The Newton City Council voted to amend the special permit for Riverside Center at 269–287 Grove Street to allow tenant name and logo signage on the existing stone wall, to permit a third secondary address sign on the building, and to remove language that barred advertising of accessory uses — while retaining the requirement that accessory restaurants meet health-department rules.

Greatland Realty Partners’ development manager Toree Sabatino described the revisions and said the owner has invested about $10 million in building upgrades since purchasing 275 Grove Street in 2023. Sabatino said the revised package incorporated earlier committee and Urban Design Commission (UDC) feedback and that UDC had approved the revised design. She said the owner wants the stone-wall sign to display the 275 Grove address and up to four major tenant logos and to include Kendall Kitchen’s logo to help the cafe increase visibility and sales. Sabatino asked that tenant-name changes be handled administratively going forward.

Planning staff presented site context and recommended approval. Planner Kat Kemet said the property is in a Business 4 zone, is near the Riverside MBTA station and Woodland Park apartments, and that the proposed changes remove a restriction that prevented on-site advertising for accessory uses such as cafés. Kemet said planning had "no major concerns" and supported allowing advertising of accessory uses and the additional signage given the site’s zoning and design.

Some neighbors objected. Richard Alford, a longtime resident and chair of the Auburndale Historic District Commission speaking in his individual capacity, urged the council to reject the amendment. He argued Grove Street’s scenic-road designation and the proximity of an historic district counsel against adding commercial signage and said there was no evidence exterior signs would be more effective than social-media or internal advertising. The city’s economic development director, John Sisson, countered that scenic-road protections apply to the public way and do not, per the law department, prohibit signage on private property; Sisson said Newton needs more leased office space and praised Greatland’s investment.

Design consultant Evan Allen described sign sizing: the proposed address letters for "275 Grove" would be about 14 inches tall for nighttime visibility; tenant logos would sit on background panels about 1.5 feet tall with maximum widths of roughly 6 feet 2 inches; Allen estimated individual logo lettering on the stone wall at roughly 3 inches tall in the rendering. Council members asked for limits on the number and size of tenant signs. Planning referenced the submitted drawings and dimensions as the controlling documents.

Councilor Lucas moved to amend the council order to limit signage on the stone wall to a maximum of five tenant signs; the amendment was seconded by Councilor Lobovitz and passed in committee (6 yeas, 2 nays). Councilor Block moved to approve the petitioner’s request; the public hearing was closed and the council voted to approve the amended order. The final order amends Condition 9 of Council Order 40-97(2) to keep a list of allowed accessory uses and to delete the sentences that had barred exterior advertising and promotion to the general public; it preserves the requirement that accessory restaurants meet all applicable health-department requirements and adds the plan-referenced dimensions and standard building-permit and occupancy conditions.

The council also agreed that future tenant-name changes on the stone wall would be handled administratively, and it required the project to follow the submitted site, sign and landscape plans. The transcript shows that council members and staff discussed enforcement of an older special-permit requirement (an annual contribution/shuttle) that pre-dated the current petitioner; planning staff said they would check whether that obligation had ever been collected.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved an amendment to limit tenant signs to five (6–2); the council then approved the petition as amended. The transcript records voice votes and a roll-call final approval without a detailed numerical breakdown in the public record in the transcript extract.