Bob Duffy began by reviewing the Chestnut Hill Square project on Rt. 9 as a major focus of Comprehensive Plan. Comprehensive Plan:
Handout contains Progress Report and Overview of Planning Process
7 priority areas:
Affordable housing
Commercial areas
Rt. 9
Open space and recreation, parks
Preserve and enhance neighborhood uniqueness, future, resources
Transportation and parking
Cultural and educational resources

Next step – they’ll talk with us again in summer or fall

Affordable housing – current inventory is 8% of total Brookline housing, thus vulnerable to 40B. Recommendation to double from 10 units/year to 25. This year we’re adding 60 units. Approach – look for ways to use public sites to make that happen. Very few public sites in SB. Other parts of Brookline have parking lots, etc. Want to look at regulatory and funding? Ways to create housing opportunities. For example, retail/commercial use combined with housing.
Re Infant Jesus: currently they understand that there is no plan for 40B by archdiocese. But the site and Hancock Village will be looked at for affordable housing. Need regulatory control to impact density and size of housing. Are keeping in mind Baker enrollment issue – i.e., affordable housing, especially rental, at HV might be for senior citizens.
2nd and 3rd level housing
South of Walnut Hill cemetery is zoned as 7, 10, and 15 meaning 7000 sq ft minimum lot size. Since some are smaller than minimum lot size zoned, they need permits to do improvements on house. Since nonconforming homeowners shouldn’t be penalized by zoning that happened after their homes were bought, Plan proposes changes to base zoning so that single family homes can preserve what they have and have improvements done on them.
Greenway/open space overlay zone to preserve open space.
Maintain housing trust fund.
Questions:
550 units would get us from 8% to 10%. Over 2000 new units would be necessary to build our way out of 40B. While this scenario was reviewed, the decision was made by the committee that this is not what Brookline wants. We’ll strive for 10%, but we’re not likely to get there. There is no target number of affordable housing units at this time. Mixed income housing is the goal. Here’s our plan. Here’s what we want from the state. Board of Appeals can say no to a 40B plan if it’s not in sync with Brookline plan.
Hancock Village might involve new construction – undeveloped space, garages, etc. HV is interested in affordable housing for seniors.
Plan will be important as way to justify arguments against 40B, etc.

Golf course is currently zoned for single family housing. He said they’ll look at rezoning it so that it can be preserved as open space.

March 3 at Runkle School at 6:30 – meeting about future building.???

Commercial Areas:
Comp Plan will recognize P. Circle’s role, and will not recommend changes other than public space improvements, including near Library.

Growth and change over next 10-20 years expected in CCorner, Heath to Newton along Rt. 9, Brookline Village.

Rt. 9 development - Retail and commercial use would be small and service-related – not big stores.

Reservoir Road area – Chestnut Hill Benevolent (owned by Christian Science) society will be ripe for development over time. It is currently zoned for single-family development. Will ensure frontage to Rt 9 remains green. Could get housing or small office campus.

Newton is currently developing a Vision Plan, more general in scope than Brookline’s.
We want to be on same page with them regarding developments such as Rt 9 where Omni is, etc.

How can SB residents stay involved?
NEPA, run by the State, will look at traffic and wastewater implications. David Friend is involved.
Will abutters be involved?
They have made it clear that full DIS and EIS will occur. We must all stay active. 12-18 month process for this project.

In places where we’re losing commercial space to residential, we’ll change some provisions in zoning to require at a minimum commercial space at street level and residential above. Concern raised about defining height of buildings.

Open Space and Recreation:
Town has open space plan. Priority is to preserve Allandale Farm. Also interested in Pine Manor, Hellenic College, Bournewood, etc. Should they begin to convert to other use, town wants control so as to use for cluster development or open space. Thus town is proposing zoning changes to preserve open space over time.
For Bournewood, what’s the plan? They’re trying to treat all such properties the same by creating an overlay plan for cluster development with specific densities, and open space.

Any plans to create open space for SB? Bournewood and Infant Jesus are two potential areas if they ever come available.

The other two locations mentioned when addressing open space and "greenway" was a portion of Dexter School and Fernwood Road area.

Edison Park development in Newton is area where Brookline will coordinate regarding traffic.

What about green space for SB other than currently privately owned properties? Comp plan will proceed with plan to try to provide that. We’ll see their plan this summer. Library and Dane Park are possibilities. Dane Park wouldn’t help.

Can Brookline approach Diocese rather than wait for Diocese re Infant Jesus? Buy or lease it? He says Town talks with Archdiocese. But our pockets aren’t deep – will we have the resources to acquire or lease? He hopes so and is looking at other potential financial resources.

What about space behind Baker? It’s hard to get to. It’s a sanctuary, therefore it’s not being looked at.
What about Rockledge Road? It hasn’t been forgotten. Issue – topography.

Zoning Bylaw Citizen Committee exists. Why has it met infrequently recently? They met frequently until a year ago, and their findings are being used by Comp Plan. They’ll still be used as a resource. Bobby Allen is on it. He said their first task was to clarify the zoning bylaws and reality of house sizes.

Recommendation: Since we have little open space and busy streets, get rid of rotary and make it a park that connects to P Circle stores. Applause! Response: removing the rotary is a big change. But this IS the Comp Plan!

Regarding our need for open space, the SBNA and he could have a brainstorming session/planning work session, and he’ll take the recommendations back to his team.

Trusts govern Allandale Farm and the cemetery – therefore, they’re probably not available.

Traffic:
W. Roxbury Pkway remains a State road if MDC goes away. It has been designated a historic way. Might setbacks become open space for us?

Comp Plan focus re traffic will be Rt 9. Also look at Florence, Heath, Tully, HPond Pkway, Woodland and Hammond. How to minimize cut-through traffic for neighborhoods around Rt 9.

Tom DeMaio, Public works commissioner

Traffic person is David Friend.
Promote sanctuaries with trails so that people know about them.
Lester Geary, highway sanitation person, was introduced. He’s fairly new.
DeMaio does signs, safety, traffic, transportation, parking, open space, parks, maintenance of parks (should that in part be the responsibility of developers?), cemeteries, “There’s not a lot of life left in that cemetery!” Roadways, sidewalks, need $1.7 million to get sidewalks that are poor and replaceable up to standard. There’s a10-year replacement plan for the sidewalks, but they’re short $100,000 of the $300,000 a year they need. What impact will development have on sidewalks? Let the developers help.
Sewer, water systems, garbage, recycling, snowplowing, traffic (calming vs. snowplows), street cleaning, litter control/containers. Litter is picked up twice a day in commercial areas on Sundays.

Questions:
How do we make our neighborhood more pedestrian friendly? E.g., Independence and Grove traffic is 4-lane until Boston line, where on-street parking makes it 2-lane in reality. Request – make it a 2-lane road the whole way. All you need is white paint. Suggestion: Our children can’t cross at pedestrian walks. Make blinking lights into regular stop lights.

Is there anything to do about potholes now? We do go after them using hotmix. $25 million to repair our roads overall. Tight budget prevents the $1 million a year from being put aside. There is a 25-year plan to fix the roads. They’re trying to incorporate street and sidewalk work together. Signs too.

Prior issues we’ve raised and were raised again:

Request for follow-through on 4-way stop signs for Russett Road.
How determine which sidewalks are plowed en route to Baker?
Prior request for Horace James creation of separate lane for through traffic. How about it?
Dangerous for pedestrians between Temple Emeth and P Circle.
Sidewalk shoveling and fines
Town shuttles

Handout – brochure on Comprehensive Plan and Process

Respectfully submitted,

Joni Burstein and Pat Walsh