STRENGTHS

A strong community, beautiful neighborhoods, dedicated residents, and a dedicated City Councilor doing their best to be responsive to residents’ issues.

THREATS

• Traffic: Addressing traffic issues has been a priority and one of my biggest focuses this year. Whether caused by apps like Waze that have redirected traffic through our neighborhoods or by the popularity of one of our parks that inundated a neighborhood with cars and the ensuing safety issues and trash problems, traffic has been a priority. I’ve been before the traffic commission with 10+ to the point that I thought they would rename their monthly meeting, “The Waltham Traffic Commission Featuring Paul Katz, Ward 7.”

• But we have gotten wins: safety improvements, stop signs, and signal improvements. And some matters are still pending. No, we didn’t get every request approved. I’ve stood next to the mayor as requests were denied, but we have made a lot of progress this year to address our traffic problems and related issues and I promise you we’re not done yet.

• Protection of neighborhoods: Some consider this to be just a student housing issue but it can apply to any rental situation. The bottom line is that we’ve got to get the message out to non-resident homeowners that they need to respect our neighborhoods. The trash, blight, noise, public safety issues and impact on the neighbors is not going to be tolerated. I hold the owners accountable. Similar issues exist in Ward 6, and Ward 6 Councilor Durkee and I have been focusing on the issue, and we’ve seen progress with more engagement from the building and the law department. The law department is contacting owners and telling them that they must rent in a manner conducive to the implied expectations of residentially zoned neighborhoods. However, it can feel like a game of Whack-a-Mole: as one situation is addressed another appears. We can’t let up.

• Blight: We are fortunate not to have a big issue with this in Ward 7, but when you see one bad property, it stands out. I call it the “broken window theory”. I am happy to report that the property at 151 South Street which had a fire more than 3 years ago, is finally being torn down. (Update: the property has been torn down.)

• Development: I don’t think everyone is aware of the amount of commercial property in our Ward, but more specifically – the potential development of this commercial property in our Ward.

• Reading from the 2007 Master Plan Report: “Commercial properties in Ward Seven have tremendous expansion capacity via Special Permits. Overall projected Special Permit commercial development will nearly quadruple the amount of commercial space in the Ward. Thirty-one commercial properties in the Ward can add nearly 5.75M SF of commercial space by special permit, 12 of these parcels can accommodate over 100,000 SF of new commercial development, including parking garages.” I’ll speak more about this shortly.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Climate: I would like to see new developments taking some step toward addressing the climate issue -  LEED certification is one step. These are better buildings that people want to work in. Waltham developers recognize this – Waltham has over 90 LEED or Green certified buildings ranging from the Stanley School to many commercial properties. Every commercial or residential developer should be prepared to answer “How is your project going to be sensitive to the threats of climate change?” New homes or major renovations should consider latest best-practices especially for conservation.

• Traversing the City: I’d like to see the day when someone who lives in Angleside, or Roberts, or Cedarwood can travel a path on foot or by bike – connecting to the new east-west rail trail, and going north to the high school or farm or Veterans Field. Like the Emerald Necklace. We could call it “The Watch Necklace.” Let’s make it easier to get across the City, east-west and north-south. But the answer to this isn’t to drop a bike path on Lexington Street. This is something the Master Plan Committee will be looking further into.

• Housing: high-density complexes are not the only answer. I’m not sure I’ll ever see a new development of a neighborhood of starter homes, although the Baker administration did put forth the flawed “starter home district proposal.”. But there are creative options, and one step I’ll be taking, at the suggestion of a Ward 7 resident, will be to bring forth a resolution to the Council to study how we can draw more benefit from Accessory Dwelling Units to help address affordable housing. We already allow ADUs in Waltham. In addition to organically expanding housing stock, ADUs provide a way for seniors to stay in their homes; providing smaller footprint housing options with less impact on the environment and increasing options for people who work in our community to live in our communities. Newton and Dedham have done a bit of work in this area that deserves to be studied. But to my previous point, efforts must be sensitive to our single-family neighborhoods, and they can be!

