B4E friends,
The Planning Department has published a new registration link for the Community Visioning Kick-off tomorrow night (Wed. March 15, 7:30 pm) for their Harvard Street Zoning Proposal to comply with the MBTA Communities Act (MBTACA). Please ignore the prior link we sent with our Sunday newsletter and REGISTER HERE to attend. The analysis and full study are posted here. For more background on the Harvard Street Corridor and MBTA-CA, see B4E’s FAQs here, or for real policy nerds, you can review the detailed March 3, 2023 memo from the Town Administrator and Town Counsel, addressing the question “do we really have to comply with the state law?” Spoiler alert: the answer is an unequivocal YES!
Also, B4E is circulating a petition to encourage the Select Board and Town Meeting to continue supporting this process as it moves forward; please check out the petition here and, if you agree, add your name now.
Thanks, and stay warm and dry —
Brookline for Everyone
PS And, if you are really looking to spend the whole night on Zoom, you can also attend the HAB’s Public Hearing on the 2023 Housing Production Plan (via Zoom) at 5:30-7:30 pm on Wednesday, March 15. This will be the first public unveiling of the final draft HPP which was released last week, and which sets a course for Brookline to continue producing the affordable housing we desperately need over the next five years. The full draft (weighing in at 80 pages, plus 40+ pages of appendices) is now posted on the Town’s Housing Production Plan Website. For a shorter summary, you can also see the slide deck presentation to the HAB from its meeting on Nov. 30, 2022. Register here for the public hearing.