Town and YMCA offering places to cool off
While Needham is not expecting temperatures to reach the triple digits other parts of the country are experiencing, the forecast for the coming days anticipates temperatures reaching close to or into the 90s. And August can usually be relied on for more of the same.
Residents seeking relief will have some options for air-conditioned spaces, as the town and the Charles River YMCA will make the following facilities available:
Needham Free Public Library
Monday – Thursday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Sunday: 1-5 p.m.
Charles River YMCA
Monday – Friday: 5:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Center at the Heights Monday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday: 9 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
ZBA grants Just Salad zoning relief
The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to provide Just Salad relief from certain parking restrictions that the fast-casual restaurant requested for the 669 Highland Ave. site, most recently occupied by Three Squares restaurant. This is another step in the process that will allow Just Salad to move forward with its plans to open in Needham early next year.
Select Board fills last seat on key housing committee
On Tuesday the Select Board made the last of four allotted appointments to the nine-member Housing Needham Advisory Group (HoNe), selecting Elizabeth Kaponya to fill the slot designated for a resident who is a renter. In addition to being a renter, Kaponya is chair of the Needham Republican Town Committee. The other Select Board appointee, Michael Diener, is chair of the Needham Democratic Town Committee.
Established jointly by the Select Board and Planning Board, HoNe will lead the town’s community engagement process as it works to meet its Dec. 31, 2024, deadline to comply with the MBTA Communities Law. Among other things, the law requires the 177 communities in the MBTA service area to have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multifamily housing is permitted as of right.
The other HoNe members are John Connolly from the Finance Committee, Heidi Frail and Kevin Keane from the Select Board, Natasha Espada and Jeanne McKnight from the Planning Board and Michael Diener, citizen-at-large.
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