With last Monday’s autumnal equinox marking the 1st official day of fall the leaves begin to change and public hearings ahead of Fall Town Meeting ramp up.
To follow those public hearings, Dennis Doughty, chair of the Advisory Committee and Town Meeting Member from Precinct 3, set up a great resource to track activity on all Warrant Articles. The tool can be found here and information about Warrant Articles themselves can be found here.
This Week’s Town Board Meetings and Hearings of Note
- The Economic Development Advisory Board met last night on Monday, September 29. The meeting included a public hearing (an opportunity to express your thoughts) on Warrant Article 8 (an attempt to address “nuisance lighting”) and staff & board updates on a wide variety of ongoing projects including the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study, Green Line C Branch accessibility improvements, Centre Street Lots, and the Comprehensive Plan. Agenda and associated files can be found here.
- The Select Board is meeting tonight on Tuesday, September 30 at 5:30pm on the 6th floor at Town Hall will include a presentation on the progress being made on the Chestnut Hill Commercial Area Study from Economic Development Division staff, a little after 7pm. Full agenda can be found here.
Regional Community Events of Note
- Priced Out: Teacher Retention and Housing Costs hosted by our friends at Newton for Everyone will take place both in-person and via Zoom tonight- Tuesday, September 30 at 7pm. Dramatic changes in the housing market have left many educators in an unwinnable race for one of our most basic needs: an affordable place to live. Many of our teachers have a long commute because they can’t afford housing in Newton or nearby. How does the lack of housing affordability impact retention and recruitment of good teachers? Registration and more info can be found here.
- From time to time the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) hosts an “Affordable Housing 101” session. One such session will be tonight, Tuesday, September 30 at 6:30pm via Zoom. This training session is intended as a primer for anyone who wants to learn more about how affordable housing is produced, financed, and preserved in Massachusetts. Topics being covered include definitions of “Affordable Housing,” debunking housing myths, inclusionary zoning, Community Preservation Act, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, and more. Register here.
- Mark your calendars for Abundant Housing Massachusetts’ annual Celebration of Abundance on October 23 at 5:30pm at Broken Records Beer Hall in Allston. Join AHMA to mingle with and celebrate pro-housing advocates, leaders, and champions across the Commonwealth. Get your tickets here.
Brookline for Everyone Book Club
Don’t forget to sign up for the 1st session of the Brookline for Everyone’s Book Club(October 15 at 7pm at United Parish Brookline, sign up here), where we’ll dive into Jeff Speck’s Walkable City.
What We’re Reading and State Level Action
Some of you may have heard about an effort to gather signatures for a statewide ballot initiative that would limit minimum lot sizes to 5,000 sq ft if the property has access to public sewer and water. This past week, Susan Gittelman, executive director of B’nai B’rith Housing, laid out the case for this reform in The Banker & Tradesman. Gittelman points out that research has shown larger lot sizes lead to larger and more expensive homes. Read the article here and click here to read the official ballot initiative language.
Thanks and have a great week,
Jeff Wachter, on behalf of Brookline for Everyone