Hi Ward 2! It’s been an eventful two weeks, with an inauguration, the first major snowstorm of the season, the first meeting of the new Board of Aldermen, some major development projects getting proposed for the Ward, and the new citywide zoning being put forward by the Administration for our consideration.

Here in this newsletter, I’ll give more info about all of that and let you know how you can get involved as we push forward to do better here in Somerville!

• Pushing Forward on my Platform
• Snow Removal Responses
• Upcoming Developments and Meetings
  • 10-12 Ward St
  • 140-150 Line St
• Citywide Zoning Meetings
• Committee Assignments
• Other Items on the Legislative Calendar

• Pushing Forward on my Platform

The first meeting of the Board of Aldermen was on Thursday, Jan 11 – and it was a busy one! I’m proud to have put forward 3 items that directly advance the platform of Affordability, Transparency, and Accessibility that I ran on. You can see all of them, as well as video of the Board meeting, at this link.

(Speaking of which, the City’s web interface for viewing these meetings is really great. You can click on any specific agenda item to fast-forward directly to video of that item being proposed and discussed.)

First was #31, a Board Order calling for a Home Rule Petition to enable a tenant Right-Of-First-Refusal law here in Somerville. You can see more and read the sample Home Rule Petition draft linked in the agenda above. I’m glad to have collaborated with Aldermen Hirsch, Ewen-Campen, and Niedergang in taking this important first step towards passing good legislation.

Second was #40, launching the process of creating a Community Land Trust here in Somerville. You can read more about these on my blog, but in short it’s a way to create real and permanent affordability in Somerville. I’m honored that the rest of my colleagues have also signed on to endorse this order and I look forward to getting to work on it.

Third was #41, a directive to OSPCD and the administration to ensure that notification for public meetings be sent to all abutters – not just property owners. This is an especially important step for transparency here in Ward 2, where nearly 80% of the households are occupied by renters, if we want to have robust public processes and ensure that everyone gets their voice heard.

Again, I’m excited about taking these first steps and I look forward to keeping you updated on how we progress towards making these substantive changes towards a more affordable and transparent reality here in Somerville!

• Snow Removal Responses

Our first big snow of the year brought some very specific challenges to the city, and DPW was hard at work to keep the streets usable. With rapid snowfall from the “bomb cyclone”, they weren’t able to keep up as well as we’d all like, and the result in many places was a barely-open street that wasn’t plowed all the way to the curb. (My phone was ringing constantly with reports from residents.)

I’ve spoken with some folks who work for the city, and the intention is clear: with Odd-side parking this year, they are looking to plow all the way to the curbline on the Even side of our streets. What’s also clear is that this didn’t get done in this particular storm, and the post-mortem will be important to see what we can do to improve our snow response next time.

With that said, it wasn’t all bad. The city’s improved plans for snow removal via front-loaders and dump trucks proceeded throughout the week after the storm, and a lot of snow was moved to a collection point outside the ward. We also got pretty lucky with a lot of 50-degree-and-rainy days after the storm, and that has helped minimize the lasting impact.

All in all, 311 was flooded with calls and no one is entirely happy with how snow removal was handled, but I think we have an opportunity to learn from this and do better going forward. I’m happy to have already seen some positive change in DPW’s coverage of crosswalk clearing, and I look forward to working with DPW on continued improvement.

• Upcoming Developments and Meetings

Both of these developments are in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals for public comment. If you’d like to get email alerts on when the meetings are scheduled on these projects, you can ask at [email protected] or [email protected] to be added to the alert list.

• 10-12 Ward St

10-12 Ward St has had several smaller meetings in the neighborhood to help the developer and architect adjust their plans to better accommodate the neighbors. It is a proposed 24-unit development with underground parking and 4 affordable housing apartments located back near Twin City Plaza on a site that is currently an open asphalt lot. The hearing for the project will be on January 31, and you can find more information on the project here at this link.

• 140-150 Line St

This is a 14-unit development with surface parking, straddling the Cambridge line. I have not met with this developer and can only tell you what I see in the plans, so I very much would like to hear your input and feedback on this project! It is also scheduled for the Jan 31 ZBA meeting, and you can see the plans online here.

• Citywide Zoning Meetings

The administration brought forward their proposal for a new citywide zoning overhaul, and you can see all the details at this link. It is an enormous amount of information, and as a Board we will be going through it in many upcoming meetings of the Land Use Committee. This Committee will be meeting as a “Committee of the Whole”, so you can be assured that I’ll be in there weighing in and relaying your concerns.

With that said, I need to hear from you if I’m going to represent you. To that end, I’m setting up a series of meetings to be held in the neighborhoods where we focus on the specific impacts of zoning on each area. I’ll be putting out the schedule for these meetings as soon as I have the times and locations set, but in the meantime here’s a quick map of the general area breakdowns to be covered by each meeting:

I’m happy to be working with Alderman Hirsch on a meeting specifically for the Lincoln Park neighborhood, and I look forward to all of these as a way to help make sure that we get the zoning we need. While it was put forward by the Mayor’s office on Jan 11, it was immediately referred to the Committee on Land Use and will undergo nearly 3 months of review and revision before it comes to a vote – so let’s use that time to get it right.

If you’d like to be involved in helping to prepare for, organize around, and drive input at these meetings, please send me an email! We’ll all need to work together to get zoning right.

• Committee Assignments

The assignments for Aldermen to the various committees have been made by the President, Katjana Ballantyne. For 2017, I’ve been assigned to serve on the following Committees:

• Confirmation of Appointments and Personnel Matters (Chair)
• Flood Forum (Chair)
• Licenses and Permits
• Open Space, Environment and Energy
• Public Utilities and Public Works
• Clean and Open Elections Task Force

• Other Items on the Legislative Calendar

We’ve got a lot more on our plate besides Zoning and the specific measures I’ve already put forth. We’re also going to be looking at a great many appointed positions in the city, considering legislation around AirBNB rentals, reviewing the city’s spending plan, and getting ready for the spring construction season including all the major infrastructure projects that will launch then. If you’ve got something you want to make sure gets taken up, please do get in touch anytime.

As much as there is going on in City Hall, the most important stuff to me happens right here in the neighborhood. I’m happy to help you with questions big or small.

Thanks, and I’ll see you in the streets of Ward 2!

-JT Scott