Newton Board Approves Walmart Fulfillment Facility Under New Variance Law

NEWTON, MA — A Walmart microfulfillment center can move forward in the Auburndale neighborhood after the city's Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance allowing the company to occupy an existing industrial building.

The board voted this week to approve the proposed facility at 241-247 Riverview Ave., off Rumford Avenue. The approximately 20,000-square-foot center will be used to store and quickly process goods ordered online and will not include a retail storefront open to customers.

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The variance application was submitted by Packard Cove Associates, which owns the property. City records describe the site as a 20,106-square-foot commercial building on a 49,206-square-foot lot in Newton's Manufacturing zoning district.

The proposal required a variance because Newton's zoning ordinance limits microfulfillment centers in the district to 10,000 square feet. The decision allows Walmart to use the entire building rather than having to wall off approximately half of the existing structure.

According to Mayor Marc Laredo's office, the approval does not allow Walmart to expand the building or make significant changes to the site. The structure will remain in place, with the addition of a new entrance door planned as the only exterior modification.

The single-story building dates to 1954 and has previously been marketed as warehouse, office, and research and development space. It is located near the Newton-Waltham line and close to Interstate 95 and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The property was previously approved for use as a marijuana research facility operated by Curaleaf Processing. Newton's City Council granted the company a special permit for the facility in 2022, and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission later awarded Curaleaf the state's first final marijuana research facility license in 2024.

The Walmart proposal first appeared before Newton's Development Review Team in April. At that stage, city documents described the project as a variance request for a 20,000-square-foot microfulfillment center where no more than 10,000 square feet would ordinarily be allowed.

The approval also marks the first variance granted by Newton's Zoning Board of Appeals under changes to Massachusetts zoning law that took effect earlier this month. According to Laredo's office, variances have historically been difficult to obtain because applicants were required to demonstrate a significant hardship related to a property's soil conditions, shape or topography.

The revised law, enacted through Section 47 of the state's Fiscal Year 2027 budget, instead directs zoning boards to grant a variance when strict enforcement of a zoning ordinance would create a “practical difficulty.”

Boards must weigh the benefits to the applicant and the public interest against any potential detriment to the health, safety, and welfare of the surrounding neighborhood. They may also consider financial hardship, whether the applicant has another feasible way to obtain the same benefit, whether the difficulty was self-created, and whether the request supports housing production.

The revised standard reportedly allowed the Zoning Board of Appeals to consider Walmart's request without requiring the company to demonstrate the type of land-related hardship previously required under state law.

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