City Council in brief: Councilors set in motion changes to pet care businesses, affordable housing ordinances

The City Council’s Ordinances and Rules Committee approved a new draft ordinance allowing  some pet-related businesses to operate by right in Waltham. At the moment, dog grooming businesses, shelters and kennels require a special permit before they can operate. The committee asked the City Clerk’s office to schedule a joint public hearing with the Board of Survey and Planning for the public to weigh in on the proposed change.

It also approved preliminary language to change the city’s affordable housing regulations. Housing advocates in the city have frequently argued that Waltham’s affordability requirements can hold up new housing construction — sentiments Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan echoed at the Mar. 2 meeting. “The existing ordinance is really a roadblock to housing in the city, and we need housing in the city,” he said.

Logan brought up resident feedback he’d received since the legislation was originally discussed in committee. He said he agreed with constituent requests to reduce parking requirements for affordable housing and to stop allowing projects to contribute to the city’s affordable housing trust fund instead of building housing themselves, but said such issues would be better tackled in the city’s broader ongoing review of its zoning code as a whole.

He proposed adding a clause into the draft ordinance that would require the council to review the affordability requirements at least once every five years, which the committee adopted. Committee members voted to send this change to the clerk’s office for a future public hearing.

The Ordinances and Rules Committee also heard updates on a request for regulation on surveillance technology use in Waltham, but took no action on the matter. City Solicitor Katherine Laughman presented the committee with a report about factors it should consider when drafting such legislation, recommending councilors adopt a nonbinding resolution with guidelines on surveillance technology instead of a formal city ordinance regulating its use.

Additionally, the City Council:

• Requested IT Director Donald Aucoin attend the Mar. 16 Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss city departments’ progress on updating their websites.
• Approved $5,999 to purchase a copy machine for the Wires Department and $8,521.93 to purchase a copy/scanner machine for the Engineering Department. (Finance)
• Approved $9,500 to purchase a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon to be installed at the crosswalk between Trapelo and Porter roads. (Finance)
• Approved a $564,581 appropriation to fund the collective bargaining agreement between the School Department and the Waltham Educators Association. The funds will cover salaries for an additional school day next year, six additional professional development hours, and raises for teachers over a period of three years. (Finance)
• Reviewed Waltham Public Schools’ spending for the year at the halfway point of its FY2026 budget cycle, which began last September. (Finance)
• Did not decide whether to renew a used car sales licence for JJJ Auto Retailers at 196 High St. At the request of Councilor-at-Large Emma Tzioumis, who said the business had failed to keep its sidewalks clear during recent snows, the committee asked its owners to first present councilors with a snow removal plan. (Licenses and Franchises)
• Agreed to grant a license to Charles River Canoe & Kayak to create a temporary dock on the Charles River this summer. (Licenses and Franchises)
• Heard an update from Laughman about proposed legislation to grant handicap- accessible elevators and lifts the same zoning exemptions as ramps. Laughman said such devices would already have the same zoning protections as ramps by existing legal precedent. She added that homeowners should not require any new variances from the Zoning Board of Appeals to install them, but that homeowners with existing variances also do not need to visit the ZBA to remove them. (Ordinances and Rules)
• Requested a list of property tax abatements and contributions from new developments to the city’s traffic mitigation fund since 2023 as a part of the committee’s examination of proposed zoning changes for three prospective new developments in west Waltham. (Ordinances and Rules)
• Requested site renderings and ideas for improving the nearby Embassy Park from the owners of a proposed new hotel at 220 Moody St. (Ordinances and Rules)