Good morning and happy Friday,

In a world full of good ideas and bad ideas, Watertown had a good idea when it decided to reimagine traffic clogged Watertown Square.

Now following a remarkably collaborative months-long public process, the Watertown City Council and Planning Board could vote as soon as Tuesday to adopt a refreshing plan that positions the square to become a vibrant, multi-modal place to live, work and play. 

• Here’s the Watertown Square Area Plan.
• Here’s an introductory letter from City Manager George Proakis.
• Here’s answers to common questions.

And here’s our letter  urging the council and planning board to adopt the plan as written.

Businesses to Newton City Council: Let us determine our own parking needs

Why are so many elected officials afraid to let business owners make their own decisions about how much parking they need to be successful?

On Monday the Newton City Council came this close to killing a proposed zoning change that would allow business incubators, maker spaces, and places of amusement to open by-right in the city’s village centers without the onerous parking mandates that can make opening a business in Newton frustrating, expensive and sometimes impossible.

“We need to protect the villages, not so much the businesses,” said Councilor Tarik Lucas, who seemed to momentarily forget that businesses are the lifeblood of our villages.

The parking mandate debate isn’t new, or limited to Newton. Mandate-supporting councilors professed Monday that they want to help small businesses. But their actions suggest they believe they know what business owners need more than owners do.

The fact is businesses aren’t going to sign a lease if the property doesn’t have the parking it needs for its employees and customers.  Developers won’t build projects that don’t have the parking needed to be leased. Investors aren’t going to underwrite developments they don’t believe can be successful. And not every business has the same parking needs.

So what makes a handful of bureaucrats think they know better?

“I don’t think we ought to be in the business of requiring businesses to build parking, or requiring businesses to have parking,” said Councilor Josh Krintzman, who has long advocated for eliminating parking minimums. 

“Let's see if we can make it easier for businesses to open up, especially in our village centers where this is really a hurdle that causes significant frustration and delays for many of our small businesses to open,” added Councilor Martha Bixby who also supported the change.

Krintzman, Bixby and a few of their colleagues aside, the zoning change didn’t have the 16 votes needed to pass. Sensing that, Councilor Susan Albright used a parliamentary move to delay a final vote until Aug. 12, buying some time to hopefully change a few of her colleague’s minds.

The Newton Beacon has more. 

You can email the council and tell them you support letting businesses decide how much parking they need.

Forget happy hour. This would make restaurants happy.

In a similar vein, why do some Beacon Hill bureaucrats think they know more about what kind of help restaurants need than actual restaurant owners?

Yesterday, the state Senate voted to revive happy hour drink discounts in any community that would like to allow.

Ending the state’s 40-year-old happy hour prohibition was touted as a way to boost sales and included in the economic development bill passed long after yours and my bedtime late last night.

Problem is most restaurants aren’t clamoring to bring back happy hour. Even the Mass. Restaurant Association (MRA) opposes it.

Restauranteurs would prefer lawmakers pass legislation that’s languished for years that would curb crippling credit card costs, including allowing passing processing fees onto customers.

 “[Happy hour] is generally not something that we hear from restaurants that they want,” Jessica Muradian at MRA tells Politico  “Restaurants are asking us for relief on high costs of operating businesses.”  

Tipped wage ballot question on hold

Another issue that could impact restaurant operators livelihoods is a proposed ballot question that would phase out the tipped wage.

Organizers thought they had collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. But  the MRA is challenging it in court.

"Our biggest objection is a lot of the signatures look like they've been signed by the same person," MRA’s Muradian tells WBUR.

A hearing is scheduled for July 17.

Four other ballot questions have been officially approved for the November ballot.

Friday grab bag

• The chamber will be honoring retiring Needham state Rep. Denise Garlick for her service on July 23 at the annual Needham Night BBQ at Tripadvisor. 
  
  
• Join me Tuesday (July 16) at noon for a virtual conversation with the three candidates -- Patrick A. Gatto, Kenneth Ruetenik and Joshua Tarsky -- competing in the Sept.3 Democratic primary for a chance to fill Garlick’s 13th Norfolk seat.  The winner will face Bill Dermody, who’s running as an unenrolled candidate in November.  Register.
  
  
• We also have scheduled debates for the two state rep contests in Newton.
  
  
• Head to Wellesley Square tomorrow (Saturday) from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the annual July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale. Schedule and details.
  
  
• Small business owners looking for funds to grow their businesses can check out this list of small business grants. (BBJ)
  
  
• Vendor registration for the 25th Anniversary of Watertown's Faire on the Square on Sept 21 is now open.
  
  
• Curious about Needham's proposed MBTA Communities district? Join the Needham Housing Coalition, Tuesday (July 16) at 6 p.m., for the first of three narrated walking tours of the districts that have been proposed to be rezoned. Register
  
  
• Food waste must be in closed plastic bags, and garbage dumpsters must be sealed and must be emptied at least once a week under new dumpster regulations in Watertown.
  
  
• Tuesday’s lead newsletter item about home construction challenges led one reader to share this site from a company building 3D printed homes.
  
  
• Green Needham is creating a Needham Tap Map, an online tool for residents and visitors to find locations where they can refill their reusable water bottles with tap water.  The tap map will include the locations of water fountains and bottle fillers at parks and public.  If you’re interested in welcoming the community to fill their water bottles at your business, contact kathrynraiz@gmail.com.

Wishing you could vote for generational change?

Both Newton and Needham are engaged in the process of designing new city/town seals. And both municipalities are looking for your input

Overall, I prefer the seal Needham has come up with more than the seal proposed for Newton.  But both feel like appropriate updates to me.

Vote early and often.

This ‘citizen scientist’ is also a chamber member

Finally today, even if you only attend one or two chamber events each year, chances are you’ve met a friendly fellow in a beret named Jackson Madnick, and perhaps his support dog Zoe too.

Madnick is the entrepreneur behind Pearl’s Premium, a sustainable grass seed that’s slow-growing and deep-rooted, eliminating the need for fertilizers and constant watering.

Madnick — and Zoe — were profiled the other day in an inspiring Washington Post article (free link) that tells the story of how he “became a citizen grass scientist after cat, Kitty, died of cancer in 1999” due to, he believes, the lawn chemicals used a near-by golf course.

“A couple of times I almost gave up,” Madnick tells reporter Lina Zeldovich, as he relayed his long trial-and-error product development process.

“But then I read a book about Thomas Edison that said that if he stopped one experiment short of discovering the lightbulb, he might not have ever discovered the lightbulb. It was perseverance and luck. So, I continued.”

That’s what you need to know for today — the anniversary of the day White Sox fans dealt disco a death blow  — unless you need to know what’s in bloom right now at Mount Auburn Cemetery. 

Be extra nice to all those workers who been working in the heat this week and have a good weekend.

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

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