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Waban Area Council Survey September 2023

11.Village Center Rezoning

WHO WE ARE

The Waban Area Council (WAC) serves as a communication link between residents, businesses, and the City Council. The WAC is a 9-member elected body. Three other villages have established Area Councils (Newtonville, Newton Highlands, and Newton Upper Falls).
 
WHY WE SURVEY
      
We conduct and publish surveys on issues like zoning, quality of life, and social opportunities, to share community opinions with the City Council. We strive to emphasize the importance of residents' voices in city decisions.
The purpose of this survey is to collect input from Waban/Newton residents and business owners about Village Center Rezoning as it relates to Waban. We have constructed the survey to be as informative and as objective as possible.
 
The survey results will be assembled, analyzed, and published. It will be shared with the Zoning and Planning Committee (ZAP), the City Council, and the Mayor through proper public channels. We will also share the results through our WAC email list and website.
 
On September 12, 2023, the Planning Dept. issued its latest version, Version 3, of the Village Center rezoning. A public hearing is scheduled on September 26, 2023, and we encourage you to attend and speak. Zoom Meeting Link The City Council is planning to vote on the proposed zoning this fall.
 We thank you in advance for your participation.

DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS

This survey is for Newton residents or business owners 18 or older. The questions help us understand who is participating in this survey.
1.Please provide us with your Street address
2.Please provide us with your Zip Code(Required.)
3.What Ward do you live in?(Required.)
4.Confirm you are over 18 years of age.(Required.)
5.How long have you lived in Waban?(Required.)
6.If you answered you live outside of Waban, how long have you lived in Newton?
7.What are the reasons that you visit the Waban Village Center? Please select all that apply:
TRANSIT & PARKING
We are interested in how you get around Waban. We know that not everyone has a vehicle of their own, or is able to drive, therefore, we have attempted to frame the questions in a way that is more inclusive.
8.What is the PRIMARY mode of transit you use to get to Waban Center. Please select one.
9.What is your SECONDARY mode of transit to get to Waban Center.
Please select all that apply.
10.If you indicated that you drive/are driven in a privately owned vehicle to Waban Center, please let us know what parking areas you or the driver uses. Please select all that apply:
VILLAGE CENTER REZONING - SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
This next section of the survey focuses only on Village Center Rezoning, a future survey on MBTA Communities will be drafted at a later date.

Over the past two years, the Mayor, her Planning team, the City Council's Zoning and Planning Committee, and the consultants from UTILE have jointly worked on drafting new, higher housing density zoning in our village centers and surrounding areas. This effort aims to achieve two main objectives:
  • To bring Newton into compliance with the state's MBTA Communities Act, the city is required to zone for 8,330 housing units within a half-mile of transit stations. However, a joint city councilors' analysis of the city's compliance plan shows that it proposes around 10,000 units, significantly surpassing the required 8,330 units. This zoning must be adopted by December 31, 2023. 
  • In addition, the same analysis of Newton's proposed "Village Center Overlay District" or VCOD zoning will add around 5,000 more units in other village centers (Auburndale, Four Corners, Lower Falls, Newton Corner, Nonantum, Thompsonville, and Upper Falls) that do not comply with the MBTA Communities Act requirements.
If adopted, the Village Center rezoning would allow developers to build larger and taller buildings By Right*. Special permits** would still be required for lots over 30,000 sq.feet unless utilizing the Adaptive Reuse*** process.

*By-Right: If a property is zoned for BY RIGHT development, a developer can construct a building if it complies with the ordinance’s permitted building height, setbacks, building footprint, design standards, etc. Today, a Special Permit is required for a building that is 20,000 sq. feet or more. 

**Special Permit: A Special Permit requires notification of abutters and a public hearing. The process facilitates negotiations with the developer over changes to the project (such as adding community amenities and design improvements) and mitigation payments from the developer to offset community impacts that taxpayers would otherwise have to fund -- often 100s of thousands of dollars. 

***Adaptive Reuse: Adaptive reuse refers to the process of taking an existing structure and updating or adapting it for a purpose other than its original intended use. For example, converting a historic lighthouse into a museum or an old church into a concert venue.

