Development

Town Hiring Consultant to Create New Design Standards, Guidelines

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The Town Council agreed to hire local architect to put together a new set of design standards and guidelines in an effort to protect residential neighborhoods from new developments. 

The town will work with David Gamble of Gamble Associates to will put together the new set of rules, Director of Community Development and Planning Steve Magoon said. The work will be done in three phases, Magoon said. During the first phase Gamble will gather information and documents about design standards and guidelines on the local, regional and national levels. He will also meet with stakeholders and reach out to others to find out issues face Watertown. In the second phase, a draft of the design standards and guidelines will be created, and Gamble will look at what changes would result and what problems might arise.

Around Town

Watertown Named One of Top Places to Live in New England

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Watertown wound up near the top of the best places to live in New England list made by Movoto.com. Coming in at third in the Top 10 Best Places in New England, the list noted Watertown’s historic and cultural amenities and low crime and unemployment rates. The food offerings at restaurants and markets in town were also pluses in the town’s favor. The criteria examined were amenities, quality of life, crime, tax rate, unemployment, commute time and weather. See the entire list by clicking here.

Real Estate

Home Sales for the Week in Watertown

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A couple of homes sold in Watertown this week. See the details here. $590,000 – 126 Winsor Avenue, 2 unit, 10 total room, 4 total bedroom, 2 Family home

$335,000 – 107 Lexington St. Unit 2, 5 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2 Family condo

Business

Council Looking at Allowing BYOB at Watertown Restaurants

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While Watertown officials look at adding more liquor licenses, they will also consider whether restaurants can have bring your own alcohol licenses. Councilor Aaron Dushku, who sits on one of the three subcommittees looking at liquor licenses, said he also wants to consider allowing people to bring their own wine or beer to enjoy with their meal. One of the reasons for having BYOB is so people can have wine and avoid the markup on the wine, Dushku said. “Residents who want to enjoy a fine wine, they can pay the value of the wine which they perceive the price to be,” Dushku said. Restaurants would still be able to charge a corkage fee.

Real Estate

See the Watertown Home Sales for the Week

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Take a look at the Watertown homes that sold this week. 

$305,000 – 12 Howe St Unit 12, 6 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$413,000 – 4 Repton Cir Unit 4402, 4 room, 2 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, Mid-Rise condo/townhouse

$476,500 – 87 Spruce Street Unit 87, 6 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, 2/3 Family condo/townhouse

$545,000 – 115 Evans St.  9 room, 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom, Cape single-family home

Want to feature your open house, or sponsor the real estate stories, contact Watertown News at 617-458-9561 or WatertownMaNews@gmail.com

Business

Town Council Mulls Over Adding More Liquor Licenses

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The Town Council wants to encourage more mixed-use developments to be built in Watertown with restaurants, but to do so the town would need to increase the number of liquor licenses. Three subcommittees got together this week to discuss how many licenses should be added and how they would be distributed. The discussion goes back to 2012, when councilors looked at adding 12 new licenses. Today, Watertown has 33 licenses, including seven that allow service of only beer and wine. All the licenses are accounted for, and the town cannot add any more without getting approval of a special act of the State Legislature.

Real Estate

Here are the Homes that Sold This Week in Watertown

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Four homes sold this week in Watertown. Check out the details below. $311,000 – 32 Whites Ave. Unit F8806, 3 room, 1 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Mid-Rise condo

$725,000 – 35-37 Cypress Street, 3 unit, 6 total bedroom, 3 Family home

Sponsored by:

$365,000 – 90 Belmont St. Unit 90, 6 room, 2 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, 2 Family condo

$405,000 – 4 Repton Cir.

Business

VW Used Car Center Project Stalls at Zoning Board

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The proposal to create a Volkswagen used car center on North Beacon Street hit a road bump Wednesday night when the Zoning Board could not get enough support to take a vote on the project. Boston Volkswagen seeks to build a new used car center at 21 North Beacon St., which as been Sullivan Tire & Auto Service. The project includes renovating the exterior of the building, adding landscaping, reducing the number of service bays and parking at the building, according to Carla Moynihan, an attorney with Robinson & Cole representing Boston Volkswagen.

They also seek to add a new curb cut to create a second driveway into the property, which sits just off of Watertown Square

The Zoning Board members had some problems with the project. Board member John Gannon said the second curb cut is not allowed in the zoning rules, and he would not support a proposal with that feature. He also wondered if a used car dealership was the best use of the property.