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Five‑unit Lexington Street proposal put on hold amid parking, traffic and transformer concerns
Summary
The Land Use Committee held a petition to raise a house and build five attached units at 83 Lexington St after planning and councilors questioned 13 requested zoning waivers, on‑site parking adequacy and traffic at a busy intersection; the petitioner will return with revised plans and more analysis.
The Newton Land Use Committee held petition 208‑26 for 83 Lexington Street after planning and multiple councilors raised concerns about the proposal’s density, the large number of zoning waivers and potential traffic impacts at the nearby Rumford/Lexington intersection.
Planning Associate Zach Melture summarized the petition: the applicant proposes to raise an existing dwelling and build five attached single‑family dwellings in two buildings on an 11,475 square‑foot lot in an MR2 district. Planning identified 13 separate items of zoning relief, including reduced lot area per unit (proposed 2,295 sq ft per unit versus the 4,000 sq ft required for single‑family attached), frontage shortfall (67.6 ft vs. 80 ft required), reduced open space (45.2% proposed; 50% required) and multiple parking/driveway waivers.
Petitioner Lawrence Lee presented a neighborhood context, renderings and a site plan that locates all required parking on the site (10 surface stalls for five units) and shows a proposed transformer near the front corner of the lot. Lee and planning said the petitioner submitted a vehicle turning analysis to demonstrate access to each parking stall and the internal maneuvering needed to enter and exit Lexington Street.
Council members and public commenters focused on three issues: (1) whether the undersized lot should carry five units given the extent of dimensional relief requested, (2) whether the proposed 10 surface parking stalls and narrow driveway would safely enter and exit at a busy intersection that is also seeing other nearby development and new community uses, and (3) the same recurring concern about transformer siting and screening. “Five units is way too much for this site,” Councilor Tariq Lucas said; other councilors urged more analysis rather than immediate denial.
Committee members asked the petitioner and planning to return with clearer visuals, revised site plans, additional landscape/screening and a traffic/turning analysis that addresses queuing and peak‑hour entry/egress at the adjacent intersection. The committee held the petition and left the public hearing open for a future meeting.
What’s next: The petitioner will revise the plans, provide clearer site visuals and traffic/turning detail, and respond to planning’s comments on transformer setbacks, screening and the number and location of parking stalls.
