In response to the rising popularity of last mile delivery services, Newton’s Zoning and Planning Committee explored the city’s options on the services’ regulation at a meeting on Monday.
Last mile delivery services are storefronts stocked with groceries and other goods that individuals can have delivered to their house within 15 to 30 minutes, according to City Planning and Development Department member Zachery LaMel. Getir, one such business, announced its arrival in Boston in Dec. 2021. These buildings are generally not open to the public.
Current ordinances regard last mile delivery services as retail stores and guarantee them space in village centers as long as they are under 5,000 square feet.
“I’m not opposed to these types of businesses being in the Newton manufacturing districts, … but I think this goes one step beyond that,” Ward 8 Councilor Holly Ryan said. “This ruins the character of our village centers.”
At the meeting, Newton’s Zoning and Planning Committee discussed if the city should allow last mile delivery services to have physical stores in village centers, and if so, how the city would regulate them through amended zoning codes.
Such stores are becoming increasingly popular in the city of Boston due to the convenience they provide, according to LaMel.
“What we have seen is a rise in these types of businesses as it relates to our desire for bigger speed and bigger convenience,” LaMel said.
LaMel said that while these businesses bring convenience to the neighborhood, they do not foster communal interactions as traditional retail stores would.
When the floor was open for discussions, LaMel and Ward 7 Councilor Lisle Baker discussed the possibility that such stores would ruin the sense of community as well as the foot traffic essential to the villages.
Several other councilors agreed that the loss of community charm is not worth the economic gain potentially created by these businesses, citing the example of the Masonic building.
“It kind of does frustrate me that for example, the Masonic building … that used to be Newton Books is now a tax company that’s only there three or four months of the year,” Ward 1 Councilor Alison Leary said. “Otherwise it’s just a black window—it’s just a dead kind of place. But they pay the lease every month.”
LaMel presented Fairfax County and Prince William County, both in Virginia, as models of regulating last mile delivery stores. Both counties amended how they view last mile delivery stores under zoning laws. Fairfax County redefined the use of last mile stores to regulate delivery vehicles in front of the stores.
“Fairfax County really limits the types of the number of vehicles that can be used so that congestion … and this constant scene of cars coming and going is avoided,” LaMel said.
Prince William County similarly redefined the use of the stores to require in-person retail to increase local foot traffic.
“In Prince William County, they had an in-person retail requirement, which … most of these businesses that you’re seeing in Boston and Cambridge just don’t have,” LaMel said.
The committee ended the meeting by voting no action necessary and created a new docket item to revisit the zoning amendment at a later date.
LaMel cited a previous outreach effort in the city where citizens expressed their desire for community.
“Based on the recent engagement that was done last year, the community voices that we heard made it quite clear that they are looking to see a more active village center,” LaMel said. “Regulating these kinds of last mile delivery services would be consistent with that image.”
Featured Image by Ben Schultz / For The Heights
