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Watertown Square Plan Approved by Council & Planning Board; Zoning & Design to Occur This Fall

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City Manager George Proakis addresses the City Council and Planning Board at the Watertown Square Area Plan hearing on July 16. (Photo by Charlie Breitrose)

After three meetings, and nearly 10 hours of discussion and public comment, the City Council and Planning Board approved the Watertown Square Area Plan on Tuesday night. The plan was amended by the Council, but retained the major goals of the version first discussed by the boards at the first meeting on June 13: a by-right housing unit capacity of 3,133; and the Four Corners reconfiguration of the Watertown Square roadways, which removes Charles River Road from the intersection. The details of the zoning and design to make the plan a reality will take place this fall, including some public meetings. During the public comment period, multiple people suggested the vote be postponed, and/or that the City should only allow for the minimum housing capacity required by the state, 1,701.

Around Town

LETTER: Open Letter to the Council on the Watertown Square Area Plan

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To: Watertown City CouncilorsFrom: Linda ScottSubject: Response to Councilor Gannon’s comments on Watertown’s History on June 27, 2024ATTN: Please include this letter in the record and read at the July 16th Joint Hearing

Dear John,

I am sending this to all of the City Councilors, but I’m addressing it to you, since I am responding to the comments that you made about the history of Watertown at the June 27 Joint Meeting of the City Council and the Planning Board. Your comments gave me food for thought. I thought about how circular the path of Watertown has been … large, broken down factories replaced with office space. That gave way to Bio Tech labs. It’s been a pattern in Watertown’s history to go all-in on one thing.

Around Town

LETTER: A Look at Recommended Amendments to Watertown Square Area Plan

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By Linda ScottWatertown Resident

As I was perusing my e-mail on Friday, late afternoon, I saw this:

Subject Line: Watertown Square: Continued Joint Hearing on 7/16 at 6 PM & Kids Space! Oh, I thought. That’s the announcement of this Tuesday’s meeting at the Middle School to have more resident input on the “Watertown Square Area Plan.” I didn’t think much of it, until a (really) alert resident actually opened this up to find pages of additions and corrections to the Square Area Plan document! Yes, I opened this message and saw a link entitled: “Recommended Amendments to the Plan”Click here to see the amendements to the plan. As I opened this link up, my first thought was, “This is a whole lot to dump on the Council, Planning Board and the public just a few days away from this very important meeting!”

I also thought, “What a confusing presentation!

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Square Plan Decision Should be Made by More than Just Council & Planning Board

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Dear Editor,

It appears Watertown has had Comprehensive Planning Study after Comprehensive PlanningStudies. I served this fair city in a few elected positions for a number of years and am dumbfounded by what I see today. I have considered or prided myself in being a positive person or at least I strived to be. I know many people associate me with flipping burgers; however, before I was a Burger King Franchisee, I spent twenty-five years with the United States Public Health Service (PHS), principally working with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). My first assignment out of College was in Los Angeles, then Albuquerque, New Mexico then Boston.

Government

Next Watertown Square Area Plan Hearing Set for July 16

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The City of Watertown provided the following information:

The Joint Hearing to discuss the Watertown Square Area Plan will continue on July 16, at 6 p.m. in the Watertown Middle School Auditorium at 68 Waverley Avenue in Watertown. This is a continuation of the Joint Hearing held on June 13 and June 27 in the same location. 

This Hearing will be a hybrid meeting, meaning you will have the opportunity to participate virtually on Zoom or in-person. You will also be able to watch the Hearing live online on WCA-TV. 

Access the Plan Document, Q+A Sheet, Hearing’s Recordings, and the June 13 Hearing’s Presentation

We encourage everyone to visit the project website to learn more and to access the plan document. Printed copies of the Plan Document can be found at the Watertown Library and Senior Center. The City of Watertown has also developed a packet of responses to questions about the Watertown Square Area Plan that have been collected from the previous Hearings. If you missed it, we encourage all to watch the recordings of the June 13 and June 27 Hearings, as well as access the slide presentation given by the Project Team about the Plan Document. For more information about the project, or to ask a question about the Joint Hearing, please visit the project website. 

You can also contact the City by dialing 311 in Watertown or by calling 617-715-8660. https://www.watertownmanews.com/2024/07/01/city-council-planning-board-weigh-in-on-watertown-square-area-plan

Government

City Council & Planning Board Weigh In on Watertown Square Area Plan

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Traffic flows and affordable housing remained front and center issues for city officials who gathered on June 27th to discuss — for the second time this year — the comprehensive redevelopment plan for Watertown Square. The discussion among the City Councilors and Planning Board members circled around what the sticking points of the Watertown Square Area Plan were and how, exactly, they should move forward. “Watertown Square is a failed concept. It’s been failing for 30 years. We need housing.

Around Town

LETTER: Reflections on Deliberations by City Council & Planning Board on Watertown Square Area Plan

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I’ve participated in every public meeting since October 2023 and I have publicly supported a renaissance for our city center through the Watertown Square Area Plan … both the 4 Corners streetscape and the proposed zoning changes to enable new housing of at least 3,300 unit capacity. I call these “imaginary units” because the concept of unit capacity assumes that existing landowners will tear down whatever exists on their property today and build housing up to the plan limits (an unlikely scenario at best). I strongly oppose the suggestion to limit “imaginary units” to 1701, either as a so-called “Phase1” or as a final number. The phased approach suggested by one Planning Board member seemslike a thinly veiled attempt to kick the controversy down the road in hopes that a highernumber will ultimately be rejected. However, the 1,701 number is too low to achieve our goalsto make Watertown Square a vibrant, attractive city center and an economically viable place forsmall businesses.

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LETTER: Charles River Chamber Supports Watertown Square Plan

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Dear City Councilors and Planning Board:

The Charles River Regional Chamber enthusiastically supports the Watertown Square Area Plan. This refreshing reimaging of Watertown Square was created through a remarkably collaborative public process and positions the square to become something we can all be proud of. This plan transforms the square’s most frustrating and unwelcoming traffic patterns, replacing it with a vision that welcomes pedestrians, cyclists, bus commuters, and drivers. 

This plan greatly enhances our existing restaurants’, retailers’, and other merchants’ long-term viability while opening new opportunities and a desirable environment for new businesses.  

This plan smartly unlocks opportunities for multi-family housing, addressing a desperate need for employers struggling to hire, young professionals and their families to live, and for seniors looking to downsize. And this plan creates new open public spaces, transforms the Delta into a desirable destination, and opens access to our favorite river. While there may ultimately be a need to adjust particular building heights or the angle of an intersection, those are deliberations for a later time through the zoning process, streetscape evaluations and other subsequent steps.  We also are concerned that the ultimate execution of this project is carefully managed to minimize disruption to existing businesses.