Newton City Council approved the withdrawal of a spot zoning request that would have allowed a Nonantum developer to build a four-story, mixed-use business and residential building on Watertown Street in its meeting Monday.
The city approved a proposal from the developer, John Mula, in 2017 under a special permit as a three-story, mixed-use building at 386-390 Watertown St. But last December, Mula, who owns Salvi’s Barber Shop in Nonantum, and his partner, Nicholas Beaujean, filed for a special permit that would have allowed a fourth floor with three additional residential units.
To make the change, Mula and Beaujean requested that the lot’s zoning be changed from Business 1 to Mixed Use 4 (MU4), which allows up to five stories by special permit.
This lot would have been the only MU4 zone in Nonantum, though it’s used in a few other parts of the city, like the Star Market above the Mass. Pike.
But Beaujean asked to withdraw the request at a special Land Use Committee meeting last week amid pushback from neighbors about the nature of the project and confusion over who owned the lot—Mula and Beaujean sold the property to Newton Park Watertown Realty LLC, a company they started to represent their combined interests.
“The ownership change was a technical issue that had been appropriately addressed through the submission of an updated ownership authorization form,” said Andrea Kelley, Ward 3 councilor-at-large.
The council voted unanimously to approve the withdrawal without prejudice, meaning the project may be refiled at any time.
Mula’s project would have replaced a lot that’s been vacant since 2017 on a busy and walkable street in Nonantum. It would have included 13 units of housing, something that Ward 1 Councilor Alison Leary saw as potentially beneficial for Nonantum.
“This seemed like a really nice project that would have improved the neighborhood,” Leary said.
Leary, however, said she came to understand why residents resisted the change to the area’s zoning.
“I couldn’t really see a downside to it, and I guess that I was sort of dug-in about that,” Leary said. “I did learn from this.”
Ward 2 Councilor-at-Large Susan Albright said she regrets how many people from outside the neighborhood became involved in the controversy surrounding the development, something she said contributed to the debate’s intensity.
“The meetings that I attended, unfortunately, were full of people jabbing and lots of animosity,” Albright said. “But perhaps it’s because there were so many out-of-ward people at those meetings, and I think maybe I was one of them, and I think I’ll stay home next time.”
All three councilors for Ward 1, which contains Nonantum, supported the project.
Councilor Randy Block said the zoning change at the center of the development was responsible for much of the controversy surrounding this project.
“I don’t think it’s an accident that this became so controversial because it became a zoning change,” Block said. “Zoning changes raise other kinds of issues and have a different impact both on the process and on the neighborhood.”
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