On Wednesday night, Newton’s Public Safety and Transportation Committee approved an appeal to shorten the Newton Centre Pilot Plaza’s trial period amid growing debate about the plaza’s location and community impact.
A large portion of the triangular-shaped Langley Parking Lot, which sits just off the Newton Centre Green, was repurposed into the now Newton Centre Pilot Plaza as part of a trial-based pilot program last summer. The pilot’s trial was initially set to end on Oct. 31 of this year.
Andrew Popper, a psychiatrist who works in Newton Centre, raised concerns about the effects of the plaza. He explained that a sizable portion of his clientele are older adults with mobility issues who rely on the parking area that is now occupied by the plaza.
“The whole point of the plaza is the community, but there is a vulnerable subset of the community that I treat that is basically marginalized by this other attempt to create community,” Popper said. “It’s hurting people.”
Ward 2 City Councilor-at-Large Tarik Lucas suggested the Newton Centre Green as a more suitable location for the plaza, as it would preserve parking availability.
“It’s just tables and chairs,” Lucas said. “These could be easily relocated to the Newton Centre Green—it is the ideal location.”
Zachery LeMel, Newton’s long-range planner, explained that the placement of the pilot plaza was intended to explore alternative uses for the center of Newton’s largest village center.
“It wasn’t about proving that this is the best place for the plaza, which was why the green was not chosen,” LeMel said. “It was really about looking at the parking area and finding that it can be used for something else, and the sky doesn’t fall.”
Newton Commissioner of Public Buildings Josh Morse said the city remains open to working on relocating the plaza as soon as possible.
“We are committed to exploring and partnering with the Parks and Rec Commission and Department to look at opportunities to create the plaza in the green and then ultimately … remove the plaza from the parking lot and restore those parking spaces,” Morse said.
The committee voted 6–2 to amend the trial’s end date from Oct. 31, 2026, to May 31, 2026, determining that the shortened period would provide sufficient data to reevaluate the plaza.