It was great to talk to so many friends and neighbors about housing affordability and how we can make Brookline an even better community to call home at Brookline Day today. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi and welcome to the newest subscribers to this newsletter!
Join us for the Brookline for Everyone Fall Happy Hour TOMORROW, Monday, September 9!
Join Brookline for Everyone on Monday, September 9 at Grainne O’Malley’s, 201 Harvard Street (at Marion St.), from 5:30 to 7:00. Come relax together, clink a few glasses; talk housing, local, state, and national politics, and catch up as we gear up for Fall Town Meeting season. It’s a chance to meet new and old friends, and just schmooze. All are welcome, and bring your friends! Register for the event here.
November Town Meeting Taking Shape
The deadline to file Warrant Articles (items for Town Meeting to discuss) for the November Town Meeting was last Thursday and the proposed Warrant currently has 20 articles listed. This includes multiple zoning proposals. We’ll provide more in depth discussion of the proposed articles, but we wanted to provide some details and background of an article proposed by some of the B4E board members: allowing three homes in two-family zoning districts.
As most of you already understand, Brookline and the Greater Boston area face a severe housing shortage which has resulted in extremely high (and rising) prices for both rental and owned homes. By permitting homeowners in two-family districts to add a third unit when renovating or rebuilding their homes, changes will unfold gradually, but need to begin now. Each additional home will help lower costs and improve the economic viability of Brookline and the region.
This article would allow an additional (i.e., a third) unit by right within “T” (two-family) zoning districts while retaining all other applicable zoning regulations. The article would not change the allowable height, lot coverage, floor area ratio, open space, parking requirements, or any other zoning parameter, and special permits will continue to be required for many proposed alterations.
This Warrant Article is complementary to the additional form-based standards passed in Spring of 2023 affecting Brookline’s T districts north of Harvard Street (T5NH districts) and the Planning Department’s proposed zoning changes for other two-family districts now on the November 2024 Warrant.
For a preview of the rest of the November Town Meeting agenda, check out the list of articles here, and the text of the proposals here.
Yes! In Brookline Forum: “Housing for All in Brookline: For-profit and Nonprofit Developer Perspectives”
On Wednesday, September 18 our friends at Yes! in Brookline are sponsoring a forum on Housing for All in Brookline: For-profit and Nonprofit Developer Perspectives. Two Brookline residents who are active housing builders, Amy Schectman and Zeina Talje, will discuss the obstacles they face, and overcome, to build housing for us all. Cathleen Cavell, Town Meeting Member Precinct 1, will moderate. The forum will be from 7:00-8:30 pm, Brookline Town Hall, Select Board Hearing Room, 6th floor. This in-person event will be live-streamed by BIG. The event is co-sponsored by GBIO Brookline, Brookline Community Development Corporation, Brookline for Everyone, the Brookline Housing Authority, Brookline Planning Board, and Brookline Housing Advisory Board. Register to attend here.
Fall Boards and Commissions Calendar Ramps Up
With the 1st week of school out of the way and the Town Meeting Warrant posted, Town board and commission meetings really start ramping up this week. There aren’t any action items listed; these meetings are primarily informative in nature, as the boards are ramping up for more substantive discussions later. Here’s a few highlights for the week.
- Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) is meeting Monday, September 9 at 7pm with a packed agenda including a review of November’s Town Meeting, the Washington Street Complete Streets project, and board updates. Agenda and Zoom link here.
- The Community Preservation Act Committee is meeting Monday, September 9 at 6:30pm as they kick off their work for the next cycle of CPA fund distributions. Agenda and Zoom link here.
- The Zero Emissions Advisory Board meets Wednesday, September 11 at 8:45am, with an agenda highlighted by a conversation on the climate impacts of new construction vs renovation vs status quo. Agenda and Zoom link here.
- And to mark for next week, the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study Community Advisory Group is meeting on Monday, September 16 at 6:30pm to discuss the project and expectations for how they will approach potential zoning changes. This is an important opportunity for Brookline to add crucial housing and commercial development at one of the key gateways into Brookline on Boylston Street. Agenda and Zoom link here.
Headline from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University: “Rents High as Construction Slows”
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University has recently released a new report titled The State of the Nation’s Housing 2024, and find that rent growth has moderated as “new construction drove up vacancies.” Rents are still rising, especially in the Northeast and Midwest, but rent has declined in many Southern and Western metros “in part due to robust new supply.” This analysis once again shows that loosening regulations and allowing supply to catch up with robust demand is a straightforward path to rental price moderation, and even decline in some circumstances. Read a short analysis on rents across the country here, and the full report here.