What is the MBTA Communities Law?
By Peter O’Neil
The MBTA Communities law is not an MBTA proposal or policy. It’s state legislation conceived and promoted by then-Gov. Charlie Baker and continued under current Gov. Maura Healey to incentivize […]
Base Plan vs. Neighborhood plan
By Needham Observer
When Town Meeting voted on zoning articles to comply with the MBTA communities law it considered both a minimally compliant base plan and a more expansive neighborhood plan. Viewing the […]
Propensity for density
By Peter O’Neil
What the zoning changes allow and what will actually get built (and when) are not the same thing. The town’s zoning consultants used “propensity modeling” to assign likelihood-for-change percentages on […]
What you need to know about Needham’s vote on MBTA law
By Needham Observer
Voters who only recently became aware that there was such a thing as the MBTA Communities Law may be having a hard time getting caught up on the specifics of […]
How did we get here?
By Needham Observer
Four years to the day after the law was signed, Needham voters will pass judgment on the solution that Town Meeting approved to meet its Dec. 31, 2024, state-imposed deadline […]
Court rules in favor of child care center on building permit appeal
By Peter O’Neil
A Massachusetts Land Court judge has ruled in favor of the developer of a child care center nearing completion at 1688 Central Ave., dismissing claims by a group of abutters […]
Film series explores a range of disabilities
By Bob Baker
“What is Normal, Anyway?” is a free, four-part film series about the challenges facing students with disabilities that begins Jan. 8 at Newman Elementary School. Needham’s Jenn Scheck-Kahn, parent of […]
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