Watertown council OK's bike path plan

By Sarah Thomas, Town Correspondent

The Watertown Town Council voted Tuesday to accept a conceptual plan that would be used to guide development of the Watertown Community Path, a route through town that would be used for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

For more information about the plan, including video tours of its proposed path, click here.

The motion passed after a recommendation by the planning board, which partnered with Tufts University's department of urban and environmental planning to complete the study.

"The town can use it as a guideline as adjacent properties are developed, and so that the DPW and Planning departments can proceed with discussion of design details," said Steve Magoon, Watertown's planning director, in the report.

No funds were allocated to constructing the path during Tuesday's meeting. Magoon said in an interview Wednesday that he believes the plan should be implemented in stages.

"The next step is to go back to the department of public works and start looking at those aspects of the plan we can implement quickly and cheaply," Magoon said. No date has been set for a formal meeting to discuss first steps.

The planning board also noted in its report that contractors and homeowners have been repaving driveways without obtaining a permit from the DPW.

"This is an important issue, because whenever you increase the amount of impermeable surfaces in town, you complicate stormwater management," said Gerald Mee, DPW superintendent. "There's also a concern that the new driveway could be too close to a fire hydrant."

Mee said that the cost of a permit to repave a driveway is $105. However, the fine issued for homeowners and contractors who do not obtain permits is $50.

"If it's a contractor, we can stop issuing them permits, but the entire fine structure for the town's roads is antiquated," Mee said. "It hasn't been revisited since 1993 and needs to be looked at."

The council said it would refer the matter to the town's budget committee, who will make a recommendation determining whether adding more inspectors to catch unpermitted driveway work would make financial sense.

Sarah Thomas can be reached at sarah.m.thomas@gmail.com.