Brookline's Housing Advisory Board met Wednesday, Aug. 5, to consider overhauling the fees developers pay to skip building affordable units on-site, a decision that could reshape how the town funds affordable housing ahead of Fall Town Meeting.

The nine-member board, chaired by Roger Blood, convened via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. to hear a report from its "Smaller if Better" subcommittee on proposed changes to the Inclusionary Zoning cash-payment-in-lieu fee schedule. The meeting agenda listed the item for "HAB discussion; possible vote."

The fee schedule determines how much developers pay into the Affordable Housing Trust when they choose not to include affordable units in their projects. Whether the board voted, and what changes it endorsed, has not been publicly reported.

The review follows Town Meeting's approval in May of Article 15, which restored a more permissive threshold allowing developers to make cash payments instead of building affordable units on-site. That vote set the stage for the board to recalibrate fee amounts.

Also on the Aug. 5 agenda: an update on affordable housing density bonus guidelines for the Chestnut Hill Overlay District's Neighborhood Mixed Use subdistrict. The Town Meeting approved the overlay zoning 217-20 in May, clearing the way for City Realty's planned redevelopment at 1280–1330 Boylston Street. That project would include three buildings of 14, 12 and seven stories containing 266 apartments and condos, a 200-room hotel, medical offices and ground-floor retail. The stakes are concrete. The development is estimated to generate $4 million to $6 million in net annual revenue for Brookline once built, according to Brookline.News.

The Planning Department is working with the Housing Advisory Board and Planning Board to develop income-related affordability guidelines tied to the overlay's bonus height incentive, according to a town planning newsletter. Those guidelines will govern how much affordable housing developers must include to qualify for additional building height in the subdistrict.

The meeting's timing carries added weight. The Fall 2026 Special Town Meeting warrant opened Thursday, Aug. 6, and closes at noon on Thursday, Sept. 3, as we reported this week. Any fee schedule changes or overlay-district policies the board advances could become warrant articles for deliberations beginning Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Other items on the board's Aug. 5 agenda included a request for Housing Trust funds to extend affordability restrictions at 99 Kent Street, a prospective Community Preservation Act Committee policy for annual Housing Trust funding, and consideration of a new round of rental assistance proposals.

Board members present were Roger Blood, Jonathan Klein, Steve Heikin, William Fegan, Carol Gladstone, Pam Goodman, Shawn K O'Neal, Alex Krieger and Bernand Greene.

Residents who want to file warrant articles for Fall Town Meeting must gather signatures and submit them by noon on Sept. 3. Town Meeting deliberations begin Nov. 17.