Saturday, December 1, 2012
Use the comments section to weigh in on the proposed 40B development in Hancock Village.
Many residents of Brookline spoke out against the idea of building a 40B, 271-unit development with 55 low-income units in Hancock Village. One of the major concerns was the lack of room in the schools in town. Another issue was the idea of building a large complex on “a street that isn’t really a street.” What do you think about this? Is the school capacity reason enough to not build this development? Is this development too big? Do you want more affordable housing in Brookline? Do you think this is too much of a “Not In My Back Yard” routine? Use the comments section to let your voice be heard.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Residents spoke out against the proposed development at Hancock Village at the Selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday evening.
Residents spoke out against the proposition from Chestnut Hill Realty to develop a 40B project at Hancock Village. The development would consist of 271 rental units with 55 units for low-income residents with a driveway at the end of Ashville Road and access from Independence Drive. A repeated concern from the large crowd was the issue of school capacity. “We have been adding classrooms at a rate of 30 per year,” Chairwoman Betsy Dewitt said. “We have zero capacity in our schools.” “We don’t have open land, farms or fields or old industrial complexes where we could put new schools and we are already trying to cope with the explosion of school aged children today,” Selectman Nancy Daly said. “Doubling the student population would be a …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Affordable units would be rented to families making half of the median income in the Boston area, bringing the town nearly halfway to its affordable housing goal.
Chestnut Hill Realty (CHR), developers at the Hancock Village neighborhood filed new plans in August to build 271 new rental units to Brookline between 11 three-story buildings and one 5-story building containing 145 apartments. "This new housing will go a long way towards the Town's goal of creating new affordable housing. Also since there is so little land available for housing in Brookline, using some of the extra land at Hancock Village for additional housing is an example of Smart Growth," said CHR president Edward Zucker in an Aug. 10 press release. Of those 271 units, 55 units will be considered affordable housing, making the project eligible for Chapter 40B of the State's Affordable Housing Zoning Law. A provision of this law …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Town retains two lawyers from Boston firm Krokidas and Bluestein to advise officials about Chestnut Hill Realty's 40B proposal in Hancock Village.
The complexities of Chapter 40B planning, specifically in Brookline's Hancock Village, will be handled by experts. Selectmen voted unanimously last night to retain two lawyers from Boston law firm Krokidas and Bluestein. They also had a number of questions for attorneys Kathy Murphy and Sam Nagler, who outlined the next steps of the process. The town will receive a letter from MassDevelopment, one of the state's financial and development authorities, with their findings regarding the project. After which the town has a 30 day comment period to state its case. "You are encouraged to involve all town boards and the public in responding to that letter." Murphy told the board the comment period is "also the opportunity to comment on the …
Sunday, August 26, 2012
The town mentioned in some lists. The Health Department raised the the West Nile Virus alert level to high. Developers file new plans in Hancock Village and Cleveland Circle. A woman narrowly escapes injury when a tree falls onto her car.
Monday morning, we met several Brookline Businesses Going Local First, as the Local First organization goes online. New Cleveland Circle Development Plans have been Filed, and some Neighbors Have Concerns. Blogger Julie Ross asked you to Make.Me.Laugh.Please, and Herb Robinson feels like The Bull in the Ring.How Charitable is Brookline? A new study from the Chronicle of Philanthropy founds a few interesting things about New England and the country. A stuck car and a randomly missing scooter made up Brookline Police Log. And, a "Cascade" Floods The Booksmith (it's a book, not a torrent of water). Tuesday, a little about Brookline being Named to CNN's List of Best Places To Live. Brookline’s 16U Summer Team Wins Tompkins League Title. …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
With Brookline's first Neighborhood Conservation District formed, a developer has filed a new plan with Chapter 40B Affordable Housing.
