Needham business owners urge pause on Envision Needham Center pilot; board narrows eligibility for working-group seats

Dozens of Needham business and property owners oppose the Envision Needham Center project as currently presented and asked the Select Board to pause plans for a pilot that would reduce travel lanes and remove parking on Great Plain Avenue.

Eileen Baker, owner of Proud Mary at 1024 Great Plain Avenue, told the board at the April 22 meeting she was speaking on behalf of dozens of local business and property owners who had formed an ad hoc group since learning of the Envision Needham Center plans. Baker said the proposed changes — described in the meeting materials as including lane reductions, medians and bike lanes on Great Plain Avenue — would remove parking and ‘‘threaten the livelihood of local businesses’’ by diverting customers and increasing congestion on side streets. She told the board she and other business owners are ‘‘not against progress or bike safety’’ but called the plan ‘‘neither balanced nor business friendly’’ and asked the board to pause the pilot and include small-business representation in the planning process.

The public-comment period remarks preceded a staff recommendation and board discussion about the composition of the Envision Needham Center Working Group. The Town Manager’s office recommended amending the group’s composition so the three designated Needham Center business seats would be filled by any three individuals who represent a Needham Center small business, restaurant or commercial property owner, rather than strictly one slot for each of those three narrowly defined categories. Town staff said the change is intended to make filling the group’s seats feasible and to ensure a range of business perspectives are represented.

Select Board members debated the group’s role and timeline. Board members and staff said the working group’s charge is to advise the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the consultant on design iterations, to process public feedback and to recommend funding options; board members emphasized that the plan incorporates prior surveys, traffic and parking analyses and that the pilot and bike-lane element are part of grant requirements. Several board members said they wanted to ensure the working group included skeptical viewpoints so the process would surface concerns as well as support; the board noted upcoming public hearings on May 1 and May 13 and encouraged stakeholders to attend.

The board voted to approve the recommended change in the working-group composition so seats could be filled by any combination of Needham Center small business, restaurant or commercial property owner representatives. The vote was taken by voice; the meeting record shows the motion passed.