Dear Newton City Councilors,

If it could happen on Chapin Road, it could happen anywhere in Newton. Please vote against it.

A real estate speculator is asking the City Council for permission to install a drainage conduit on Chapin Road that would allow stormwater runoff from a two-lot subdivision on Homer Street into the municipal drainage system. The application is based on a development plan that would allow stormwater runoff to flow onto Chapin Road and neighboring yards. If approved, it would allow the development of two houses on land that is currently undevelopable.  

This is a problem.  

Development of the lots would result in stormwater runoff flowing from the subdivision:

1.      onto the adjacent roadway, contributing to potholes and icy driving conditions;

2.      into neighboring yards, contributing to basement floods; and

3.      into the city drainage system, adding volume to an already overburdened system. 

In essence, this project, located at 132 Homer Street, seeks an exception to local laws that prohibit developers from increasing the flow of stormwater runoff to neighboring properties and into the municipal drainage system.  Water that flowed beyond the lot perimeter prior to development can continue to do so.  But development may not increase it.  

If the City Council approves the new drainage system, it would set a horrible precedent. It would mean the same thing could happen anywhere in Newton.  

Please vote AGAINST the Application for the Chapin Road Drain Extension.

This petition is not seeking to change development standards.  It is seeking to enforce them. 

Background:

This site sits next to a non-conforming cul-de-sac (on Chapin Road), It has a water table less than two feet below the surface, and cannot infiltrate water. Subdivision approval required five ordinance waivers, including health and safety waivers, and a plan to extend the main municipal drain down Chapin Road to the site. Approval of this extension is now before the City Council.  Without this extension, the land would be unbuildable. The area is known to be a seasonal pond.

The subdivision was approved with very little public visibility.  Only four abutters were notified of the initial Board of Survey meeting. Two of them were in long-term care facilities. However, the 500-foot drain extension currently at issue impacts many more homes. City engineers supported granting waivers to allow the subdivision to proceed, even waiving full sidewalk construction to reduce stormwater runoff.

This year, the petitioner submitted drain extension requests twice to the Public Facilities Committee. Each time, they were presented with independent engineering reviews identifying serious errors, missing data, and flawed assumptions. Building on this site would require raising the grade by at least five feet in some places and still would not ensure adequate water infiltration, increasing flood risks for the street and nearby homes. Despite these warnings, the most recent request passed, but only by a single vote.

This matter is now before the full City Council. The petitioners’ plans remain incomplete and inaccurate, and the push for approval appears motivated solely by the desire to unload a bad investment. 

The Public Facilities Committee has said multiple times that our true protection lies in the review process at the building permit stage. First, there is no public visibility at that stage, so we will not have an opportunity to review.  Second, that is the exact mistake that got us here. The Board of Survey approved the subdivision relying on the assumption that any problems would be addressed at the next stage. That did not happen.

More than 20 residents have spoken at six public hearings, presented legal and engineering problems with the project, and repeatedly put the City of Newton on notice of the risks. 

Again, we ask the City Council to reject the petitioner’s application and protect our street and our homes.

Thank you.