• Ecology: I want to look into more opportunities for dense plantings (aka the “Miyawaki” method); encourage pollinator gardens and vertical gardens. We have opportunities in our Ward. “Plant and they will come.” And we also have some incredible gardeners in our community.

• Veterans: Durkee and I sponsored a resolution that Waltham considers a “Hometown Heroes” Banner program, to recognize and honor our veterans and active-duty service members along our Main Streets. I’m very excited about this program.

• 128/20/117/Green Street rebuild, dead-ending of Stow Street, and widening of 117 bridge; This is being funded privately by a group of developers although I have to report that the start date is still TBD. We need to discourage further development, especially West of 128, until the roads can handle more traffic and we can take the burden off of our neighborhood.

  • As part of that, the residents of Livingstone Lane have waited more than long enough for noise barriers.

  • The Cedarwood/Route 20 intersection: bad signage and signal placement along with the dangerous exit ramp from 128 north onto the rotary – ALL controlled by Mass DOT, not the City. Mass DOT controls Route 20 from the highway to Eddy Street, and I have been trying to have discussions with them and work with them on basic safety improvements that will have big impact.

  WEAKNESSES & THREATS

• Ongoing issues we deal with day-in and day-out:

  • Traffic (and with that, safety) through the neighborhoods

  • Protecting single family zoned neighborhoods particularly from irresponsible, insensitive non-resident owners.

  • Protecting those parcels of land in the Ward that we can from development; some are in close proximity to seasonal or perennial waterways, including land along Sibley Road, Keach Terrace, Keach Street, and Charles River Road

  • And managing the special permit potential of commercial properties in the Ward

• The potential sale of Charlesbank complex. It’s an affordable property to many. A sale creates uncertainty for the monthly rent of many long-time residents, many of whom are seniors, and concerned about what someone might want to do with the 20 acre property.

  • Charlesbank Gardens and Charlesbank Estates, combined, is 424 units.

  • To quote the real estate listing: “Waltham is one of the most desirable suburbs to live and work in the Boston area. Charlesbank Estates offers a vast amount of untapped value by increasing rents to market levels as well as the opportunity to implement a comprehensive unit renovation program that would generate significant rent upside. Combined with the fact that the property has 100% market rate units, this fully leased community presents an extremely rare opportunity in the Boston market, offering a new owner the ability to increase rents without any restrictions.”

• 1486 Main Street (European Auto Solutions site today) – This proposed 40B is before the ZBA for a comprehensive permit. The original proposal was for 196 units. This out-of-scale development is proposed just 15 feet from an abutter’s home in Weston. As originally presented, a firetruck, let alone a ladder, wouldn’t be able to access all sides of this 5-story building, shoehorned into a small parcel. At the last ZBA meeting the project has been reduced to 160 units to allow the setback required for a road that a firetruck can actually access. This is still before the ZBA. Because it’s a 40B it does not come to the council, but I have spoken at the ZBA to express our concerns. I can make these comments available to you.

• 1362 Main Street (Plywood Supply and the old Giant Department Store) – The developer is seeking a special permit for intensity of use and Floor-Area-Ratio to construct a new 5-story office/lab building with an attached 5-story (six level) parking structure; two proposed driveway openings: Main Street and Jones Road. Development is allowed as this is a commercially zoned parcel. Although there will be traffic improvements, the threat is that it will change the view for many who live on Livingstone, Milton, Dorchester, Colburn, Keach, and parts of Cedarwood. And if it’s built before needed road improvements, we’re also threatened by more traffic in our neighborhoods.

• Of the 4 cannabis dispensaries that Waltham can grant, four have been approved. (Update: 221 Bear Hill Road was the fourth application to be approved.)

  • 235 Bear Hill Rd. (Thrive Cultivation)

  • 305 Second Ave. (Middlesex Integrative Medicine)

  • 126 Bear Hill Rd. (Uma Flowers)

  • 221 Bear Hill Road

  • There are two outstanding applications: 1256 Main Street (at Cutting Lane) and 1250 Main Street (current site of Steve’s Pizza and Buy-and-Consign). The Ordinance and Rules Committee and Law Department are opining on how these applications should proceed (as of Apr 2, 2023)