Development

Town Houses Proposed to Go on Watertown Masonic Temple Site

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A community meeting will be held to discuss plans to redevelop the Masonic Temple on Church Street and put townhouses on the site. Petitioner PNG, LLC will host the meeting on Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room in the Watertown Police Station, 552 Main St. Before the project is built a special permit must be approved. The plan calls for building five townhouses in two buildings on the Masonic Center at 32 Church St. (across from First Parish Church) which sits on a 17,685 square foot lot.

Business

Watertown Dealing with Good and Bad of Booming Development

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Watertown and Belmont are undergoing development booms, which has bolstered town budgets, but also come with struggles, such as traffic and schools bulging at the seams, officials said at the Watertown Belmont Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Towns breakfast on Thursday. Watertown is about to see more than 600 apartments come online on Arsenal Street this year, said Assistant Town Manager Steve Magoon. The town seeks to increase its revenue by encouraging more hotels and restaurants. “We had 15 additional liquor licenses approved by the Legislature, which will be an important component in brining restaurants and economic growth the community,” Magoon said. “The Marriott Residence Inn is a 150 room hotel expected to be completed in August.”

Development

LETTER: Resident Offers Recommendations to Council on RMUD Zoning

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Dear Town Councilors et al.,

Please consider the following recommendations regarding the proposed rezoning of the eastern end of the Arsenal Street corridor. Some of the following will be familiar to some of you, some of it is new. The Process:

Timing: It is more important to thoroughly consider the details of rezoning than to enact a rezoning by any particular date. If there are concerns about potential of-right development under the current zoning, a brief moratorium on large development in the proposed RMU area, until the rezoning is adopted, would be appropriate. Evaluate as a package: The rezoning should be evaluated as a package.

Development

New Mixed-Use Project on Pleasant St. to be Discussed at Community Meeting

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A community meeting will be held to discuss a proposed mixed-use project at 330-350 Pleasant Street. The Community Meeting will be held in the Community Room at the Watertown Police Headquarters, 552 Main St. on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016 starting at 7 p.m.

The meeting sponsored by Councilor Ken Woodland and the Petitioner’s Project Design Team. The project is located on Pleasant Street near the intersection with Rosedale Road. For more information, please contact Terry Morris at tpmorris.landuse.law@comcast.net, or 617-202-9132.

Development

Town, Citizens Group Hosting Meetings on Zoning Changes Near Malls

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The proposal to change the zoning for the area around the malls on Arsenal Street has sparked much concern and many questions, and both the town and citizen group Sustainable Watertown will host meetings to discuss the proposed Regional Mixed Use District (RMUD). During Monday night’s Watertown Inauguration Ceremony, Town Council President Mark Sideris announced a pair of meetings about the RMUD hosted by the town and to be held at the Arsenal Project. Both meetings will be held on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., the first will be on Jan. 9 and the second on Jan. 16.

Around Town

See the Top Stories of 2015 from Watertown News

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Big issues seemed to be everywhere you looked around Watertown in 2015, with new developments, the firefighter contract, the opioid epidemic and the Town Election, plus Watertown athletes enjoyed great success. Development
Rising above all the major issues this year was development. A number of major projects were proposed in town, many of which were approved. In January, the controversial East Watertown CVS got approved. In June, the major apartment complex on Arsenal Street, Elan Watertown, received approval – a project that went through the town’s new Design Standards and Guidelines.

Development

LETTER: Former Town Councilor Worried About RMUD Proposal

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Letter to the Editor

I attended the council subcommittee meeting last week and came out upset. This is the most important issue this Council will face and three council members voted on amendments to present to the full nine member council for their vote at their regular council meeting. A recommendation for crucial amendments including zoning for this major development should not have been sent to a subcommittee as well-meaning the members are. First, I want to address the manner in which the Chair Councillor Steve Corbett so rudely ruled Deborah Peterson out of order as soon as she was beginning to present her statement. This is unacceptable and never should be condoned.

Arsenal on the Charles

Athenahealth Gets OK to Start Master Plan, With Some Alterations

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Many neighbors and other residents  are worried about what the new Arsenal on the Charles complex will look like, and the owners – athenahealth – will now be able to make give a more detailed presentation after the Town Council approved a master plan process. Athenahealth purchased the former U.S. Army complex from Harvard University, and plans to make a corporate headquarters with a retail section. The company wants to know they will be able to do the whole project, and seeks to get a master plan approved to layout the changes. Monday night the Town Council approved changing in the town zoning that will allow for a master plan to be proposed, and added some limits to what can be built at the Arsenal. New buildings, a parking garage and glassing in the space between the set of long buildings on the eastside of the Arsenal are proposed.