The Planning Division of the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development will host a regular series of Zoning Workshops over the summer. On Thursday evenings in June, July, and August, members of the Zoning Advisory Committee and planners from the City will host an open house/workshop style public meeting to gather ideas, inform, and answer questions on the proposed new zoning ordinance.
Please join us for whatever time you have available – this will be an open-studio/workshop style meeting and no formal presentations will be given. You can participate in a meaningful way, whether you drop in for 15 minutes or all 3.5 hours.
These summer zoning workshops are informal by design. We hope to attract community members who want to roll up their sleeves and help us draft the type of zoning ordinance that will allow Somerville to continue to grow and flourish. We have spent the past year developing a new structure and framework that brings transparency and customer service to the ordinance. These workshops are intended to invite residents and stakeholders into the important process of refining the details that will improve protections for residential neighborhoods and unlock smart growth opportunities consistent with the SomerVision Comprehensive Plan.
When
Thursday’s 4:00-7:30pm (see schedule below)
Where
50 Middlesex Avenue (behind Style Cafe in the ‘Public Storage’ building at Assembly Square)
Schedule
June 12 SomerVision’s Goals for the New Ordinance
June 19 Sustainability & Green Infrstructure
June 26 Mobility, Parking, and Access
July 10 Zoning for the Arts and Creative Economy
July 24 Somerville’s Building Types
July 31 Community Benefits
August 7 Square, Main Streets, Jobs, & the Somerville Economy
August 14 Zoning for Businesses
August 21 Signs, Lighting, & Site Development
August 28 Administration & Permitting
What is the City thinking to plan this entire series of so-called public meetings where we can’t get to without a car?
Could it be that they don’t really want to hear from people who don’t drive? That we show up and say things that aren’t the same things they read in their urban planning text books and we mess everything up by not agreeing with them?
It should be a rule that if you want to be a politician or developer in Somerville you have to get to these meetings by bus, or on foot.
Maybe the developers at Assembly Square are letting them use that space for free, and *that* doesn’t stink of special favors, does it?
I agree: if you truly want to hear from the people who will be affected, please hold the meetings in a place that is accessible by town residents.
For nondrivers Assembly Square is one of the least easily accessed areas of town. Walking there involves a crosswalk in the middle of a highway access ramp. If you really want the public to be involved in these workshops please find a more accessible location.
I agree that these sessions should be held someplace more accessible without a car. The problem also makes me wonder, as I’ve wondered for a long time, whether the 90 bus and other nearby buses will be run more frequently now that Assembly Row is open?
So many Somerville teens don’t get driver’s licenses (and/or don’t have cars) because the city is so walkable and close to public transit. But how can they get jobs at Assembly Row if they can’t get there by bus? I hope the city is working with the MBTA to increase the buses on that route?
The 90 bus runs once an hour, or even longer depending on the time. This is a very unaccesible place for your constituents. There are schools with cafeterias and auditoriums that are much easier to get to by people who don’t have cars.
Hi,
I’m really happy to see all of this interest in the zoning overhaul work and our drop-in meetings. On behalf of the OSPCD planning staff, which has been working for the past two years to develop zoning that will implement the SomerVision plan, these meetings are important steps towards submitting a great zoning ordinance later this year.
I understand the concern about this meeting location, and we want to make it work. And, I certainly don’t want anybody to decide not to participate because of the location that we chose.
We are going to set up a shuttle service, using a city bus or van that will circulate from this meeting to a central location or locations in Somerville, transporting interested participants to and from the meeting site on a regular basis throughout the entire meeting schedule. We should have this shuttle up and running by the start of next week’s meeting (6/19/14). I really hope this helps encourage people to participate.
For those interested in this week’s meeting (6/12/14), who might be limited by transportation choices, send me an email at gproakis@somervillema.gov, and we will work to find a way to get you there and back this week.
If you can’t make any meeting, we always accept on-line comments at http://www.somervillebydesign.com, and we will post info from each meeting as soon as we can.
Just for a bit of background: the self-storage building at 50 Middlesex Street was required to provide a community meeting space as a part of their zoning approval. The leadership at the Mystic View Task Force has coordinated use of this space, and has encouraged us to use it when we need to do so. For these meeting dates, city hall rooms were not available, and school locations were not able to guarantee custodial support and/or air conditioning for this regular schedule during summer months. We then had to find a space that is comfortable, accessible and available for eleven straight Thursday nights.
This is a new room, is built to modern standards, and it is within a ten minute walk of bus lines 89, 90, 95 and 101. I am aware that there are limitations from each bus line (90 has limited schedule, 95 and 101 cover a limited part of Somerville, and the walk from the 89 or 101 on Broadway requires walking about ten minutes and going under I-93). For anybody who feels comfortable with those routes, (or anybody who wants to bike, walk or drive) all of those options are there. For others, we will provide the shuttle starting next week.
So, watch http://www.somervillebydesign.com for more info. I hope this helps.
Thanks,
George Proakis
Director of Planning
City of Somerville
gproakis@somervillema.gov
Friendly advice?: If you want to change the city, stop complaining and whining and start making constructive requests and constructive criticism instead of jumping to conspiracy theories based on a silly meeting location. Honestly, it’s a wonder this city can get anywhere with all the work involved AND having to babysit its citizens with their petty comments. It takes up precious time that we can all be using to improve our city and neighborhoods. Hey, I’m a concerned resident, too! But use your brain (and voice) for creative problem solving and making good suggestions instead of sitting in a chair and demanding that everything be done right just for you at the drop of a hat. Maybe this was a good sized space in their estimation. And I can actually walk to this location, myself. (Crossing the highway is not an issue, there is a huge intersection with lights and walk signals.) You could have simply said “This is a really tough location for residents to get to on foot or by public transportation. Can you consider changing the location or providing shuttle service?” That isn’t that hard and gets the same, if not better, results. In fact, it looks like they are already on it.
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