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On Aug. 6th the selectmen disbanded the mixed use committee. Whether the concept of mixed use zoning proceeds in Brookline is unclear at this time.
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Judy Cook
supported this idea
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If you carefully read the mixed use citizens guide, you will find that it was written with Commonwealth of Massachusetts funding in mind, and highlights mixed use zoning as “…a vehicle for revitalizing struggling areas and spurring economic development“.
The idea of Mixed Use Zoning as an overlay to the Residential/Agricultural zone in the context of the whole town of Brookline, NH deserves serious discussion . Personally , I am not in favor of this idea for the town center , but feel that it deserves an “airing out” in a public forum so that the entire town can see what such an overlay would mean if applied to all of the residential/agriculture zone including all of the towns neighborhoods.
What needs to be understood is that the majority of the lots on Main Street and in the center of town are undersized lots (grandfathered as buildable lots) but of a size that is not up to the current town standards. The septic and well's on these lots can support the existing use but would not support an expanded mixed use.
• Brookline's current infrastructure lacks town water and sewer, retrofitting the center of Brookline with town water and sewer would be a monumental challenge both in cost and implementation.
• Parking is also an issue. We should have learned through the parking issues at the library that there is neither adequate space for parking for expanded retail in the center of town nor is there the ability to create any parking in a practical way. Years ago the Post Office had to move from its former location at 22 Main Street to the intersection of Rt 13 and Milford Street due to parking and size limitations even at that time when the population was ½ of what it is now.
• Many residents who live in the center of town already complain about the amount of traffic that is routed down Main Street and Milford Street - can you imagine how much more traffic would be generated if those people living in other areas of Brookline or coming from other towns were drawn in to the center of town for shopping.
Brookline's Main Street area is already mixed use in fact if not by established zoning. We have The Brookline Village Store at 12 Main Street, apartment building’s at 14 & 17 Main Street, light retail at 22 Main Street, not to mention a church, a library, and the town government buildings.
Brookline is going to eventually have to come to terms with the fact that our forefathers didn't create a town center . It is impossible to retrofit a town center into a 250+ year old town without destroying it. If you try to create a retail downtown out of our older historical buildings you will be in danger of destroying the small amount of New England rural town feel that we presently have.
Homeowners can presently (and many do) work from home taking advantage of the town zoning that allows "home business". If you read the zoning to see what is allowed in a residential zone you will find that the concept of mixed use zoning has been accomplished without the complication of a mixed use zoning overlay.
Last year at the “Town Visioning Event” keeping Brookline feeling like “a rural New England town “ was high on the list of what was important. The center of town is what it is. It is the “rural New England town” that we have, and to try to make it more than that would endanger it.