Environmental Rules in Newton, MA (2026)
2 verified environmental rules for Newton, Massachusetts, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Stormwater Management
Whenever a Newton property owner alters land contours, the zoning ordinance requires the finished grade to prevent soil erosion and stop surface water runoff from being redirected onto or off of neighboring lots. The disturbed area must also be substantially landscaped once the regrading work is complete.
Newton Grading and Stormwater Runoff Rule
Some RestrictionsNewton Zoning Ordinance § 5.3(A)
Sec. 5.3. Stormwater Runoff See also Revised Ordinances Chapter 29, Article VIII, as amended. A. Whenever the existing contours of the land are altered, the land shall be left in a usable condition, graded in a manner to prevent the erosion of soil and the alteration of the runoff of surface water to or from abutting properties, and shall be substantially landscaped.
Flood Zones
Newton participates in the NFIP with FEMA-mapped flood zones along the Charles River and Cheesecake Brook. Construction in AE zones requires lowest floor elevated 2 feet above base flood elevation.
Newton Flood Zone Rules
Heavy RestrictionsMass. Gen. Laws ch. 131, § 40 (Wetlands Protection Act - Flood Plain and Coastal Storm Flowage)
Section 40. No person shall remove, fill, dredge or alter any bank, riverfront area, fresh water wetland, coastal wetland, beach, dune, flat, marsh, meadow or swamp bordering on the ocean or on any estuary, creek, river, stream, pond, or lake, or any land under said waters or any land subject to tidal action, coastal storm flowage, or flooding, other than in the course of maintaining, repairing...