Housing advocacy group Newton for Everyone is collecting signatures on a citizen petition that would compel the Newton City Council to hold a public hearing and vote on three upzoning proposals.
The group needs just 50 registered voter signatures to trigger the process, as first reported by the Newton Beacon. Under Newton's City Charter, a citizen petition meeting that threshold forces the council to hear and vote on the proposals within three months after filing.
The petition lays out three changes to Newton's zoning ordinance:
- Multifamily housing in manufacturing districts. The proposal would allow multifamily housing and businesses by-right in areas currently zoned for manufacturing, meaning no special permit would be needed.
- Five-story residential in business districts. Residential buildings up to five stories would be permitted in existing business districts.
- Four units where two are allowed. Lots currently zoned for two housing units could hold up to four, a change the petition describes as a way to preserve existing homes by adapting them for more units.
Newton for Everyone began collecting signatures on Sept. 13 at the Upper Falls Village Fair and plans to continue throughout the fall, according to the group's blog post announcing the drive. The petition has not yet been filed with the council.
Newton for Everyone member Luke Mann-O'Halloran made the case for urgency at a Thursday, Sept. 24, event the group hosted with U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss and Boston University professor Maxwell Palmer.
"I just think we have more pressing issues than where you should be allowed to grow tomatoes," Mann-O'Halloran said, referring to the Zoning and Planning Committee's multiple meetings earlier in 2026 to debate where residents can place raised garden beds on their property.
The group said it turned to the petition process because the council has not acted on the kind of zoning changes Newton for Everyone believes the city needs. Much of Newton's zoning dates back 50 to 100 years and was written to allow only single- or two-family homes across most of the city, the group said. Those rules now push builders toward teardowns replaced by large, expensive houses rather than smaller, more affordable ones.
Filing alone does not change city law. The council can accept, reject or revise the proposed amendments after the required hearing. No Newton City Council member has publicly commented on the petition.
The Newton Beacon reported that if the petition is presented this fall and voted on after the new year, the zoning proposals could become a focal point of Newton's 2027 local elections.
