Greetings Everyone,
Happy Presidents’ Day! But we won’t dwell on the topic of presidents, because we can open with good news:
- Last Tuesday, the Select Board voted 4 – 1 to approve the Washington Street Complete Streets Project Concept Design, which targets safety improvements for all users, including providing protected, sidewalk level bike lanes on the entire project corridor, from Station Street to Beacon Street. The project now goes to MassDOT for review, and will return to the Town later for the final design.
- On Monday, the Cambridge City Council voted 8 – 1 to approve a major zoning reform that allows four-story buildings to be built as-of-right in all residential areas, with an additional two-story bonus for buildings with inclusionary units on lots of more than 5,000 square feet. Read about it here.
This reform puts our neighbor at the forefront of national zoning reforms that promote the construction of badly needed new housing. Although we do not expect Brookline to copy the Cambridge ordinance, there is much we can learn from both its substance and from the successful effort to get it passed. Special thanks to our friends across the river at A Better Cambridge and City Councilor Burhan Azeem for their hard work pushing Cambridge’s housing politics towards a goal of abundance.
- Last week, the state’s new regulations for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) went into effect. They limit the ways a municipality may restrict the construction of ADUs and will require Brookline to revise our recent ADU ordinance (stay tuned for more on that). Among other provisions, the rules permit ADUs nearly everywhere in town, not only on single-family lots, meaning two and three-family parcels can now add ADUs as-of-right. You can read more about the rules here.
Key Meetings of Interest this Week
Actually, there’s only one:
The Planning Board meets on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 pm on Zoom, and will receive an update on the Toxteth-Perry Form-Based Zone from planning staff. A zoning study in that neighborhood explores “form-based strategies to encourage third-unit configurations and adaptive reuse to promote diverse unit sizes.” We hope to learn more about this work.
Agenda is here; Zoom registration is here.
Upcoming Events:
The next B4E Happy Hour will be on Monday, Feb. 24, from 5:30-7:30 at Grainne O’Malley’s Tavern, 201 Harvard Street. Chat, commiserate, listen, and learn, and maybe have a drink, too. RSVP here.
At the same time (unfortunately), Monday, Feb. 24, from 6-8 pm, at Brookline Town Hall (6th floor), our friends at Brookline for Racial Justice & Equity will present Racial Justice & The Courts: Legal Challenges & Strategies for the Next Four Years, a discussion with a high-powered panel. Details and registration here. This is an in-person event, but a recording will be made available afterward at BRJE.org.
And Get Involved
There’s still time to run for Town Meeting in the spring. And there are always new opportunities to serve on one of the Town’s Boards or Commissions, or become part of a B4E precinct team. To learn more, we still have two upcoming Zoom Information Sessions: Tues., February 25, at 6-7 and 7-8 pm. No commitment is required to attend, just interest, but it’s a chance to learn easy ways you can help us make a difference. Please sign up here.
The most pressing opportunity: The Town is launching a plan to rethink the Centre Street parking lots near Coolidge Corner. We need people to ask whether room could be found for more housing, perhaps by building on top of the lots. Your thoughts are welcome: the Town is looking for residents to join an ad hoc committee to guide the process. Learn more and apply here by Friday, February 21. (And let us know if you’d like advice about the process.)
Have a great week,
Brian Ladd,
on behalf of Brookline for Everyone