PLEASE WRITE AND CALL ALL MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL before Monday June 11th!!!!!

PLEASE WRITE AND CALL MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL before Monday June 11th!!!!! We need your help NOW to stop this special permit and tell the City Council that there is no such thing as a “Look Back” for a project of this magnitude in our neighborhood. Last Tuesday, June 28th, the Land Use Committee voted to allow a special permit so the proposed self-storage facility can be 33% larger than is allowed by the zoning, with a huge decrease in the recommended number of parking spaces, and opening times from 6:30 am to 10:00 pm. Voting “No” does not mean that this developer and landowner can not build, it means they do not get special privileges that benefit a few at the expense of increased traffic and safety issues. Over the past few weeks, we presented our 850+ signatures and 350+ comments to the Land Use Committee. Numerous abutters and neighbors spoke at public hearings and articulated real fears of the harm this “special permitted” proposal will do to our neighborhood. At the May 24th hearing, many of the councilors heard our concerns and expressed many of their own concerns about the size of the building, the potential dangers of storage, the issues of noise, traffic, crime, how this fits in the neighborhood, the hours and times when facility will be open and unmonitored. The LUC members requested a number of studies, including a traffic study. Last Tuesday, the LUC presented some of the new findings (but not all) – Including the Planning Department determination that this facility will generate significantly MORE traffic than suggested by the developer – and this traffic issue was ignored. Instead, the LUC created a long list of conditions and "Look Backs" -- meaning that if the hours aren't working after the facility is built and operating, then the LUC can make a change in the future -- at which point, it became clear that they were going to vote this thing through with a huge list of "Look Back Conditions" -- you can read the details here. At the June meeting, the LUC presented some of the new findings (not all) and then presented a long list of conditions and "Look Backs" -- meaning that if the hours aren't working then the LUC can make a change in the future -- at which point, it became clear that they were going to vote this thing through with a huge list of "Look Back Conditions" -- you can read the details here (add link). As for the vote, two LUC members Harney and Schwartz abstained from voting; Councilors Auchincloss, Cote, Laredo, Lennon, and Lipof voted “YES” to approve this special permit with “Look Back” conditions. What happens next?: This Special Permit proposal will now be brought to a vote of the entire City Council on Monday July 11th – it must be approved by the City Council to be allowed. We have asked several councilors to charter the hearing to give us more time and they have said no. We need your help to stop this special permit and harm to our neighborhood. 1) Please ask our City Councilors to Charter Right this Special Permit Hearing until August or later -- it only takes one councilor to make this happen. We need more time to inform the public of what occurred. 2) Please get everyone you know in Newton to sign our petition- help us get the word out regarding this facility – something that doesn’t just impact Newtonville Avenue but all of the surrounding areas and access roads – help the councilors know this is important to their RESIDENTS AND CONSTITUENTS http://bit.do/friendsofnewtonville 3) Please write to ALL of the Councilors and tell them not to allow this Special Permit! http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/45112 4) Please show up on July 11th and stand with us -- clearly we need more people and more voices to defeat this special permit There is no "Look Back" on a building of this type and this size! Once built it will be there for decades and decades to come. Thank you, Friends of Newtonville Area Here are the e-mails of all City Councilors: slennon@newtonma.gov acicconejr@newtonma.gov enorton@newtonma.gov jauchincloss@newtonma.gov salbright@newtonma.gov bglaser@newtonma.gov thessmahan@newtonma.gov jcote@newtonma.gov jharney@newtonma.gov lgentile@newtonma.gov asangiolo@newtonma.gov jrice@newtonma.gov dcrossley@newtonma.gov byates@newtonma.gov rblazar@newtonma.gov vdanberg@newtonma.gov gschwartz@newtonma.gov lbaker@newtonma.gov rfuller@newtonma.gov mlaredo@newtonma.gov Clappin@newtonma.gov dkalis@newtonma.gov rlipof@newtonma.gov