We extend a special thank you to everyone who attended the HAB meeting last Wednesday, where the draft Housing Production Plan (HPP) was rolled out, and to those who the later that evening attended the Planning Department’s kick-off for their Harvard Street Zoning Proposal to comply with the MBTA Communities Act (MBTA-CA). It was a full evening, with lots to learn about upcoming opportunities to implement real changes we need in Brookline to create the housing, serving families and seniors at all income levels, that we so desperately need.
The HPP weighs in at 80 pages (you can read it all here), plus 40 pages of appendices, and, starting at page 74, includes 15 Regulatory Strategies and 6 Policy Strategies aimed at producing the housing we need. These include, among many others —
- zoning for additional density in key areas with access to transit (strongly reinforcing the objective of the Harvard Street Zoning Proposal to comply with the MBTA-CA),
- developing housing on Town-owned sites such as the Babcock Street parking lot and at the 3.4 acres purchased by the Town several years ago Newbury/Fisher Hill West,
- providing incentives for additional units in two and three family districts to encourage redevelopment rather than demolition, and
- considering an Affordable Housing Overlay District (AHOD) which permits additional density for 100% affordable buildings. In a nice coincidence, immediately after hearing the presentation and public comments on the HPP, the HAB appointed an 8-member Study Committee to study an Affordable Housing Overlay District for Brookline, to be chaired by HAB member (and B4E board member) Jonathan Klein.
For Action Items this week, we have two very easy reminders from prior weeks:
- Please sign our petition to encourage the Select Board and Town Meeting to support the Planning Department’s Harvard Street Corridor Proposal to comply with the MBTA-CA.
- Now that the filing deadline for the Town elections has passed, B4E is hard at work on our endorsements for Select Board, Town Meeting Members, and other positions. We need your help to elect pro-housing candidates! If you would like to help with door-knocking, telephone canvassing, or anything else, send us a quick email at BrooklineforEveryone@gmail.com, and we will get right back to you. And if you’re able to contribute financially, we encourage you to support the Brookline for Everyone PAC; as we gear up for the May election, every dollar counts.
And finally, mark your calendar and register now (space may be limited) to join B4E in person at Brookline Booksmith at 6:00 pm on Monday, March 27th for a conversation with Katherine Einstein & Maxwell Palmer, authors of Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis. Einstein & Palmer, political science professors at Boston University, examine how local land use boards and institutions enlarge the power of entrenched interests and privileged homeowners.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jonathan Klein, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone