Thank you to all of you who heard our call and have stepped up as a candidate for Town Meeting! Remember, the deadline to submit your petition to the Town Clerk is this Tuesday at 5:00 PM. If you need help collecting your signatures, or with anything else, please contact us right away at BrooklineForEveryone@gmail.com.
It will be a busy campaign season, and we will be making our endorsements for Select Board, Town Meeting, and other relevant Town offices soon, so watch this space. We also continue to need your financial help to run a strong campaign to elect our pro-housing candidates, so please consider a generous donation to the Brookline for Everyone PAC (and thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!).
Brookline Town Board Meetings this Week
It’s a relatively quiet week, with a lot coming up next week (see below). Here is one meeting this week focusing on two important climate sustainability issues:
The Land Use, Zoning and Sustainability Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee meets on Wednesday, March 20 at 3:30 to review Warrant Article 14, which would amend setback requirements for energy saving devices (mainly heat pumps), and STM Warrant Article 1, regarding installation of a geothermal heat pump for the new Pierce School. Both are important issues for Brookline’s drive toward net zero. You can register here and get the full agenda here.
Preview of Coming Attractions
There are two important meetings next week to add to you calendar now:
- The Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) will be meeting on Monday, March 25, at 6:30 to review the remaining Community Housing applications, and two weeks later on April 8 for final decisions (meeting link for both meetings is here; no registration required). Last week they tentatively approved several Historic Preservation applications plus the two applications from the Brookline Housing Authority, including $3.75M for the Walnut/Juniper/High Street public housing redevelopment, and this week (March 18) they will be considering five Open Space applications.
- The Land Use, Zoning and Sustainability Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee meets on Tuesday, March 26 at 4:00 to review the HAB’s proposed Warrant Article to make ADUs (accessory dwelling units) more feasible in Brookline. We urge anyone who is able to attend to support the HAB’s version of WA 13, and oppose any proposed amendment that will make it more difficult to create ADUs in Brookline. You can register here, and get the full agenda here.
- “Harnessing Climate Fears into Positive Action” is the title of a program to be held on April 3, from 7:00-8:00 pm, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Brookline in collaboration with Brookline Mothers Out Front, Climate Action Brookline, the Brookline Health Department, the Friends of Brookline Public Health, and Elders Climate Action-Massachusetts Chapter. The program will be in person at the main branch of the Brookline Public Library at 361 Washington Street. You find more information and register here for this free, in-person event.
What We’re Reading This Week
- The Law of the Land (Use). This is the next installment in the series of regular updates on the progress of the MBTA-CA across the region by noted researcher Amy Dain and the Boston Indicators Project; you can subscribe here.
- The Growing Case for Zoning Reform, by Leah Rothstein, co-author of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law. Rothstein writes here about evidence from Minneapolis showing that zoning reform increases housing supply and slows rent growth, homelessness, and displacement of black residents.