The City Council meeting is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The agenda is here.
This week: Land deals and master plans.
Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/91727574825
Zoning: There’s a request to make the previously-foreclosed property at 342 West Boylston Street part of a “Commercial Corridors Overlay District.” These districts have reduced parking requirements and other zoning changes to increase walkability. This will go to the Planning Board for discussion.
Acceptable Council Petitions: Gordon Davis wants the Council to clarify their standards for acceptable petitions. He has had some of his petitions rejected by the City Solicitor and City Clerk such that they never ended up on a Council agenda. Reasons included: he asked the Council to “order” the Manager to do something, which they can’t do; because the Manager was already taking the requested action so the issue was “moot”; and because petitions “deal with personalities,” for example mentioning the Solicitor by name.
Boards and Commissions: The Manager is appointing Odeta Longobardo to the Community Preservation Committee.
Conservation: The Manager wants the Council to approve the city paying Holden $280,000 for a conservation restriction on the 113 acre Spring Ledge Farm property, which is in the watershed of two of our reservoirs. The Greater Worcester Land Trust will pay Holden an additional $280,000 and jointly hold the restriction with the city.
Master Plans: The finalized master plans are presented for three projects. First, there’s the plan to turn the former Becker property at 69 Sever Street into a Sever Street Park. Second, there’s the plan to make improvements at Lake View Park. Third, there’s the plan to make a park along Indian Lake at 149 West Boylston Drive.
Desks: There are tons of minor committee items on this Council agenda. For example, from Municipal Operations: “Request City Clerk and City Manager work in conjunction with the Standing Committee on Public Works to review the logistics and rearrangement of the desks within the City Council Office.” Or from Public Safety, a request for a report on what kinds of robots the police and fire departments could buy.
Homeless People at the Library: Councilor Colorio would like a report “concerning the situation at the Worcester Public Library regarding the homeless population.” I tend to skip requests for reports in these agenda writeups, because there are a ton of them and because they are not actual proposals. But if this is an issue you care about, this item gives you an excuse to talk to the Council about it.
Removing Resident Permit Parking: The Council will vote whether to remove permit parking on Holland Road at the request of a resident.