Development

Residents Invited to Hear About Complex Planned for Irving, Arsenal Streets

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See the design of the apartment complex at the corner of Irving and Arsenal streets known as Elan that will be submitted to the Planning Board by Greystar. The project that will go on the former Pirolli brick yard has been following the recommendations of the Watertown design standards and design guidelines, and will include around 270 apartments along with space for stores and a restaurant. The meeting will be held Monday, March 9 from 6-8 p.m. at the Apartments at Coolidge School, 319 Arlington St. in Watertown. Developers Greystar Real Estate Partners and Oaktree FX have periodically met with residents to show designs and get feedback.

Business

Governor Wants to Know if Businesses Had Losses Due to Bad Weather

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Gov. Charlie Baker will be applying for federal relief for businesses in Massachusetts that had losses due to the recent stretch of bad weather, and the Watertown Belmont Chamber of Commerce can help. 

Businesses are being asked to participate in a survey organized by chambers of commerce and business groups to gauge the impact of the winter weather. The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5SNZLYS

The deadline for survey responses is  noon on Monday, March 2, 2015.

Development

Draft of Watertown’s New Design Standards Revealed, Planning Board to Review

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A set up new rules for how commercial and large residential projects can built in Watertown has been revealed, the Planning Board will soon review them at a public meeting. The design guidelines – recommendations for how projects will be built – and design standards – legally binding rules – have been months in the making. In August, when residents pushed for a moratorium on new developments after a number of unpopular projects were built on Pleasant Street and others proposed for Arsenal Street, The Town Council decided instead to to hire a consultant to create the new design guidelines and design standards. This week three documents were released on the the Town’s website, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon: (Click on the titles to view the document)

DRAFT Design Standards – The recommended Design Standards Document is a companion to the Design Guidelines Book and identifies recommendations  to update the Zoning Ordinance.  The document has recommended amendment language by Zoning Article.

Government

Town Fines Property Owner for Creating Snow Dump

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The owner of the site where a hotel has been proposed has been fined by the Town of Watertown for setting up a snow storage yard on the property. Trucks have been seen delivering loads of snow to 80 Elm Street, said East End Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis. The snow has been piled so high, she said, that it now is taller than the Watertown Mall, which sits next door. “Doing this is disrespectful to the East End of Watertown,” Kounelis said. “The East End should not be perceived as a dumping ground.”

Government

Council Subcommittee Will Examine Impact of Olympics on Watertown

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A committee will be created to look at potential impacts of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games on Watertown if Boston is awarded the event. The ad hoc committee was first proposed by Councilor Tony Palomba in January and in February the Town Council voted to send the issue to the Human Services Committee to discuss creating the committee. Palomba is chair of that subcommittee. It will be some time until it is known whether Boston gets the Olympics and Paralympics. The bid will be developed by the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts between September 2015 and January 2016, and Palomba wants to make sure Watertown is prepared.

Government

See Which Streets Are on the List to be Repaired This Summer

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The list of Watertown Streets planned to be repaired this summer is not long, and Town Councilors said they would like it to be longer during last week’s Pubic Works subcommittee meeting. Town Engineer Matt Schuman presented the draft list, which includes four project:

Complete replacement of the roadway at Waltham Street from Bridge Street to the Waltham line. Complete replacement of the roadway at Fifield Street from Irving Street to Perkins School after gas lines have been replaced in the spring. Complete replacement of the roadway for the whole length of Lowell Avenue after gas lines have been replaced in the spring. Installation of traffic tables at Church and Palfrey streets and Church and Fayette streets, as well as other traffic calming and safety measures.

Around Town

Watertown Library Wants to Hear from Young Professionals

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The Watertown Free Public Library wants to know what young professionals are looking for from their library. The library has created a short questionnaire for people age 20-40 who live or work in Watertown – or would consider using the library. “Whether or not you’re using the library, we want to hear what you think. Remember, we want to hear what YOU want, we’ve got the kids covered already,” the Library said in its survey. Go to the survey by clicking here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EK2uB1HvNcL5ETLGXO9RuGJDW5kobfBsWY6g7Sa5FUM/viewform

Development

East End Residents Worry Traffic from New Project Will Overwhelm Neighborhood

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The former Verizon building has an Arsenal Street address, but it sits right against Nichols Avenue so developers would like to open an entrance on that street – a plan that has East Watertown residents worried. Representatives from Boylston Properties revealed plans to turn the former truck facility into office space for tech companies on Wednesday evening. The building would have 185,595 sq. ft. of office space with 565 parking spaces, including a one-story parking deck.