Steering Committee Discusses Town Centers and Housing

Westwood's Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee discussed a handful of updates and recommendations regarding various issues, such as housing, in a meeting Tuesday night, as officials look to .

Hosted by Westwood Planning Board Secretary Jack Wiggin and Town Project Manager Glenn Garber, the meeting was held in an attempt to spur a conversation between the , noting where topics overlap.

Wiggin explained that this was the second meeting of this type, and that the point was to gather data and information, as well as engage in identifying issues and moving in a direction to improve upon those issues.

“What we are doing is updating a 10-year-old Comprehensive Plan,” said Wiggin.

The plan that is currently in place, which can be found on the Town of Westwood website, does not require a complete revision, Wiggin explained. However, there are areas that need improvements and fine tuning. The job of the subcommittees is to find out how to do so.

Carol Lewis, a representative of the Community Character subcommittee, explained that the focus of the group has been on community character and defining what the town wants and needs for a potential "town center." Currently, she explained, Westwood has two areas that are often considered a town center. One is along High Street and the other on Washington Street in Westwood's Islington neighborhood.

“At our last meeting, we continued with the finding that community character is what draws people to the town and what keeps people in town,” Lewis said Tuesday night.

The subcommittee brainstormed ideas on how to make the town center more attractive, she said, and focused on High Street as being the main center, but also noted that some towns have several “villages” that serve as centers. One example was Newton, which has several spots that many would consider a "center."

Lewis explained that a town center should be a government center, but retail aspects were also spoken of. She noted that the new would be a “crown jewel” and also discussed ideas to have residential living above some shops in town. She also said that the current town hall building would be perfect for living or retail. However, the number-one goal is to make it more attractive to those in and around Westwood.

“What we got from this is that there are a lot of great things to do if we had more money,” Lewis said.

John Cummings spoke on behalf of the Community Services, Facilities, Recreation subcommittee and the Transportation subcommittee.

“The reoccurring theme here is unifying Westwood,” Cummings said.

The town, he added, must decide whether they want to have one center, or two co-mingling centers. In the latter scenario, one could be focused on the governmental aspects of the town and the other would be primarily focused on retail.

Cummings also touched on the fact that there are needs for the Westwood and Departments, as well as senior living for the constantly growing senior population. Upon discussion, it was noted that this does not mean affordable senior housing, as many would be trying to downsize and would have considerable assets after selling their home.

Another topic of discussion was the possibility of having a sports multiplex in town. This could be integral in the needs of many sports and has often been requested by hockey parents, Cummings said.

Cummings also addressed how to recycle water and recycle in general. Currently, 20 percent of the town officially recycles, and he said that Westwood can do much better. Other topics included digital storage of town documents, improvement to pedestrian walkways and sidewalks, and preserving open space.

Paul Tryder spoke on behalf of the Housing subcommittee, and said that focus has been on several Planning Board initiatives:

3. Senior Residential Development
4. Upper Story Residential Development

“We identified that the groups in Westwood most needing housing are the seniors,” said Tryder. “We haven’t quite defined what seniors are yet in Westwood, but there’s a lot of support.”

Tryder said that the types of housing have ranged from attached housing to second story housing. He said that housing communities have been brought up, as well. Other areas of discussion referred to affordable housing and rental housing, which Tryder admits are somewhat of a taboo in Westwood. However, he feels that this is a need in all communities.

Garber spoke in regards to Open Space, Natural Resources and Historic Preservation. He said that that particular subcommittee was just getting started, and that the three major issues discussed are open space protection, water resources protection and energy conservation.

“Moving forward, I think the group wants to get more site specific and working with specific parcels,” Garber explained.

After hearing from representatives for each subcommittee, the group engaged in an open conversation regarding their thoughts on ideas. The majority of the conversation was in regards to the town center and open space.

“It’s no surprise we are seeing a lot of overlap between the committees,” said Planning Board Vice Chair Steve Olanoff. “Community character seems to get into the ideal of having one town center, or more. This is a pretty important concept that we need to resolve. We currently have two town centers.”

Another topic that was raised was the idea of potentially combining the Westwood Police and Fire Departments. Many of the ideas that were addressed Tuesday overlapped and all were taken into account for when they need to be put in writing, which Wiggin said is the next step.