Development

Design Standards – What They Are, What Residents Want

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More than 100 people showed up Wednesday night to find out about Watertown’s new design standards and give input about what they hope to get from them. Design standards and guidelines provide a visual and detailed explanation for how town zoning rules will work. The Town Council approved hiring David Gamble of Gamble Associates to create the new set of standards. During the meeting at Watertown Middle School – Gamble, who is also a Watertown resident – explained what design standards and guidelines can do and what they cannot do. They can:

Improve the character of new developments
Articulate standards of quality
Provide Examples
Represent spatial and dimensional criteria graphically

Gamble also warned they can also go too far, and make all new buildings look the same or be too restrictive.

Around Town

Victory Field Plans Scrapped, Requirement for Project – Grass

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The effort to renovate the track area of Victory Field will start again from scratch and Town Council President Mark Sideris gave the group in charge of designing it one directive – it must have natural grass. The plan for Phase 2 of the Victory Field renovation included replacing the grass in the middle of the track with artificial turf. The Town Council asked the architects to make some changes to the plan at the Sept. 23 meeting, but Town Council President Mark Sideris proposed starting the project over at Tuesday night’s Council meeting. The plan had been drawn up by architects from CDM and officials from the Recreation Department. Residents made it clear at two meetings in September, that the majority of the people opposed parts of the project – mostly the artificial turf.

Development

Planning Board Debates Changes to Pleasant Street Zoning

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The Planning Board debated whether to set aside certain parts of the Pleasant Street Corridor for commercial and retail projects, or leave it open for any types of development. Last week, the board looked at proposed changes to the Pleasant Street Corridor zoning. The special zoning area was created seven years ago to encourage redevelopment of former industrial properties on the West End of Watertown. Most of the projects that have resulted have been large residential ones, some of which were criticized for being too tall and too close to Pleasant Street. The Town Council asked for changes to the zoning to encourage other kinds of projects.

Government

Town Looking at Raising Age of Buying Cigarettes to 21

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A public hearing will be held to discuss raising the legal age of tobacco sales in Watertown. The current minimum age to buy tobacco products in Watertown is 19, but the proposal from the Board of Health would raise it to 21. The hearing will be held on Monday, Oct. 20 at 8:15 p.m. in the Council Chamber in Town Hall, 149 Main St. The town has two regulations for tobacco, and the Board of Health also seeks to combine them into one called “Regulation Regarding Smoking and the Sale and Use of Tobacco and Nicotine Delivery Products.”

“We hope this will eliminate any confusion finding all of the tobacco regulations in one place,” said an announcement by the Board of Health.

Government

See How the Schools Used Nearly $1 Million From the Town

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At Monday’s School Committee meeting, Watertown School officials detailed how they used an infusion of nearly $1 million it received from the town budget last spring. The one-time funds were provided as a boost to the curriculum. The money went to upgrade technology and to update curriculum materials, said Assistant Superintendent Dari Donovan. The district received $210,000 from the Fiscal 2014 budget and $750,000 from the Fiscal 2015 budget. Due to tight budgets, curriculum materials have not been updated in some time, Donovan said.

Development

Watertown Could Get 15 More Liquor Licenses for Restaurants

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In hopes of attracting more restaurants and commercial or mixed-use developments, Town Councilors have been exploring how to add up up to 15 liquor licenses in town, but they still must figure out where to put them. Watertown has 32 liquor licenses given to the town by the state through a quota system based on the town’s population. Communities can ask for more through a special act of the State Legislature, which is what the Town Council plans to do. A joint group Council subcommittee – Rules & Ordinances, Economic Development & Planning, and Public Safety – met Tuesday to discuss the issue. The group looked at adding 15 to accommodate recently approved projects with restaurants, projects coming down the line with restaurants and some of additional projects.

Development

Traffic a Concern for Some With Proposal to Renovate Grove Street Site

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Residents recently got their first look at local developers plans to redevelop the former GE Ionics building at 65 Grove St. Cresset Grove LLC. unveiled its proposed plans to redevelop the former GE building during a community meeting at the Coolidge School apartment complex on Monday Sept. 29. The proposed plans includes large glass windows that would make the building more transparent, a roof terrace, improved drainage system in the parking lot, and a four-story 350 car garage with a bamboo screen wall along the back.

Development

East Watertown CVS Project on Next Planning Board Agenda

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The CVS/Pharmacy proposed to go at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Arlington streets is on the agenda for the Oct. 8 Planning Board meeting. Developers, Coolidge Square II LLC,  held a community meeting in August where many residents worried about the amount of traffic coming in and out of the new store. Others did not like the reconfiguration of the parking lot that would serve not only the CVS but also other businesses on the block such as the Mt.