The Newton Centre Plaza is in jeopardy of being shut down way before its Halloween expiration date, but on Monday, it got a temporary reprieve from City Councilor Susan Albright.

Albright “chartered” the discussion and vote planned for Monday night, referring to a rule in the city’s charter that allows a councilor to push a vote to the next meeting without further debate.

“I can’t help but mention that Newton Centre cries out for a master plan,” Albright said. “It should be, and could be, our premier village with some master planning, but that’s for the future. This item needs more thought. The outpouring of support the council has received demands more time and consideration.”

Last spring, then-Mayor Ruthanne Fuller had the Newton Centre Plaza erected on the corner of the Langley Parking Lot to give people an outdoor gathering space near that village’s busy village center.

Several residents and business owners objected, because the plan called for a bunch of parking spaces to be taken from the Langley Lot. The city cut the size of the plaza down and found parking spaces elsewhere that could be made public, decreasing the net number of spots the plaza would take.

Over the spring and summer, the plaza saw a significant amount of use, and the Traffic Council in November voted to keep the plaza up through October 31, 2026.

After that vote, city councilors Alan Lobovits and Tarik Lucas got to work on an appeal. The discussion was tabled until January, though, and Lobovits didn’t run for reelection, so Lucas kept the appeal going on his own.

On Jan. 21, the City Council’s Public Safety & Transportation Committee voted 6 to 2 to cut the pilot time down, putting the plaza up for evaluation and possible deconstruction in late May.

On Monday, the full City Council was set to vote on the matter, but Albright jumped in and chartered it. She said it was to give people more time to review public feedback.

“First, Mayor Fuller put the plaza in Newton Centre without much public discussion,” Albright said. “The Traffic Council then continued the pilot until October to allow for the collection and analysis and the evaluation of the pilot data. Then, Public Safety & Transportation decided to end the pilot in May, again without any public debate or discussion.”

Albright said the Langley Parking Lot usually has enough parking spaces to accommodate demand.

Some councilors have suggested moving the plaza a few feet over to the Newton Centre Green, and City Council President John Oliver said the Laredo administration has committed to moving it there temporarily if that’s what councilors want, but Albright said the ground there isn’t accessible for people with disabilities.

With that, she chartered the vote until the next City Council meeting, set for Feb. 17.