Yes, this newsletter is supposed to be about Brookline and housing, but it’s hard to ignore Super Bowl LVIII (that’s 58, for those who are a little rusty on their Roman numerals), which may become the most watched Super Bowl and television event ever. Personally, I’m not a Swiftie or much of an NFL fan, but all the hoopla is hard to resist, so I will be “there” (in front of my TV) for the show. If you’re feeling a little lost in all the media frenzy, I personally enjoyed this helpful “guide” to the festivities: The Greatest Show (Ever?) on Turf. And, if none of this is your thing, I’ve been told that tonight is a great night to sample any (non-sports-bar) restaurant in Brookline or Boston…
Now on to the week, with two significant events:
The Community Preservation Act Committee will be meeting to review its Housing Applications via Zoom on Monday, February 12, at 6:30 pm (meeting link here; no registration required, and the full agenda is here). At this meeting, the Committee will begin their review of the affordable housing applications received for the approximately $10,000,000 in CPA funds that Brookline has accumulated over the past three years, with final approval at the May 2024 Town Meeting. These include a joint application from the Housing Advisory Board and the Brookline Housing Authority for the BHA’s Walnut/Juniper/High Street public housing redevelopment (see B4E’s support letter here) and applications from the Brookline Community Development Corporation for its Housing Stability Program and renovation of its existing properties (see our support letter here). If there is an opportunity for public comment, please consider advocating for these proposals.
The Planning Board will meet on Wednesday, February 14 (yes, it’s Valentine’s Day) at 8:30 AM via Zoom to review the HAB’s proposed ADU Warrant Article, which revises the currently overly-restrictive by-law to make ADUs more viable for more homeowners in Brookline and provide significant benefits to the community as a whole by creating more naturally occurring affordable housing units. Last week, we wrote extensively about the Housing Advisory Board’s plan to update and improve Brookline’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) By-law, which the HAB passed at its meeting last week. For more background on the benefits of ADUs, we recommend this excellent article from the AARP. B4E will be sending a letter to the Planning Board supporting the HAB’s recommendation. We encourage anyone interested to either attend the meeting (registration link here) or send your own short comment letter/email to the Planning Board ℅ Polly Selkoe (pselkoe@brooklinema.gov).
There is still time to run for Town Meeting in the May Election! The election is less than three months away, with declared candidates already in place for Select Board, School Committee, and Town Meeting Moderator, among other Town-wide offices. But there are still many openings for Town Meeting Members (we have a total of 255 TMMs, and roughly one-third of the slots are open each year), and B4E is actively looking for pro-housing candidates. If you decide to run, you can count on us for lots of help and support. The deadline to file is in a few weeks, so if you are potentially interested, we’d love to connect ASAP — you can sign up here for more information or email us at BrooklineForEveryone@gmail.com.
Even if Town Meeting isn’t right for you, we need your help to support and elect pro-housing candidates! Please consider a generous donation to the Brookline for Everyone PAC to help fund our campaign efforts!
And finally, if you missed the excellent training session hosted by Abundant Housing MA on Using Data to Inform Your Pro-Housing Advocacy, the recording is now posted! Tom Hopper and Matija Jankovic from the Center for Housing Data at Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) trained advocates in the strategic use of several online data tools including Residensity, DataTown, and TODEX. Thanks to so many of our Brookline neighbors who were able to make it and learn about these powerful (and fun!) housing and demographic tools. (YouTube recording here.)