Selectmen pass citizen zoning petition for TM

The Norwood Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday in the Robert Thornton Room of the Memorial Town Hall and voted unanimously to send on all six items of a citizens petition to May Town Meeting.

The six items revolve around zoning, and appear to have their origins in past development proposals in recent history. Town Meeting member Steve Konetchy said after the meeting he had submitted these items for Town Meeting. The items are:

(1.) CPA Funds Ownership Requirement (2.) Reuse of Appropriated Funds (3.) Removal of Parking Waiver Provisions from the Zoning Bylaw (4.) Apartment Tax Equity (5.) Adoption of Residential Exemption (MGL, C.59 §5C) (6.) Parking Space Definition and Mechanical Lift Parking Clarification.

The first item likely refers to the 20-unit housing proposal brought to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding in 2024, when many residents were uneasy with appropriating funds to a private organization rather than a project proposed from the Town Government or a resident (there was a similar but smaller debate when the Norwood Historical Society asked for funding to repair one of the Day House’s fireplaces).

The second item, reuse of appropriated funds, seems to be just what it sounds like: reviewing or updating the rules around leftover but previously appropriated funds. The third item, the removal of the parking waiver provisions from the Zoning Bylaw, likely refers to several provisions within the Norwood Zoning Bylaw that relax parking restrictions for certain benefits provided by a development project. There are multiple instances of such provisions in the bylaw related to different zoning districts and sub-districts.

The fourth item, apartment tax equity, appears to want to bring apartment property taxes to a more equal rate with single-family homes.

The fifth item, adoption of residential exemption, would allow parts of properties to be exempt from taxes up to a certain point of their assessed value, as per MGL Chapter 59 Section 5C – https://tinyurl.com/5epvp6e9

The last item is almost certainly related to the recent housing proposal at 55 Lenox St., where the Planning Board denied a housing proposal based on its planned use of parking lifts to meet the parking requirement – https://tinyurl.com/52bzyms9

This was after it had been denied previously without lifts, asking for a parking waiver based on stormwater and environmental trade-offs.

In other news, the Board voted to meet next week, March 3, at 6:30 p.m. at Memorial Town Hall for a special meeting to go over the proposed Public Safety Override Proposal, also for this upcoming Town Meeting.

The Norwood Record’s coverage of a workshop based around that proposal earlier this year can be found at – https://tinyurl.com/39p47s6x

In short, the Town wants to add several fire and police officers – six police officers (initially, going up to nine possibly) and 14 firefighters to the roster. The original estimate for such a push was originally $1.8 million, and the override was then estimated to come to about an increase of $142 in annual property taxes for an average home in Norwood assessed at $750,000.

Town Manager Tony Mazzucco said at the most recent Board of Selectmen meeting that they have redone their numbers and have reduced that estimated financial impact.

“We’ve just today provided you with a draft memo that includes some changes that would bring down the cost, prioritize what we’re looking at doing, and sort of what could we expect over the next five years with police and fire,” he said. “It brings the net impact to the average single-family homeowner to under $100 – we’ve been able to get that down to about $94 for the average homeowner in Norwood.”

The Board voted unanimously to meet next week and hash out the final details and possibly take a final vote as to whether or not the Board would move it forward to Town Meeting.

Advertisement

“There is going to need to be a lot of public information sessions before Town Meeting, ballot ordering and everything else that we have to do,” Mazzucco said. “At that meeting we would also have the chiefs here, and representatives from the public safety unions as well, for any further or final questions the Board may have.”

The Board voted to meet next week on the issue.

In Mazzucco’s Managers Update, he commended the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Facilities Department in its response to the snowstorm on Monday, which dropped about two feet of snow in the area.

“DPW and Facilities really knocked it out of the park taking care of roads and buildings,” he said. “So just kudos to them. Hopefully soon they’ll get some rest. We’re supposed to get a few snowflakes tomorrow and I don’t care about what the news says about next week. We’re not thinking about that for a few more days. We’re entitled to not thinking about the weather. It looks like after tomorrow we’re in for a few days of good weather.”

Also at the meeting, the Board voted, in its consent agenda, to approve the Matt Brown Foundation 5K Road Race, as well as car washes for the Norwood High School Boys Hockey Team and the Norwood Parents Music Association, road closures for the annual Norwood Little League Baseball and Softball Parade, a sign placement advertising the upcoming Norwood Evening Garden Club “Art in Bloom” event, a banner request from the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 742, and the use of the Disabled American Veterans Park off of Walpole Street by the Heritage Baptist Church.

The Board also approved two one-day liquor license permits from Hometown Arcade in its consent agenda, but with the caveat that the arcade list its capacity at 80 persons. Selectman Bill Plasko said that was put in because that number has been jumping around from what the Building Commissioner had originally set it in other related applications.

In other news, the board voted to appoint Diane Mastandrea to the Council on Aging to fill a vacancy there, as well as Cultural Council Candidates Greg Johnson and Megan Govin for that committee.