The week ahead: Winter Street Chapter 40B development returns to the ZBA

This week, the Zoning Board of Appeals will be hearing updates on a residential development permit at 245–265 Winter St.

The developer of this project — the Alexan Winter Street — first requested a special comprehensive permit from the board in July through Chapter 40B of the state’s general law. 

Since the project is not within a residential zone, city officials have raised concerns about the infrastructural load on the city — especially given other recently built or proposed developments in the area — and the project has met with pushback from neighbors concerned about traffic, lighting, and privacy.

At its last meeting on the subject, the ZBA made plans to conduct an independent review of the project’s traffic study and requested that developers stake out the site of the potential construction to give neighbors a clear idea of the building’s boundaries.

Later in the week, the Traffic Commission will also convene for its first meeting since its summer break, and City Council’s standing committees will meet to take up matters of business that the council referred to committee last week, including taking the next steps in the city’s ongoing rezoning efforts.

City Council committee meetings

This week, City Council’s Committee of the Whole will be hearing a plan to transfer the former Lawrence School from the Facilities Department to the Housing and the Recreation Departments to construct senior housing and a hockey rink.

Among other business, the Ordinances & Rules Committee will be discussing next steps on the first draft of a city rezoning plan; the Finances Committee will be reviewing a request by the mayor to accept funding earmarked by the state for the Waltham Public Library; and the Licenses & Franchises Committee will be discussing a range of permit applications, as well as a request to set up a memorial for Pastor Hoaglander of Lakeview Congregational Church.

The committees will meet in the Waltham City Council Chamber and the Hoover Room of City Hall starting at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Waltham Retirement Board

The Waltham Retirement Board will meet this week to discuss bookkeeping matters involving retirements and new hires in city government.

It will be holding a meeting on Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. in the Hoover Meeting Room at City Hall that will also be streamed over Zoom.

Community Preservation Committee

Waltham’s CPC is charged with implementing the requirements of the Community Preservation Act and is composed of four at-large residents of Waltham as well as representatives of five other city administrative bodies: the Board of Survey and Planning, the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Housing Authority, and the Parks–Recreation Board.

The committee, among its other duties, reviews applications to use CPA funding to renovate properties that serve historic, recreational, or community housing functions. This week, it will hear two applications for funding: one to restore the steeple of the Unitarian–Universalist First Parish In Waltham, and one to restore the St. Joseph building of the Saint Mary Parish.

The CPC will be holding a meeting over Zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Details for joining the Zoom meeting are provided in its agenda. 

Zoning Board of Appeals

The ZBA is a five-person board charged with reviewing new and existing buildings that may violate the city’s zoning code. 

The board has the power to grant project-specific variances to the code, overrule judgements made by the building inspector and grant specific types of special permit, including Chapter 40B comprehensive permits.

In addition to updates on the Alexan Winter Street permit, the ZBA will be hearing two new cases this week: a request to allow increased density to construct a four-family residence on Williams Street and an application to allow a side yard width variance to add a second story to a personal residence. The board will be meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Clark Government Center.

School Committee

The Waltham School Committee is an elected six-member committee chaired by Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy that makes policy and oversight decisions for the Waltham School District Board.

This week, among other items of business, the School Committee is scheduled to revisit a proposed policy to allow parents to “opt out” their kids from LGBTQ+-supportive curriculum offerings in the classroom. 

Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa told the committee earlier this month that this policy would bring the district in line with federal requirements resulting from a June Supreme Court decision. The language of the policy is informed by guidelines from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.

The committee will also accept a number of donations to programs across the district, and revisit a policy responding to recent legislation by the state that will prohibit cell phone use in schools starting next fall.

The School Committee will hold its meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, in the James J. Cannon Lecture Hall of the old high school at 617 Lexington St.

Traffic Commission

The Traffic Commission meets monthly to discuss matters before the Traffic Engineering Department about improving the streets and infrastructure of the city.

It will hold its first meeting since June this Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.

Conservation Commission

The Conservation Commission is a volunteer board charged with overseeing environmental planning in Waltham. The commission reviews certain types of construction on or around wetlands to ensure it complies with the Wetlands Protection Act and the Department of Environmental Protection stormwater standards.

It will be holding a meeting over Zoom at 7 p.m. Thursday. A link for the meeting will be provided on the Commission’s page on the city website at least 48 hours in advance.