Politics & Government

Watertown Council Priorities: Pleasant Street, Dog Park and Big Developments

These subjects will be on the agenda for the Town Council this year.

The new Town Council term has just started and members have already set out some of their priorities for the year - Pleasant Street, major developments and a dog park.

The council will have many things on their plate, biggest of all the budget, but members requested three items be studied by subcommittees with the intent to come back to the full council for a decision. 

"Some items came up in the recent campaign, and others have been lingering and are ready to be discussed," said Town Council President Mark Sideris. 

Development rules in the Pleasant Street Corridor will be examined by the Economic Development subcommittee in conjunction with the Planning Board. The Town Council gave the area special zoning which is intended to encourage redevelopment of former industrial property, but neighbors have opposed the large housing developments that have come about with the zoning. 

"We will revisit what we envisioned, what came out of it and what we can do to improve it," Sideris said at Tuesday's Town Council meeeting.

In an effort to avoid big developments being sprung on residents, the council's Rules and Ordinances subcommittee will look at creating a requirement for developers of major projects to hold a meeting with neighbors before plans are submitted to the Planning Board and/or Zoning Board, Sideris said.

A final item that has been requested for more than a year by Watertown residence is a place for people to take their dogs and let the run off leash. The Public Works subcommittee will discuss where such a facility could go in town, Sideris said. 

"People have been patient, but there have been a number of challenges," he said.


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