We want to start this week’s newsletter recognizing Black History Month by pointing to a piece from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisory – Exclusionary Zoning: Its Effect on Racial Discrimination in the Housing Market. We’ve learned from scholars like Richard Rothstein and Amy Dain, among many others, that housing and zoning policy have long been used to segregate by race and class. We should take the opportunity of Black History Month to dedicate ourselves to working toward undoing the racist policies of the past to create a more racially inclusive Brookline and Boston Metro.
Now onto the week’s activities.
The Housing Advisory Board Targets Improved Accessory Dwelling By-Law
The Housing Advisory Board (HAB) will be meeting on Wednesday, February 7th at 5:30pm (agenda linked here). We want to particularly highlight a discussion on a proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit warrant article. While Town Meeting created an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) by-law in 2019, only 1 has been built to date, with no more in the pipeline that we know of. The by-law previously passed was too restrictive, and we commend HAB Chair Roger Blood for reconsidering the by-law to make it more usable. Changes include making ADUs that abide by all applicable rules by-right vs. requiring a special permit, allowing a larger ADU (950 square feet vs. 750 square feet), allowing new construction to create ADUs, and relaxing some of the design requirements. These are all valuable steps to making ADUs more viable for more homeowners in Brookline, which can provide significant benefits to the community (some of which are outlined in this piece from AARP). We encourage you to follow along with this debate, and we’d be interested to hear from you with your thoughts on ADUs in general, and the proposed changes specifically. Here’s a link to the Zoom registration and here’s a link to the HAB materials where you can review a draft of the proposed article.
In addition to this ADU discussion, HAB will continue discussing the Brookline Community Development Corporation’s request for funding to support their emergency assistance program. We discussed this in more depth last week, and we encourage you to continue following this so we can support our low income neighbors.
Learn to Use Data to Inform Your Pro Housing Advocacy with Abundant Housing Massachusetts
On Tuesday, February 6th at 7pm our friends at Abundant Housing Massachusetts will be hosting what’s sure to be an excellent training on using data to support pro-housing advocacy. From the event website:
Want to explore housing density in your town or city? Curious to see what 15 homes per acre really looks like locally? Or maybe you could use real stats on school enrollment, population, and home types for your education and advocacy efforts. Tom Hopper and Matija Jankovic from the Center for Housing Data at Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) will train AHMA advocates in the strategic use of several online data tools including Residensity, DataTown, and TODEX. Take your pro-housing advocacy to a new level with the use of these data tools.
Click here for more information and the registration page. We encourage anyone interested to check this one out.
Other Brookline Board and Commission Meetings of Note
- The Economic Development Advisory Board will be meeting on Monday, February 5 at 7pm. Highlight of the agenda appears to be a continued discussion of Ground Floor Commercial Incentive. Tune in for a discussion on balancing Brookline’s need for new development with the need to maintain economic vibrancy in our commercial districts. Agenda and Zoom link here.
- The Bicycle Advisory Committee is meeting on Wednesday, February 7 at 7pm to discuss their Green Routes Plan and goals for 2024. A diversity of safe, reliable transit options is crucial to the vibrancy of our community. Click here for the agenda and Zoom link.
May Election Update
The local May election is just around the corner. You can stop by the Clerk’s office to officially pull the paperwork necessary to run for Town Meeting, as a handful of folks have already done. If you’re considering a run for Town Meeting, we’d love to connect – sign up here for more information or email us at BrooklineForEveryone@gmail.com.
Even if Town Meeting isn’t right for you, we need your help to elect pro-housing candidates! Here’s a couple ways to get started.
- Donate to the Brookline for Everyone PAC to help fund our campaign efforts!
- Volunteer to help knock doors, reach out to neighbors, expand our social media reach and more! Email us at volunteer@brooklineforeveryone.com.