The week ahead: Schools, affordable housing figure heavily in city business this week

Waltham’s School Committee will open up discussions about the district’s budget for the upcoming school year this week.

The committee will hold a public hearing on the budget scheduled for the start of its regular meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15. The committee will hold its regular meeting after the end of the public hearing.

Meanwhile, this week the City Council will ask the public to weigh in on the future of Waltham’s affordable housing.

Since January, the council’s Ordinances and Rules Committee has been discussing changes to the city’s affordable housing construction requirements, which mandate that anyone building new housing make a minimum proportion of their units affordable to households making no more than 80% of the area median income (AMI). The city’s current requirements have been criticized by some housing advocates, who say they’re too costly and end up preventing developers from building new housing.

In early March, the committee approved a draft of a new ordinance that lowered these requirements. Under the new regulations, developers would have to make 10% of units affordable in small residential construction projects — defined as having under 19 units — and 15% in large projects. One third of those units would have to be even more deeply affordable, priced to be sustainable for households making 60% AMI.

This week, the council is holding a public hearing on the proposed changes to solicit input from members of the public on whether to adopt the legislation.

Affordable housing is also going to be in the spotlight at the Zoning Board of Appeals this week, which will continue hearings for two high-profile west Waltham housing projects proposed under Massachusetts State Law Chapter 40B. This statewide legislation outlines a process for special permits for residential developments that create a minimum amount of new affordable housing.

The board has been discussing one of these projects, a 315-unit apartment building at 455 Totten Pond Road, since last March. The board closed its public hearing on the project two weeks ago, and expects to take a final vote on its Chapter 40B comprehensive special permit this week.

The other Chapter 40B project in front of the board, at 245–265 Winter St., has been in talks since July and is also nearing the final stages of the permitting process.

Below is a chronological rundown of other city meetings scheduled this week.

Historical Commission

The Waltham Historical Commission is a seven-member board charged with preserving and overseeing Waltham’s historic buildings and properties. 

This week the commission will hold public hearings over the historic value of three buildings — at 1128–1130 Main St., 32 Maple St. and 135 Woerd Avenue — and whether it should delay the  owners’ plans to demolish them. 

The commission will also discuss its budget and meeting schedule for the upcoming year, review a proposal for a development at 687–709 Main St. and discuss plans to preserve art deco-style decorations from the former Fitch School.

Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. over Zoom. The passcode for the Zoom meeting can be found on the commission’s page within the city site.

City Council

The City Council plans to discuss multiple other proposals to change to city legislation at its meeting this week. It will hold a public hearing on allowing pet-related businesses like kennels and dog groomers to operate by right in Waltham and will consider amending the city’s bylaws to penalize littering and the use of leaf blowers to blow leaves onto public sidewalks.

It will also hold a public hearing about changing the residential zoning designation of a plot of land at 495 Lincoln St. to allow for smaller and denser housing. In response to a letter about the project from City Engineer Robert Winn, councilors will also consider amending a current rule requiring the city engineer to certify zoning changes have been approved by the Board of Survey and Planning, which Winn argued he shouldn’t have the authority to do.

The council will revisit an earlier public hearing about a proposed hotel at 220 Moody St., approve business from last week’s committee meetings and go into executive session to discuss multiple real estate matters.

It will hear a series of requests from Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy that will likely be discussed at next week’s committee meetings, including a request for a $1.45 million loan to power the Fernald property, approval of updated plans for the ongoing Waltham Public Library renovation, approval of a Waltham Housing Authority project at Beaverbrook, a request for additional funding for the city’s ongoing zoning review, a funding request for the Housing Department, the acceptance of a grant for the Fire Department and funding to repave the 92 Felton St. parking lot.

The City Council will meet on Monday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Housing Authority

The Waltham Housing Authority works to provide affordable housing options for Waltham residents who face barriers to housing. 

This week it plans to discuss its finances, construction projects and current work orders at its monthly meeting. It will also rule whether to authorize WHA Director John Gollinger to accept funding from the Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships Program and the Community Preservation Committee.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m over Zoom and in person at 110 Pond St.

Zoning Board of Appeals

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

The board has the power to grant project-specific variances to the code, overrule judgments made by the building inspector and grant specific types of special permits, including the comprehensive residential permits outlined by the state’s Chapter 40B statute.

This week, the board will also hear a request to extend the construction timeline for variances allowed to the proposed 220 Moody St. hotel and revisit a case from 719-723 Main St. owner Paul Yu, who’s proposing to renovate his building into seven residential units and is requesting a parking variance since he would not be able to fit the amount of parking mandated by the city at the site.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Arthur Clark Government Center.

Board of Health

The Board of Health works to address potential public health problems in the city, including communicable diseases, foodborne illnesses, and housing and environmental safety issues.

The board will meet at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, in the auditorium of the Clark Government Center. An agenda and link for the meeting will be provided on the board’s page on the city website at least 48 hours in advance.

School Committee

The Waltham School Committee, an elected six-member committee chaired by McCarthy, makes policy and oversight decisions for the Waltham Public Schools.

The committee this week will additionally vote on a new assistant superintendent for special education and student services and receive donations to the Waltham High School quiz bowl team.

The committee will meet after the conclusion of the Waltham Public Schools budget hearing, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the James J. Cannon Lecture Hall 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.

This week the commission will revisit a comprehensive plan to improve traffic safety on the South Side proposed by McCarthy in November, as well as a long-time project by commissioners to regulate parking on private ways to ensure emergency vehicles can navigate them. 

The commission will consider multiple requests regarding parking: one to amend current citywide on-street parking regulations to prevent cars parking within five feet of a driveway, and another to install signs indicating the city’s 24-hour parking time limit. It will also discuss a request to change the city’s current definition of commercial vehicles.

Commissioners will discuss a request for a new stop sign on Temple Road, two requests for blind driveway signage — one at the intersection of Bacon Street and Totten Pond Road and the other at the intersection of School and Mt. Pleasant streets — a request to ban parking on the street across from 141 Hammond St., and a review of rectangular rapid flashing beacons along the Riverwalk.

The commission will meet Thursday, April 17 at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.