A long-discussed Hancock Village development has new plans to bring 271 new homes to the neighborhood--some of them affordable. Town Administrator Mel Kleckner updated the Board of Selectmen, at last night's meeting, on a new Chapter 40B plan filed by developer Chestnut Hill Realty (CHR). Kleckner said that 145 of the 271 units in the plan are in a single five-story building, the remaining units divided up among 11 three-story buildings. Chapter 40B allows developers to bypass certain aspects of zoning law if they create some affordable housing units, which count toward the town's 10 percent quota. Brookline currently stands at eight percent, officials say. "Given the proposals and neighbor objections, this did not come as a suprise to …
42.30255
-71.15226
Temple Emeth
South St & Grove St, Chestnut Hill, MA
/articles/hancock-village-developer-file-40b-plans
192584
/locations/7648005
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Brookline's Conservation Commission to appoint an interim commission while guidelines are created.
Bylaws from the November town meeting were approved in early June, which included the Neighborhood Conservation Districts (NCD), and the leafblower ban (as reported in June). Hancock Village was also approved by Town Meeting as the town's first NCD in November. Overseeing the Hancock Village NCD, according to bylaw, there will be a neighborhood conservation district commission. NCD bylaws require a five- to seven-member neighborhood conservation commission be created, the smaller commission composed of three appointees from the town's Conservation Commission, and two members interviewed and appointed by the Board of Selectmen. "We are looking forward to playing an instructor role, to get ball rolling, and to setting up guidelines to help …
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Town Meeting approves the contested Warrant Articles 5 and 6, establishing neighborhood conservation districts, and setting Hancock Village as the first such district.
Article 5, the Neighborhood Conservation District, and article 6, establishing an NCD at Hancock Village were approved at last night's Special Town Meeting. Although the Board of Selectmen moved an amended version of article 5 last week, Town Meeting voted for an unamended version of the article, which passed with a vote of 181 for, 35 against, and three abstaining. Article 6, with no amendments proposed, passed with a 200 to 24 vote. James Shea, a lawyer for Chestnut Hill Realty (CHR), the developers of Hancock Village came with a powerpoint presentation explaining the flaws he and CHR saw in the articles. "Article 6 will not stop development in Hancock Village, and this will leave the town with article 5, enabling legislation that has …
42.33248
-71.1288
Brookline High School
115 Greenough St, Brookline, MA
/articles/town-meeting-approves-neighborhood-conservation-districts-hancock-village-ncd
192039
/locations/5819668
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Board of Selectmen discussed a handful of amendments proposed to warrant article 5, which would create neighborhood conservation districts as a planning tool.
One of the articles heading to Special Town Meeting on Nov. 15 is article 5, which would create neighborhood conservation districts (NCDs). It's connected to article 6, which would establish the first NCD around Hancock Village in Sotuh Brookline. For discussion at last night's Board of Selectmen meeting, a selection of proposed amendments to the article. With the exception of the technical correction to the article, all of these amendements failed at the advisory committee. Their sub-committee did not recommend any of them for approval either. Despite those recommendations, the Selectmen passed an amended version of the article with three amendments. Town counsel, Jennifer Dopazo Gilbert, recommended an amendment that would exempt school…
42.3334
-71.12018
Brookline Town Hall
333 Washington St, Brookline, MA
/articles/selectmen-amend-support-neighborhood-conservation-districts-article
192654
/locations/5771930
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Hancock Village is the subject of a warrant article filed for Fall Town Meeting.
The Board of Selectmen last night discussed two related warrant articles set for the Fall Town Meeting: Article 5 gives the town authority to set up a Neighborhood Conservation District (NCD), and Article 6 turns Hancock Village into the one of the first NCDs. A neighborhood conservation district would create a neighborhood commission responsible for maintaining the "character of the neighborhood," and would require any developers to earn a certificate of appropriateness from that commission before building or demolition begins. The commission would be made up of Brookline Preservation Commission members, as well as members appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Warrant article 6 focuses on creating a neighborhood conservation district …
42.29833
-71.15683
Sherman Rd & Thornton Rd, Chestnut Hill, MA
/articles/neighborhood-conservation-districts
/locations/5413750
MoonBeamWatcher
4:16 am on Sunday, December 2, 2012
You can say potato, I can say pahtato - no matter how thin you slice it, i'ts still smells the same = “a street that isn’t really a street”– is just so much obfuscation. To waste dollars on legal maneuvering on a clear attempt to retroactively declare an area a histerical district will not float. Good money wasted that would more appropriately be spent to provide the projected increase in school … more ›