Greetings. We have two important actions this week, both in support of Brookline’s implementation of the MBTA Communities Act (MBTACA).
Really Easy Action Item No. 1: This Tuesday, February 28, the Select Board will vote to engage Opticos Design to flush out the details of the Planning Department’s proposal to rezone the Harvard Street Corridor to increase our capacity for multifamily housing in order to comply with the requirements of the MBTACA. For more background on MBTACA, see B4E’s FAQs here. The Select Board approved this $277,200 expenditure (from local ARPA funds) several weeks ago, but now needs to authorize the actual contract. Since we hope you will be coming to our big event at Hops N Scotch at 6:30 Tuesday, we suggest that you simply send a short email to the Select Board, ℅ Devon Fields at dfields@brooklinema.gov, asking them to approve the contract to keep our work to comply with MBTACA on schedule. Feel free to use this form, or write your own. If you can’t attend the Hops N Scotch event and want to zoom into the Select Board Meeting to speak during the public comment section at 6:00 pm, you can register here, and also send a note to Devon (dfields@brooklinema.gov) asking to be put on the comment list.
Action/Learning/Social/Fun Item No. 2: Please join Brookline for Everyone and Abundant Housing MA this Tuesday, February 28, 6:30 pm, at Hops N Scotch for Brookline’s 2023 MBTA Communities Kickoff. B4E is joining with Abundant Housing MA to formally kick off our campaign to make sure Brookline is in the forefront of communities complying with the MBTA Communities Act to create the housing we need. Come to hear about Brookline’s MBTA Communities Act compliance plans, along with statewide efforts, and even more importantly, come to connect and share a drink with pro-housing neighbors and friends. This event is free, but contributions are gratefully accepted. Register here.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jonathan Klein, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone
PS May Election Update — Running for Town Meeting: Brookline’s local May election is getting closer, with the deadline to file papers to become one of our 255 elected Town Meeting Members coming up in two weeks on March 14. You only need ten signatures in your precinct to run, and we’d love to help pro-housing candidates gather signatures and campaign. For more information, check out the Town’s election website or just send us a quick email at BrooklineforEveryone@gmail.com, and we will get right back to you. This year’s Town Meeting will be critical to our efforts to comply with MBTACA and so many other issues to help Brookline be the welcoming, diverse and sustainable town we all love.