Monday, March 11, 2013
During last week's Land Use Committee working session, aldermen brought up a number of questions on the MBTA's proposed parking garage for the Riverside Station site.
As planning and discussion continues on the proposed Riverside Station mixed-use project, Newton aldermen are still looking for more details on the MBTA's proposed six-floor parking garage for the site. During a Land Use Committee working session last week, Aldermen questioned how certain parking would be monitored on the site and what the MBTA would charge for parking in the garage facility. Ward 2 Alderman-at-Large Susan Albright and Ward 7 Alderman-at-Large Marc Laredo asked about the pricing on the garage and whether people using the development's "community space" would have to pay for parking in the garage. "It's a very important question and not just a little detail," Laredo said. Planning Department Director Candace Havens said …
42.335598
-71.252625
/articles/newton-officials-seeking-more-details-on-proposed-mbta-garage
/locations/8985985
Thursday, March 7, 2013
In what will be one of many working sessions for the proposed Riverside Station project, the Newton Board of Aldermen's Land Use Committee Thursday night began discussion on the traffic and parking around the potential development.
After months of public hearings, the developers and traffic engineers working on the proposed Riverside mixed-use development will soon be applying for federal highway approval in order to move forward with the project. The application will request a modification to the Route 128/I-95 "collector-distributor" (or "C-D" road) to allow the construction of the site's proposed entrance. And according to MassDOT Highway Division Administrator Frank DePaola, federal highway officials are likely give their approval. "[Highway officials] feel that we addressed all safety concerns," DePaola said during a Land Use Committee working session Tuesday night. In plans presented at the Riverside project working session, Planning Department Director Candace…
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Newton Land Use Committee voted Tuesday night in favor of closing the public hearing for the special permit application for the proposed Riverside Station mixed-use development, but some concerns remain about certain traffic route options.
Newton aldermen reiterated their concerns Tuesday night regarding potential access to/from the proposed Riverside mixed-use development, and whether the community's preferred traffic plan will have the support of MassDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Transportation and traffic was the focus of Tuesday night's Land Use Committee public hearing on the special permit application and zoning change for the proposed Riverside project. Tuesday was the third night of a hearing that started back in October. The committee heard from various traffic planners as well as a representative from MassDOT, who discussed the proposed roadway changes that will be put in place if the mixed-use development moves forward. "The conceptual layout…
42.33564
-71.252598
/articles/traffic-access-to-riverside-station-site-still-a-key-concern-among-newton-aldermen
/locations/8426599
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The MBTA has also pushed back on the idea of direct highway access to the Riverside site, something officials and residents say would reduce traffic impact on Grove Street.
After numerous public meetings, hearings and discussions about the site, some Newton aldermen and members of the public had a chance Tuesday night to hear initial plans for a MBTA parking garage at the Riverside Station on Grove Street. The garage, although technically an MBTA project, is a crucial piece to BH Normandy's proposed Riverside Station mixed-use development. "[The garage] consolidates the surface parking of the lot into a compact site that is close to the station for convenience and safety of the patrons," said MBTA Director of Facilities and Transit Oriented Development Gretchen Von Grossman. "It creates the opportunity for new development." Following requests from aldermen to attend a public meeting, Von Grossman and MBTA …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Developer BH Normandy is proposing a mixed-use development on the site consisting of a 10-story office building and a five-story residential building.
While the concerns around traffic and pedestrian/cyclist safety continued to resonate at Tuesday night's Riverside Station project public hearing, residents and city officials had another request: the presence of the MBTA. "We have not seen the State here and they are the co-petitioner," said Ward 4 Alderman-at-Large Amy Sangiolo, who spoke as a resident and abutter to the Riverside site. "I ask that the board have them here during the conceptual design phase." "We really need the MBTA here at the table for the next round of public comment," Sangiolo added. According to city documents, the MBTA is joining developer BH Normandy in a request to re-zone the site and petition for a special permit to build a mixed-use, transit-oriented …
42.335682
-71.252572
/articles/aldermen-residents-ask-state-to-take-part-in-riverside-station-discussion
/locations/8029402
Monday, July 2, 2012
Developers hoping to build on the Riverside Station MBTA site presented an updated plan last week for a mixed-use development.
