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Committee approves revised Thurston Road plan: 14 attached single‑family units, neighbors win easement and screening commitments
Summary
The committee approved a special‑permit site plan for 14 single‑family attached units at Thurston Road (petition 131‑26) after the developer reduced units and parking, committed to sustainability measures (all‑electric, EV‑ready), and agreed to work with neighbors on a 1‑foot easement for a long‑used path and additional screening. The vote was 7–0 (1 absent).
The Newton Land Use Committee approved a special‑permit site plan that will allow 14 attached single‑family dwellings and associated dimensional and parking relief at a combined site on Thurston Road.
Planner Sondria Berman summarized revisions since the last hearing: the plan was reduced from 16 to 14 units, affordable units dropped from three to two, building count decreased from eight to seven, curb cuts were reduced from six to three, and parking stalls went from 32 to 29. Planning recommended additional plan references (ANR, turning radii, transformer locations, snow and trash details) and noted the project sits within a mixed‑density neighborhood and is near the Green Line’s Eliot station.
Attorney Terry Morris, representing Hillside Development, described the changes and mitigations made after neighborhood input: modified building layouts, 24–25‑foot drive aisles where required, plan notes for trash (garage storage with private pickup), snow removal by the condominium association/contractor, and a commitment to energy‑efficient measures. Morris said the project will be ‘‘all‑electric’’ with LEED‑or‑equivalent measures, EV‑ready stalls and heat pumps for hot water.
Neighbors had strong concerns about density, sightlines, privacy and long‑standing pedestrian access. Multiple abutters asked the committee to require formalization of a public access easement for a neighborhood path that connects to Emerson Playground and urged improved buffering against new roofs and windows that will face existing yards. The developer and the owner of the adjacent property (the Lupien family) said they support preserving use of the path; the petitioner committed to adding a 1‑foot easement in the board order and to work with abutters on additional landscaping and screening.
Committee members pressed the petitioner on drainage and ledge conditions. The petitioner said test pits and a grading plan have been submitted and that engineering review and infiltration/inflow calculations have been updated; the committee was told that final stormwater designs and any required mitigation will be reviewed by City Engineering and inspectional services at the building‑permit stage. The petitioner provided a landscape concept and agreed to continue working on turning radii detail and site screening with abutters.
Given the revisions and the petitioner’s commitments, the committee voted to approve the special permit subject to the conditions presented and agreed that planning and the law department will refine specific condition wording prior to second call and full council review. The motion passed 7–0 with one member absent.
What’s next: Conditions require an updated ANR plan, final infiltration/inflow calculations, landscape and screening details, inclusionary‑housing compliance (two affordable units), tree‑preservation compliance, and documentation of the 1‑foot easement in the order or on the plans. The petitioner will coordinate with planning and abutters on precise screening and path documentation.
