A split decision on center

Group's report offers rival visions for future

An architect's rendering shows one proposal to renovate Newton Centre, aiming to improve traffic, parking, and the sense of community.

Three years ago, a few dozen residents took up the task of bringing Newton Centre back to the glory days of the 1950s, when it was a bustling commercial and residential area with the stately Mason School for its centerpiece.

The process quickly grew contentious.

Members of the study group, which included aldermen, business owners, and neighborhood residents, found they agreed on little except the basic goals: a better traffic flow and parking scheme; a more neighborhood-oriented retail mix; and improved landscaping, beginning with smarter use of the triangle-shaped parking lot smack in the middle of the center, which replaced the Mason School decades ago.

Last week, the group delivered an extensive report that offers two options. One faction wants an ambitious, multimillion-dollar makeover that would create 150 residences, move parking to the periphery of the center, and tear up the parking lot, replacing it with a park and a "signature building" containing shops, restaurants, and spaces for community use.

The second faction wants far less extensive change, recommending traffic and parking calming measures and the relocation of some parking spaces to create a small green on the lot.

"We were charged with figuring out what could be done to revitalize Newton Centre - how to make Newton Centre into more of a community, with more people on street and a greater variety of businesses," said Jerry Adams, a member of the task force who advocated for the more ambitious proposal. "There were extreme views and it was clear people were quite split on the issue."

It will be up to Mayor David Cohen, residents, and aldermen to decide which proposal, or which combination of the two proposals, to use.

"This is an impressive report that provides a great deal of food for thought," mayoral spokesman Jeremy Solomon said. He said Cohen will review the report when he returns from vacation next week, but did not say when the mayor would issue a proposal.

The report arrives as the city is dealing with myriad other contentious issues, including construction of a new Newton North High School, for a projected $197.5 million, and $12 million in budget cuts after voters rejected a request to raise property taxes in May. And, with the faltering economy, some ambitious plans to rehabilitate town centers in other communities, such as Westborough, are not producing the desired results.

In Newton, proponents of the alternative plans say each would come at a limited cost to the city.

The faction that envisions expansion was formed when two groups - who either wanted moderate or aggressive growth - came together and created a single proposal that would require $8 million to $10 million for public improvements to roads, sidewalks, and facilities, with the money to be raised through public, private, and nonprofit sources. They also envision one or more parking garages, at a cost of $10 million each, which would be self-financed through parking fees.

Newton Centre sits along a main route across the city, with an MBTA stop nearby, and has at least three coffee shops, two ice cream stores, several banks, salons, clothing shops, and restaurants, with the parking lot sitting in the middle of it all. The village "requires significant intervention," the growth faction said in the report, because the center "has too much traffic, too many undistinguished, single-story buildings, too many 'destination' retail locations . . . and too few apartments."

To address those issues, their recommendations include changing the zoning regulations to make it easier and more attractive for developers, and allow buildings to be as tall as 60 feet.

The group says the plan would increase the tax base, establish a more pleasant pedestrian experience, and increase profits for investors and businesses. The funding would be primarily from private sources, such as investments and donations. Other potential sources include state and federal grants and financing programs, and Community Preservation Act and public works funds.

The faction in favor of limited change includes local merchants and residents who volunteered to help with process after being alarmed by initial suggestions they heard, the report stated. They felt that "arbitrarily" presenting the commercial district as "ugly, outdated, and so dysfunctional that only development on an unprecedented scale can save it" is "divorced from reality."

This group's plan, with a cost of $3 million to $5 million, would move 65 spaces from the triangle lot to diagonal spaces in front of stores on Langley Road, Lyman Street, and Centre Green Street. The lot's spaces would be replaced by a village green for active and passive uses. Other changes include traffic calming measures, more pedestrian walkways, and historic preservation and conservation design guidelines.

"Our goal is to protect and improve an already thriving Newton Centre Village and to provide a model for other villages," their section of the report stated, touting its approach as immediate, financially feasible, and politically viable.

"There's a real balance now between merchants and residents that needs to be taken into account," said Lisa Gordon, a member of the limited-change faction. "Increasing the density will create more traffic, and taller building heights will make it darker, along with other issues."

The group did not want to change zoning laws, and recommended a "modest amount of additional housing" to be achieved by reconverting spaces above businesses for residential use. It said funding can be raised by a "modest incremental" increase in parking fees, donations from merchants and residents, sponsorships, advertising, and matching city and state grants.

Rachana Rathi can be reached at rrathi@globe.com.