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The Pleasant Street Corridor District Rules Have Arrived -- Watertown, Massachusetts

By
Real Estate Agent with Century 21 Commonwealth

Just days after my post, The Pleasant Street Corridor - What's Your Vision, the Watertown Tab ran an article: Rules for Watertown's Pleasant Street allow seven-story buildings, prohibit chain stores. The Watertown Town Councilors voted to institute these rules for development along this industrial stretch of road because as District C Councilor Vincent Piccirilli said, "This should not be a bedroom community lined with Repton Places. We need to build a multi-use neighborhood, and to do that you need density."

Here are the new development guidelines for Pleasant Street:Watertown Tab - July 11, 2008

  • Define the character of the corridor
  • Facilitate a mix of uses including residential, office, research and development, hotel, retail, etc.
  • Improve the quality of life
  • Develop at an appropriate scale and size
  • Increase real estate investment and maximize development to enhance the town's tax base
  • Promote accessibility to and within the district by improving existing and creating new roadways, mass transit, pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths
  • Calm Pleasant Street traffic and manager traffic impacts
  • Improve access to the Charles River
  • Encourage Smart Growth and Low Impact Development to develop in an environmentally sustainable manner, manage stormwater and protect the riparian habitat

All in all, I have to agree with them. It is important, as I said in my last post on the subject, to draw interest to this area of town through different mediums, such as residential, office, hotel and retail.

The beauty of the area will be that they are not allowing any chain stores or restaurants to build on this area, allowing for Watertown to produce its own restaurants, retail stores and more to be proud of. One of my favorite aspects is the desire to create new pedestrian walkways, bicycle paths and more to encourage people to wander from place to place rather than a quick jump in the car. This promotes a greater town atmosphere, which Watertown already has but still has room to grow.

"Developers may be able to max out their buildings by earning incentive credits which include enhancing useable open space, connections to the Charles River bike path, structured or underground parking, and alternative transportation incentives." The overall goal, it seems, is to create an inviting, open space where residents and visitors can enjoy the outdoors while eating, shopping, working and more in aesthetically pleasing buildings that do not overshadow the beauty of the Charles River.

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