Watertown Square Housing & Intersections Proposals Revealed

The proposed design of Watertown Square will look similar to the current intersection, with one leg removed and larger open space. Designers also revealed a new plan to meet the MBTA Communities Law on Thursday, showing a plan with areas for by-right housing around Watertown Square, and south of the Charles River.

The design team and City officials have gathered input from the public at previous meetings, City Manager George Proakis said, and there were strong agreement on some areas, such as that the Watertown Square intersection needed improvement and the downtown area has some nice historic architecture, but much of the area lacks character and is not friendly to shoppers and pedestrians.

Other matters were more mixed. The closest split was around how much housing unit capacity should be allowed in the plan to meet the MBTA Communities Law requirement.

“Building height and by-right zoning became far more of an even mix, with those wanting more and those wanting less,” Proakis said.

At the Feb. 29 meeting, scenarios were shown which would have a unit capacity of 2,631 with the by-right zone around the Square, and another with a capacity of 6,320, which included the entire study area. Proakis noted that unit capacity is “not an easy term to manage and can create a lot of worry and concern.”

“It is not a mandate to construct a certain number of housing units,” he said.

Housing Plan

Watertown has a requirement to create a zone of by-right multi-family residential with a unit capacity of at least 1,701. The proposal presented April 4 would have a unit capacity of 3,133, said Loren Rapport, a designer from the lead consultant from Utile.

By-right zoning means the Planning and Zoning Boards could have input on design of a project, but could not deny a residential project if met the zoning rules for the area. In this case it would be for multi-level residential projects.

The areas of by-right residential zoning would be north of the Watertown Square intersection, and along Arsenal Street where there are multiple automotive-focused businesses, with another area south of the Charles River off Galen along Watertown Street and California Street, Rapport said.

In the other areas near the Square, residential projects would be allowed with a special permit.

“The reason for that, think certain parcels have historic buildings, significant structures,” Rapport said. “We want to have more say over how those get developed.”

The areas would be zoned for 3.5, 4.5, or 5.5 story buildings with the top floor either having a pitched roof or set back several feet from the fascade, Rapport said. The tallest buildings would be allowed around the Watertown Square intersection.

The proposed zoning could also include for a bonus for including more below-market rate units. Rapport showed and example where a building with at least 50 percent rental units going for 80 percent of the Area Mean Income (AMI) or a building with at least 52 percent of the condos or other owner occupied units priced at 100 percent of the AMI. (Proakis said new market rate units in the Boston area go for about 150 percent of AMI). For doing so, the building height could be increased by one story, and the minimum parking requirement would be reduced.

Proakis also discussed the goals of the MBTA Communities Law, and how current zoning rules in Massachusetts make it difficult to build significant numbers of new housing units.

“The lack of housing is the most significant impediment to economic development in Eastern Massachusetts,” Proakis said, adding later, “This area (Boston) has the highest and fastest growing rental cost and housing cost in the nation. There is an estimated housing shortage of 200,000 units.”

Massachusetts allows for communities to use special permits in their zoning ordinances to have some control over developments.

“The concern is developing takes to long, many projects get smaller, and more expensive with special permits,” Proakis said.

Special permits allow communities to create conditions, ask for funds to offset related impacts, and make other changes.

“Many communities use special permit reviews, I don’t thin we are one of them, to make sure housing never gets built at all,” Proakis said.

He emphasized that he believes that building more housing is key to controlling the cost of housing, and added that this strategy will only work if all the communities in the area work toward that goal.

“We have seen all of the debates, whether housing production actually helps to moderate and reduce housing costs,” Proakis said. “There are plenty of academic studies that shows it does, little that show it doesn’t.”

The Intersection

The two scenarios discussed during the Feb. 29 meeting were reduced to one. The option that the design team, led by Utile, chose was what was called the “Four Corners” option. When designers met with public safety officials, they found that other option, known as “Mini Main Street,” had a fatal flaw. In this design, Jeff Speck of Speck Dempsey said, the rerouted east-west traffic from Main Street to Arsenal Street would converge with the north-south traffic from Mt. Auburn Street to Galen Street for a block.

“For this moment, every single trip is on that stretch of the road,” Speck said. “It does not function well compared to a simple intersection.

The Four Corners will keep the roadways in the same configuration, except Charles River Road will no longer enter or exit from the main intersection. Charles River Road will bend into a T intersection at North Beacon Street where it will be a right-only turn.

Another change is traffic heading toward the Mass. Pike from Main Street and Pleasant Street will be directed around the south side of the Delta, to remove some traffic from the main intersection, said Ralph DeNisco from Stantec. The road will be narrowed, he said, so it does not become a “speedway,” and it will activate that section of the delta for public use.

Other roadways will be narrowed in the Square. Currently, some are as wide as six lanes at points. With the reduction in width of the roadway, Speck said there will be a net gain of 139,735 sq. ft., or about 3.2 acres. Some on-street parking will be added right in the main intersection and on the Delta, but most of the area will be turned into open space.

The reduced width of the roadways will make the crosswalks shorter, and easier for pedestrians to cross, DeNisco said. Also, bike paths will be connected, with the one on Arsenal Street branching west on Taylor Street and connecting with the path behind the Watertown Library and City Hall. It would also connect to the river paths through the main Watertown Square intersection.

Bus connections would be improved with plans to extend the 71 bus over the Galen Street Bridge and turning around at Watertown Yard. The connections would also be easier, DeNisco said, because crosswalks would be shorter. The plan did not include bus-only lanes on the Bridge, as had been shown in February.

One of the features of Mini Main Street was adding retail pavilions on the Delta. This will be part of the Four Corners plan, too. Speck said they may look like the Ben & Jerry’s at Arsenal Yards, or the J.P. Licks at Assembly Row in Somerville. He expects more people to use the area if they can get something to eat or a cup of coffee while they are there.

“It makes it more into real main street,” he said. “It feels like a shopping district against the green. The green will still be visible (from across the street).”

Community Input

Those attending the forum on Thursday could participate in live polls, ask questions, and fill out comment forms. The City will also have online participation forms, which will be open until April 13. Visit the Watertown Square Area Plan website to participate and see more information about the project (watertownsquareimprovements.com).

A video of the meeting will be available at Watertown Cable’s website.