The Newton Economic Development Commission (EDC) met Tuesday to discuss the Newton Centre Plaza pilot project, which Mayor Ruthanne Fuller announced in her citywide newsletter on Jan. 16.
The proposal calls for replacing 51 parking spaces in the heart of Newton Centre’s business district with a community plaza adjacent to the existing Newton Centre Green. Additional parking would be made available elsewhere to compensate for the loss.
The project has already elicited concerns from local business owners worried about the loss of centrally located parking and its effect on their businesses.
Philip Plottel, a member of the EDC, expressed frustration that the commission was not adequately briefed about the proposal.
“I am really disappointed that we found out about this three days after an EDC meeting from the mayor’s newsletter,” Plottel said “I don’t know how I feel, but it was … not words I can say in a public meeting.”
Ward 3 Councilor-at-Large Pamela Wright commented on the impromptu nature of the project and the response it has generated from constituents.
“I just want to say the city council also found out in [Mayor Fuller’s] newsletter,” Wright said. “So we were blindsided also, and we’re getting the emails also.”
Hedy Jarras, a commission member and owner of Sweet Tomatoes Pizza in Newton Centre, also stated her dissatisfaction with the proposed plaza and questioned the viability of the replacement parking.
“All of these businesses are saying, ‘Wait a minute, you’re going to take 51 parking spots?’” Jarras said. “And if you think that we’re going to be fooled by saying that we’re going to get back those parking spots … it’s not in the lot. It’s in secret spots or spots that nobody would know where to park.”
Jarras suggested other sites in Newton Centre which may be more feasible for a public plaza.
“There’s so much green space in between the parking lot and Centre Street,” Jarras said. “Why can’t something be done there? What about the green space where Brookline Bank and Citizens Bank is?”
Lauren Berman, founder and president of local marketing firm All Over Newton, reported similar concerns from various small business owners.
Though there is support for a public plaza, Berman advised it be built elsewhere.
“They want this,” Berman said. “They just don’t want to sacrifice those 51 parking spaces. I recommended moving it across Langley Road into some of that open space by Newtonville, so we wouldn’t take away those parking spaces.”
Jack Leader, chairman of the EDC, provided a brief history of the Newton Centre parking lot site.
“There used to be a school there,” Leader said. “It was the Mason School, and it got torn down in ’59, ’60. It took up most of that parking lot all the way through.”
Leader acknowledged that present-day circumstances have necessitated a parking lot at that location.
“People walked then,” Leader said. “People walked far more than we do now. I can’t walk the way that I used to. Those parking spaces become incredibly important as some of us reach 70.”
