Superintendent Anna Nolin is adding her voice to the housing development debate, at least for one proposal.

Nolin recently sent a letter to the Land Use Committee urging approval of a special permit for a residential complex at 85 Dudley Road, which is right next to Newton South High School.

“The development will help address the housing crisis with 70 new housing units, provide much needed funds and tax revenue to the City, and is appropriately designed for the neighborhood,” Nolin wrote.

Nolin acknowledged that it’s uncommon for school officials to weigh in on housing projects but noted that the proposal for 85 Dudley Road has benefits that would help solve multiple problems for the city and the district.

Nolin said she spoke with representatives of the developer, and the proposal for 85 Dudley Road “preserves the neighborhood character” and improves drainage issues along Hagen Road, replants trees and allocates money to the Affordable Housing Trust, to name just a few benefits.

“Side benefit: we support a woman-owned, Newton-based developer who seems to be making responsible improvements aligned to Newton core values while conducting her business,” Nolin continued.

There’s a proposal to convert a property on Dudley road into 71 homes. Google Maps screenshot

And Newton South will need a lot of big repairs in the coming years, many of which aren’t on the city’s capital improvement list yet, including a new roof, and the building has become a virtual water park. In fact, last year faculty filed a complaint with the Department of Labor Standards due to so much flooding.

“Two weeks ago, a leak from the third floor was so bad that it ruined classes in the two lower floors which now creates additional repair needs,” Nolin explained. “This was further exacerbated when a set of cooling coils froze and burst water carrying hoses/pipes, further flooding the same rooms, worsening the locker room decay and flooding that the facility  has experienced for some time. These same basement rooms have been impacted by water issues over and over.”

So, Nolin is requesting some of the Dudley Road project mitigation money be put toward Newton South building repairs, so the city won’t have to come up with that money later.

In 2022, the family that owns the property offered to sell the city 15 acres of the property to the city for $24 million, and the city was looking into partnering with a developer for that, but nothing came of that plan.