburndale Square Traffic Hearing
As reported last newsletter, as a result of the February 20 meeting at City Hall the square continues to be subject to ongoing review. A number of changes have been made and will continue to made in response to the ongoing feedback from residents and the observations from the City's traffic engineers.
After the hearing we solicited and accepted citizen volunteers to serve on an Advisory Council for the purpose of recommending improvements to current conditions with respect to traffic in the square. Those residents are Phil Wallas, Laya Steinberg, Stacey Richards and Rob O'Neil. The group has met twice and is working towards a list of recommendations. These are being shared with the Transportation department. The Director of Transportation along with the volunteer chair of Newton's Traffic Advisory group also attend these meetings. I will have more to report on this next time. In the meantime I relay your concerns to the Director and there are ongoing follow-ups to specific concerns. In addition to the square I have asked for and received directed police patrols ( an officer stationed ad-hoc ) for Concord, Webster and other streets.
Zoning Reform
This item deserves its own newsletter. I will have more for you next month. I recommend that you pay attention to what is already published in draft regarding possible changes to our existing zoning. You can read about the plans and importantly, have a look at the draft zoning map using this link.
It is important to understand that the City is moving towards a concept called "context based zoning". This means that the existing focus on dimensional controls ( height, lot coverage, setbacks etc ) will likely become less important in zoning decisions. In their place will be a consideration of the current context and character of the area. That is, what types of buildings and uses are in place now, and a perspective that existing context should guide how that land is used in the future. More to come. A presentation of this to the public is on October 22nd in Room 205 of City Hall.
USE 311 - When you have a need that can possibly be addressed by the DPW or other city departments, take a look at the 311 site here. Regardless of whether you call a councilor about plowing, downed or missing signs, traffic issues, etc. it is advisable to get it into the system in addition to making that call. When you call me, I often wind up doing that if you have not already done so. Councilors are happy to assist with followup, but the first step should be to get it recorded. You can also call 311 from your landline. You can also use the app on your mobile device.
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