Around Town

Save the Date for the Next Watertown Square Area Plan Meeting

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The City of Watertown provided the following information:

Save the Date: The Joint Hearing to discuss the Watertown Square Area Plan will continue on June 27, 2024 at 6pm in the Watertown Middle School Auditorium at 68 Waverley Avenue in Watertown. This is a continuation of the Joint Hearing held on June 13 in the same location. We encourage everyone to visit the project website to learn more, and to access the plan document (PDF). This Hearing will be a hybrid meeting, meaning you have the opportunity to join virtually on Zoom or in-person. You will also be able to watch the Hearing live online on WCA-TV.

Around Town

OP-ED: Reflections on the First Watertown Square Plan Hearing

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By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

Part 1: Thomas Jefferson: “That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.”

At last Thursday night’s Joint Hearing of the City Council and the Planning Board, the purpose was to gather community information and evaluate the Watertown Square Area Plan. According to Watertown News: “A large group of people supported the plan…” and “A significant number of people spoke out against parts of the project.”

This description is both brief and accurate. Many Watertown residents went to the podium to announce their “strong support” for this plan and/or to support it with the caveat that they’d like even more density. One by one, community members, finding no reason to look deeper into this plan, went up to the podium and started their comments with a cookie-cutter like “I strongly support this plan” and “I don’t think it goes far enough.”

They’d be a bit more convincing if some residents who agreed with this position hadn’t chosen to hold up their middle fingers and hiss behind the backs of those people who had more substantive and nuanced questions to be answered. Every Watertown resident is entitled to be heard, without such disrespectful antics.

Around Town

LETTER: Green Infrastructure Must be Part of the Watertown Square Area Plan

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The following letter was submitted to be read at the June 13, 2024 Watertown Square Area Plan meeting:

Dear Vincent, Watertown Planning Board, and Watertown City Council:

I am sorry I cannot attend in person this evening, so I hope that this can go on the Public record as my comment:

—–

First, I just want to say that I have been excited to hear about the plans for Watertown Square to develop the area — much-needed improvements in public transportation, walkability, bike-ability, drive-ability, housing, local businesses, and our community as a whole, and I can say that the people of Watertown have very much appreciated your including the residents in the planning process. We have had the chance to voice our concerns, and we are grateful for that. 

Thank you to all of those who are working to make this the best plan for Watertown. I realize there is momentum to give the plan a GREEN light. However, please hear me out when I say tonight that I think that as good as this plan is, there is still a huge, critical piece that is missing and a means to make this plan much better for the future of Watertown. I hope that with my speaking up tonight, members of the Planning Board and City Council, and hopefully also any residents of Watertown who are listening, will consider taking the necessary steps to further optimize the plan to encompass that which is missing: 

Urban Ecological Planning and Living Green Infrastructure.

Around Town

Latest Draft of Watertown Square Area Plan Has Some Changes, More Detail

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Public Weighed-in on Proposal at Thursday’s Meeting, No Vote Taken

City Manager George Proakis presents the Watertown Square Area Plan draft to the Planning Board and City Council on Thursday night at Watertown Middle School. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

City officials presented the latest draft of the Watertown Square Area Plan to the public on Thursday night, but the City Council and Planning Board did not take a vote on the proposal. They will reconvene in two weeks to continue discussing the report. At the meeting held at Watertown Middle School, City Manager George Proakis said even when the draft is approved, it will not be the end of the process. Rather, he paraphrased a Winston Churchill quote from World War II,

“I actually think we are at the end of the beginning of this process by handing you over a plan,” Proakis said.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Business Coalition’s Asks for the Watertown Square Area Plan

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To Our Neighbors on the City Council & Planning Board,

We are writing to you today on behalf of the business community in and around Watertown Square. The Watertown Business Coalition (WBC) considers itself a community organization, so the thoughts presented herein are a balance between what is best for all stakeholders (residents, businesses, property owners, nonprofits and more …) in Watertown Square. The WBC has been actively engaged with the community since the Watertown Square Area Plan (WSAP) efforts began in Fall 2023, from holding WBC community events, kitchen table conversations, business roundtables, one-on-one meetings, and taking part in the several phases of planning run by the City. A myriad of ideas and suggestions have come from this process to lead us towards the proposed redesign and transformation of the Watertown Square Area. Two themes that continue to dominate conversation are traffic and housing.

Government

Watertown Square Meeting Thursday Night, Kids Activities Available

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The City of Watertown provided the following information:

The Watertown Square Area Plan will be discussed at the upcoming Joint City Council and Planning Board Hearing on June 13 at 6 PM in the Watertown Middle School Auditorium. The Hearing will include a presentation from the Project Team, followed by an opportunity for public comment. You can access the full agenda for the Joint Hearing here. 

You can access the plan document on the project’s website or in the above agenda packet to learn about the Draft Plan. This Hearing is a hybrid meeting and you can give public comment either in-person or virtually. To join virtually, you can access the Hearing on June 13 by using this Zoom link, which can also be found on the project’s website and in the agenda above. The City of Watertown’s Recreation Department will also be hosting a “kids-space” during the Hearing for kids ages 5-12 in the Middle School Cafeteria to accommodate those attending! 

Printed copies of the Plan Document can be found at the Watertown Library and Senior Center. You can learn more about the project at the Watertown Square Area Plan website, where you can also reach out with any questions about the Joint Hearing.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Housing Group Supports Proposed Watertown Square Area Plan

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As advocates for housing availability and affordability in Watertown, we have closely followed the Watertown Square Area Plan process since its kickoff last Fall. Throughout the kitchen table conversations, online surveys, and countless community meetings that we’ve participated in, we’ve watched a plan emerge that manages to balance a wide range of perspectives. As a result, the core elements of the plan garner support from two-thirds of recent survey respondents. Supporting the Plan

While we believe that significantly more work needs to be done to address the housing crisis, this plan represents an important step toward allowing more housing in our city. We strongly urge all who support more housing, a more walkable and bikeable community, and a more vibrant downtown to attend this Thursday’s meeting at the Middle School and speak in support of it.

Around Town

LETTER: It’s All About Control and What Our Community Wants

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I recently read the article in Watertown News, dated May 16, 2024, entitled: What to Expect at Next Watertown Square Meeting, Manager will Also Discuss Zoning on Prior Day. The meeting at Watertown Middle School auditorium (68 Waverley Avenue) on June 13th at 6:00 p.m. that is highlighted is an important one. More to come on that. Let me quote Mr. Proakis in that Watertown News article: “(The MBTA Communities Law number) is not a production goal, it is not a production expectation. That is not, you know, thou shalt build 1,700 units or some other number — 3,100 units or whatever it might be,” Proakis said.