These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City of Somerville website.
Plans in Wilson, Union squares
Planning Board, 6 p.m. Thursday. Discussion continues from August about the Aris Auto parcel at 675 Somerville Ave., Wilson Square, where owners seek to demolish a gas station and repair garage and build a three-story structure with 14 homes and one ground-floor commercial space. The property is less than half a mile from the Porter Square red line and commuter rail station. In Union Square, developers at 59-61 Bow St. continue to change their desired use of a new building, now focusing on mixed use. Site owners were issued a permit last year to build 13 residential and one commercial units and allowed to create a shared roof deck and gym space at the top. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Mass timber use is considered
Land Use Committee, 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Councilor Jake Wilson invites the director of inspectional services to talk about Somerville construction using mass timber, as allowed by the most recent edition of the state’s building code. “It’s a potential game changer,” Wilson said in February. The lighter, prefab products of chemically bound wood, replacing some concrete and steel, could mean shorter, less expensive constructions with fewer trucks and less noise. He and councilor Will Mbah co-sponsored the item. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Historic home’s cottage add-on
Ward 6 Neighborhood Meeting, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday. The owners of 148 Morrison Ave. near Davis Square plan to demolish the rear of a building, put up an addition and detached backyard cottage and keep a historic 1870 rowhouse intact. Co-owner Leighton Collis is a hospitality consultant who created Hotel Ginger, a boarding house-turned-boutique hotel on Martha’s Vineyard. Two Davis Square bed-and-breakfasts are on the next block. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Residential building by Magoun
Ward 5 Neighborhood Meeting, 6 p.m. Wednesday. Developer Nicholas Tan of NT Builder presents plans for a four-story, eight-home building at 359 Lowell St., less than half a block from Magoun Square and perpendicular to Lowell Street – resulting in a longer, more slender building. The developer bought the property for $975,000 in January, according to the Middlesex Registry of Deeds. NT Builders added a third floor to 24 Kensington Ave., East Somerville, in 2020. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Scholarship committee plans ’26
Municipal Scholarship Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. Discussion of the coming year’s award-granting priorities and review of the questions that applicants must answer on applications. Members say they want to improve on a scoring rubric used to judge applicants. In-person at the Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., Central Hill.
A stronger
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