Newton Board of Alderman is voting tonight on the development of the city owned Austin St parking lot. You guys know this lot — near Starbucks and the Shaw’s over the pike.

Austin Street Partners LLC wants to build 68 housing units, public plaza and ground floor retail.

Austin Street Partners has modified their proposal several times over the past few years to appease people/groups that oppose the development. If you haven’t been paying attention, people have been FREAKING OUT about this development. Getting super chippy about it.

Backers of the plan like the development because it would enliven Newtonville and add 68 badly needed housing units in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.

Opponents of the development include local business owners that worry about parking during construction. One group even sued the city for “deficient & defective” procedures used during the approval process.

Um what are you even talking about? What’s a deficient & defective procedure? Sounds like some BS to me. This is a parking lot gang. Not a very nice one either.

We need housing you guys. Newton becomes less affordable each year. If the opposition wins, what do they really win? It’s not like a park they’re gonna tear down. It’s an underutilized parking lot. Let’s build this thing up and get some people living & shopping there.