A plea to the Planning Board to think long term

We also had to consider some of the anxieties we all share about the future. Everyone feels some pain from rising housing prices. The town is struggling to afford the services we currently enjoy. The climate is also changing and the world needs to adjust to a more sustainable lifestyle in order to preserve our planet, and the town has to adjust to a hotter planet.

It makes me excited to see how the town is seriously taking on the task of long-term planning in the face of these potential hopes and these difficult challenges ahead. It shows me that the people of Norwood want the planning board to actively work to make this town a better place.

There is a proposal at 55 Lenox Street to add 96 units of housing. 67 of those units will have a parking spot included in their lease, and 29 others will not have a parking spot but will pay around $150-$250 less in rent. This project is exactly what I have heard my friends saying that Norwood needs more of, an attractive building replacing a vacant lot that neighbors have called an eyesore and a project that plants trees and plants in a fully paved area and reduces the burden of our collective stormwater management system. This project allows more housing opportunities that let us live a more sustainable and affordable car-free lifestyle while increasing town revenue from the additional property tax and permitting fees.

A comment was made at the last public hearing meeting of “How are you going to take a girl out on a bike?” It’s a funny question, but this isn’t the kind of question the planning board needs to be prioritizing? “How are my kids going to afford to live here?” “How do we add more housing without increasing our carbon footprint?” “How am I going to take a walk with my family to Daddy’s Dairy to get us a treat?” These are the kind of questions we need to think about when we plan for our future.

The chair mentioned during the meeting how we can’t know what is going to happen in the future, and while that is true, we know where we want to be. We know what we need more of in this town. I ask that the planning board consider what the town needs to make this the place we want it to be and approve the projects that align with our shared goals.

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Andrew Jones

Norwood