On September 12, 2023, the Planning Dept. issued its latest version, Version 3, of the Village Center rezoning. A public hearing is scheduled on September 26, 2023, and we encourage you to attend and speak. The City Council is planning to vote on the proposed zoning sometime this fall.
11.On a scale of 1-5, how informed are you about the Village Center Rezoning
Proposal?
0 - uniformed
5 - highly informed
12.Should Newton allow new developments to be built By Right (i.e., without obtaining a Special Permit) on lots less than 30,000 sq. foot lot per the proposed new zoning? Presently a Special Permit is required for multi-families beyond 2 units or a building over 20,000 sq. ft.
(For reference, the Staples Craft/Suzuki School at 1615 Beacon Street is 31,055 sq. ft.)
EXPLANATION OF BUILDING HEIGHT & BONUS PROVISION

Under the current zoning code, each story of a building has an allowed height of 12 feet. The Village Centers rezoning proposal would allow mixed-use buildings with ground floor retail space up to 15 feet ground floor height on most commercial (priority) streets, all other streets are 12 feet.

The Village Center Rezoning proposal also calls for the top story of buildings to have either (a) a sloped (pitched) roof or (b) a flat roof with the top story set back 10’ along the building's front and rear. The Village Centers Rezoning proposal refers to the top story of these building heights as a "half" (or "0.5") story but is in fact, a full story height. Thus, the Village Centers Rezoning proposal refers to a 5-story building as a "4.5" story building. Consequently, in this survey, we refer to building heights using the total number of stories from the ground floor to the top of the building.

"Affordable Housing Units" refers to the inventory of housing that is available for rent or ownership by households who meet specific income eligibility requirements. Typically those that earn 50-80% of Newton's Area Median Income (AMI). Currently, Newton’s Inclusionary Zoning policy requires 15% of rental housing units to be Affordable, on average, to households making 65% of Area Median Income ($91,150 for a family of four).  For more information, see table below.

Table 1:
Table 2:



The current Village Center Rezoning Draft is proposing a "density bonus." This bonus would allow developers who are including an additional percentage of Affordable Units in a building to build an additional story and an additional 2,500 sq ft. to the building footprint. 
13.For buildings that do not include the Affordable Housing "Bonus" floor provision, what building height do you think should be the maximum allowed in Waban's Village Center? Please select one per row.
3 Stories Tall
4 Stories Tall
5 Stories Tall
6 Stories Tall
Don't know/No Opinion
Beacon Street
Wyman Street
Woodward Street
Windsor Road
Pine Ridge Road
14.Currently, Newton Inclusionary Zoning generally requires a range of 15 to 20% of housing units to be Affordable ($91,150/annual household income for a family of 4 at 65% AMI). There is a proposal that permits a "Bonus" floor increase in building height and footprint while stipulating an increase in the percentage of Affordable units.
Which combination of height and Affordability do you prefer? Please select one per row.
4 Stories Tall
15-20%
Affordable
5 Stories Tall
15-20%
Affordable
5 Stories Tall
+ 25%
Affordable Bonus
6 Stories Tall
+ 25%
Affordable Bonus
Don't
Know/No
Opinion
Beacon Street
Wyman Street
Woodward Street
Windsor Road
Pine Ridge Road
15.Knowing that the city of Newton has 8.67% of our existing housing as affordable housing units on the SHI (Subsidized Housing Inventory - updated 6/29/2023).
I believe the City of Newton has...
Select all that apply:
16.What minimum amount of parking should be required for new multi-unit housing? Please select one.
17.Please use this space to provide us with your thoughts on the Village Center Rezoning proposals and potential changes. Comments will be summarized and presented to city leaders according to WAC's mission. 
Civility Note: When writing, please remember that the WAC encourages thoughtful and civil dialogue.
HOW YOU STAY INFORMED
Staying informed on local news is important. We are wondering how you stay up on local news.
18.How do you get news about Newton City politics, community announcements and other local initiatives? Please select all that apply:
19.Some elected officials and services in the City of Newton have their own electronic communications. Please let us know which you subscribe to and read regularly. Please select all that apply:
20.Since you are receiving this survey, you are already on our email list. Please let us know if you would like the WAC to send you the final results of this survey.
Thank you for your time and for participating in this important survey. If you have questions, please go to www.wabanareacouncil.com
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