MBTA-CA Consensus
Warrant Article 

Yes! In Brookline supports the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article

This Warrant Article provides Brookline with a clear path to meaningful MBTA Communities Act compliance by including:

• the Planning Department’s proposed zoning regulations for the Harvard Street corridor;

• the M zone overlay district created by the MBTA-CA Multifamily Permitting Committee; and

• Changes to facilitate development at the BHA property on Walnut and High streets as well as the Emerald Isle district.

A 2/3 majority of Town Meeting members must vote in favor to pass the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article in Fall Town Meeting. 

Yes! In Brookline's positions on key issues in the Warrant Article

Expanding the Mandate for Ground Floor Commercial

We support the current mandate in the warrant article, which requires commercial only in H-MS districts. We also support selectively expanding the mandate to include other commercial areas that can be justified after sufficient analysis and discussion.

Harvard Street District Boundaries

The parcels included in the Warrant Article represent a consensus position on what constitutes our Main Street. 

We oppose any changes to the current map of the Harvard Street Corridor districts included in the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article.

Parking

We believe the market should determine how many parking spaces must be attached to residential units. Thus, we support zero parking minimums in our zoning. Based on 0.4 parking spaces per unit in models of a successful proforma for a development, we accept the Consensus Warrant Article's 0.5 parking space per residential unit minimum that can be lowered to zero spaces by special permit. However, we oppose increasing that minimum.

We support a parking maximum of one space per residential unit. 

Inclusionary Zoning Incentive for Ground Floor Commercial Buildout

Even when mandated, Ground Floor Commercial in new developments can be unaffordable for small businesses. Relaxing the level of affordability in our inclusionary zoning in exchange for building out commercial space accomplishes two goals: it provides deed-restricted housing affordable to middle-income families, and it reduces start-up costs for smaller entrepreneurs who want to establish a business on Harvard Street. 

We support this incentive as it is specified in  the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article.

Eliminating Inclusionary Zoning Buyouts

We support the changes to our inclusionary zoning by-law in the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article that require on-site affordable housing along Harvard Street without the option of making payments to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Form-Based Codes

The form-based zoning codes developed under the Harvard Street rezoning proposal are a key feature of the MBTA-CA Consensus Warrant Article. This state-of-the-art zoning technique will reinforce Harvard Street as Brookline’s vibrant, mixed-use main street corridor. 

Setbacks

Some abutters to lots along Harvard Street, especially those in T and F districts, have expressed concerns about the setbacks in the Harvard Street zoning regulations.  During the community conversations that established these setbacks, the following key factors were considered: very few lots abutting T and F districts are under 100 feet in depth, and those few are shallow enough to make them unlikely or impossible to develop; a minimum depth of 30 feet for ground floor commercial space, parking requirements and interior buildout, establish a minimum building depth to economically develop. Any changes to the setbacks must acknowledge and respond to these practical and economic realities.