While last week's Riverside Station project discussion focused mostly on traffic concerns, several residents and aldermen questioned the proposed open space in the current project plans, and whether it is sufficient for the site. The public meeting, which was held on Tues., June 26, featured updated design plans for a mixed-use development on the Riverside Station MBTA site. Developer BH Normandy is proposing a 588,000-square-foot project that includes an office building, retail building and 290 residential units. ADD, Inc. Architect Tamara Roy and Ground Landscape Architect Shauna Gillies-Smith, who are working with BH Normandy, explained that the proposed project includes more than 180,000 square feet of open space, or roughly 44 percent…
42.335598
-71.252625
/articles/proposed-riverside-development-is-the-open-space-sufficient
/locations/7361318
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some aldermen are hoping Newton can start to work with the state and MBTA to address potential traffic trouble that will come along with the potential 588,000-square-foot development.
Familiar themes of traffic, quality of life and project size filled the public comment period Tuesday night during a design presentation for a proposed mixed-use site at the Riverside Station on Grove Street. Roughly 25 residents stood up at the Land Use Committee meeting to speak out against aspects of the project proposed by BH Normandy. "I think this development is simply too large, and that remains the number one problem from which all these other issues flow," said Asheville Road resident Jack Green. Tuesday's meeting included an updated design concept for the proposed mixed-use site as well as results of a traffic study. It follows years of discussion and a number of similar community meetings and design proposals from developer BH…
Monday, June 25, 2012
Now that the zoning is in place, BH Normandy will present a new development proposal for a mixed-use site at Riverside Station. Here are five (or so) things you need to know for Tuesday's presentation.
Developer BH Normandy will make its design presentation in the Aldermanic Chamber at Newton City Hall on Tues., June 26. The meeting is set to start at 7 p.m. and will be run by the Board of Aldermen's Land Use Committee. The evening will include the project design presentation as well as a traffic analysis/peer review report. Both the Land Use Committee and members of the public can offer comments or questions at the meeting. According to the Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition website, City Hall rooms 202 and 222 will be open for overflow capacity and will have television monitors with a simulcast of the meeting. The meeting and review will also be video and audio recorded by NewTV and aired a later date. According to a June 20…
Monday, June 4, 2012
A public meeting on the proposal will be held Tues., June 26.
Following the Board of Aldermen's approval of zoning changes for the Riverside Station site, developer BH Normandy has created conceptual designs for a potential mixed-use development on the Grove Street property. According to an email sent last week from the Riverside Station Neighborhood Coalition, a public meeting on the designs will be held Tues., June 26 in the Aldermanic Chamber at Newton City Hall. In the new zoning amendment, which was passed by the aldermen in April, the developer must present the project plans to the public before applying for a special permit. Developer BH Normandy previously proposed a mixed-use project that includes more than 200,000 square feet of office space, roughly 20,000 square feet of retail, a large…
42.335598
-71.252625
/articles/developers-to-present-new-proposal-for-riverside-station-site
/locations/7145540
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The zoning amendment has certain requirements, including a number of space constraints for buildings on the site.
The Newton Board of Aldermen last night gave its approval to a zoning change that would allow for a potential mixed-use development at the Riverside Station site on Grove Street. After months of debate and work on the zoning language, the board approved the item 21-0, with Ward 4 Alderman-at-Large Amy Sangiolo abstaining. Aldermen Carleton Merrill and Mitchell Fischman were absent. "I want to commend the Zoning and Planning Committee and the Ward 4 aldermen for their hard work on the Riverside item," Ward 2 Alderman-at-Large and Zoning and Planning Chairman Marcia Johnson said at last night's meeting. "We came up with a much better amendment than what we started out with." Developer BH Normandy has proposed a mixed-use project for the …
42.335598
-71.252625
/articles/newton-aldermen-approve-zoning-for-riverside-station-site
/locations/6824701
Concerned Citizen
11:36 am on Monday, March 11, 2013
The MBTA has not "agreed to build the garage", they have to build it in order to accomodate there patrons, and create space for the new development on the site. The new development will give the MBTA lease payments so it is possible that those lease payments will cover a substantial cost of building the garage. The article sounds like the MBTA is doing a nice thing, rather than the MBTA and the … more ›