Who Leads Norwood?

But simply replacing the Planning Board won’t solve the problem.

By charter, the Select Board is supposed to set the town’s vision and agenda. Town Meeting votes on that agenda, and the Town Manager is charged with carrying it out through the daily operations of government. This balance — leadership from the Select Board, oversight from Town Meeting, and execution by the Town Manager — is what good governing in Norwood should look like.

In practice, however, this is not what happens. The Select Board has not presented plans or priorities for our community. Instead, our departments and committees take their direction from the Town Manager, and Town Meeting votes on whatever the Manager places in the Warrant. This reversal of roles leaves Norwood without a guiding vision from its elected leadership.

Unless the Select Board reasserts its role and leads with a clear agenda, Norwood will continue to drift. Our town deserves more than reactive management. We need elected leaders who will take charge, set priorities, and chart a responsible course for Norwood’s future.

Steve Konetchy

District 4 TMM

Send the right message about 55 Lenox

To the Editor:

Like many others, I have attended the Planning Board's recent meetings where discussions about the significant lack of required onsite parking spaces at the proposed 55 Lenox St development raise serious concerns. Norwood has thousands of apartments. We do not need more unaffordable apartments. The developer needs the parking waiver to make the project profitable for himself... Not because the lot has a unique or odd shape making development difficult. I did not hear a percentage commitment of how many, if any at all, will truly be "affordable". Affordable is a misnomer anyway, as the threshold of earnings less than 80% of the median income is still a generous number. Mainly, these apartments will be more of the same...nearly out of reach rents for many. Just a half- mile away from the proposed Lenox St project is an approved future MBTA 3A-zoned apartment development at 25 East Hoyle Street that is complete with all its zoning requirements intact with required parking onsite. Residents can rent there where they will have a space for their car or a guest. There are several other apartment projects nearby in the cue to be built in Norwood as well. I hope those developments have enough parking spaces on site or are we going to start a trend?

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It is inappropriate to give the Lenox Street project the green light as Town Meeting Members just adopted the MBTA 3A zone bylaw in March last year with a requirement of 1.1 parking spaces per unit. Presentations were made to the Town Meeting members and Board of Selectman regarding the new 3A zone before it was passed. If Planning Board wanted to recommend that the minimum required number of parking spaces should be less than in our currently adopted bylaw, then that was the time to study it and discuss it openly. There is no emergency to require such a large waiver from the zoning requirement (Developer has 67 proposed spaces but is required to have 106 parking spaces). The proposal contains 32 two-bedroom and 64 one-bedroom units. The number of parking spaces required is appropriate for the size of the development and for guests. Maybe the developer could build beautiful townhouse condos with garages that fit the lot and sell for a hefty price each. The Nahatan Hill townhouse condos behind St. Catherine's Church, site of the former convent; and the Lenox Village Townhouse condos at 60 Lenox St, (former Concannon's,) sold very well. The developer does have other options. The Planning Board needs to say no to this waiver. Norwood does need some other affordable and/or, market home ownership options - maybe small studio or one-bedroom condos so people can transition out of rented apartments. But our available land sites are being gobbled up by apartments. Where are Norwood’s plans for stable, equity-building home ownership?

Norwood Theatre's owner put millions of dollars into restoring that historic and majestic building. The shows are great and sold out. Patrons come from nearby towns to go there and eat in the nearby restaurants. People need the public parking. It's Massachusetts; and we have many cold months and inclement weather days where walking or biking is not the preferred or safest choice. Norwood's daytime population explodes with the addition of employees who enter town to work at the many businesses in Norwood. Norwood is a very dense, congested town already and spilling off-site cars into the nearby streets from the Lenox site will have an effect on the neighbors and cause congestion - especially during the snow-ban months when there is no overnight parking allowed from November 15 – April 1. Neighborhood quality of life and safety do matter. I know some towns are trying to reduce their parking space requirements within MBTA zones, but Norwood Center and nearby areas are not ready for that yet. Within a half mile radius of 55 Lenox Street there are numerous religious services, funerals, St. Catherine's preschool and elementary school children’s arrivals and dismissals, Farmers' Market, Concerts on the Common, numerous restaurants, and other businesses and services etc. While sometimes you can walk to these, the need for parking spaces is essential to ensure timely access and continued vitality and success in this area. Like it or not; we are the 'Home of the Automile’, and cars will not be disappearing from Norwood anytime soon. The Planning Board needs to make the right decision on this and send the necessary message that we have complete onsite parking requirements in our zoning bylaws for good safety and logistical reasons. Let's do things right and responsibly support Parking For All!

Toni Eosco

Norwood