A Plan For Harvard Street and More

Disclaimer: I’m about to talk about zoning. Apologies if it’s a little wonky and I encourage you to do more research rather than relying solely on this summary.

The Fall Town Meeting starts in a little less than a fortnight and the Town’s deliberative body will be tasked with voting on nearly 20 articles. The topics range from prohibiting the sale of mammals, birds, and amphibians in pet shops to renaming the Heath School to rezoning parts of town to comply with the MBTA Communities Act (MBTA-CA).

The MBTA-CA is a recent state law that requires municipalities that are served by the MBTA to create a zoning district “of reasonable size” which must be less than 0.5 miles from public transit. This is referred to as transit oriented housing as it encourages the development of new housing in areas where people are less likely to own cars and more likely to use public transportation. Compliance with this law is a tremendous opportunity to address the region’s housing and climate crises and Brookline can play a small part.

The original plan proposed by the Town was to utilize Harvard Street for MBTA-CA compliance. Many people expressed concerns that the MBTA-CA would not allow the Town to mandate first floor commercial or our full 15% Inclusionary Zoning requirement, which would have meant fewer affordable housing units. The Select Board responded by appointing a committee to study other options for compliance. This resulted in a warrant article created by the Select Board, a “Consensus Warrant Article”, for approval by Town Meeting. The Consensus Warrant Article includes a new Multifamily zoning district (M+) that includes many existing multifamily zones. While M+ technically complies with MBTA-CA it will not result in much new housing as the district is largely built out. The Consensus Warrant Article also includes the Harvard Street proposal with mandated ground floor retail and our full inclusionary zoning. The Harvard Street Proposal with the M+ compliance plan will result in “meaningful compliance” with the MBTA-CA.

The Consensus Warrant Article has been amended according to an agreement between “Yes! in Brookline” (a coalition of Brookline for Everyone, the Brookline CDC, and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization) and Brookline by Design. These amendments protect some buildings (which were not likely to lead to new housing) and increase setbacks for certain properties. The amended Warrant Article has also been endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce and Mothers out Front, among others. Many recognize the environmental impact of transit-oriented housing as well as the economic benefits to Harvard Street with more residents meaning more customers for the businesses on the street. That said, there will be some impact on the existing businesses on Harvard Street who currently occupy buildings that will be redeveloped. Some will naturally close, falling victim to the business cycle. Others will relocate within or near Brookline. A few may be forced out of business as they will be unable to find a suitable new home but this is less likely. All of this will take time as business leases tend to be 5-10 years and the current interest rate market makes new projects less likely to be developed in the near term.

So what does this all mean? Town Meeting is faced with the decision to meaningfully comply with the MBTA-CA which would result in a gradual increase of housing on Harvard Street and new business activity. Failure to approve this consensus plan could still result in compliance if the M+ zone is approved independently. Each of these articles will require a ⅔ majority for approval and it is unclear at this time if either plan has enough votes to get to the ⅔ approval, though the recent agreement between Yes! In Brookline and Brookline by Design certainly helps. The Town must be in compliance by December 31, 2023 or else we will lose important funding for affordable housing and road work as well as the risk of a lawsuit from the AG’s office among others.

I endorsed Yes! in Brookline’s call for meaningful compliance with the law and I intend to vote that way. It is estimated it could result, over time, in approximately 900 new housing units of which over 200 would be affordable. That is meaningful, but it is only the first step to addressing greater Boston’s housing shortage.

Checkout the League of Women Voters recent forum about our compliance efforts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVz90-tgow

Recent Candidate Forum

Wednesday was the GPNA & HSHA joint forum at the Lincoln School. The opening act was the Select Board candidates followed by the School Committee candidates. I did not perform well to say the least. Nerves got the best of me and I made the decision to “stick to the hits.” I did not defend my positions well, especially when the question was raised “how do we pay for universal Prek?” It should have been a soft ball for me but I was under prepared and fumbled what should have been a simple answer. The other candidates sharing the stage collectively said we cannot afford Universal PreK. 

The reality is the current School Committee does not want to afford it. As I pointed out, the current budget for BEEP is $5.1 million dollars of which $2.5 million comes from tuition, also known as the Revolving Fund. This means that only $2.6 million or 2% comes from the PSB budget. 2% for 317 students which make up roughly 5% of the student population. I’ll repeat 2% of the district's funding goes to 5% of the students. I stand by the fact that the district could pay for Universal Prek but we lack the will to do it. In school year 23, the budget request added 18 new FTE positions for a total of $9.6 million dollars. 

I also misspoke about student to teacher ratios. My intention was to suggest that classrooms in K-8 could be adjusted to have higher student to teacher ratios in order to free resources for Prek. It was not my intention to suggest that Prek classrooms should have higher student to teacher ratios. However the current ratio of 6:1 appears to be lower than the state’s requirement of 10:1 which means there is already capacity for more Prek students. 

I also felt woefully underprepared to answer a question about equity and inclusion. More on that in a future post. 

Statement for the Brookline SEPAC Candidate Forum

Thank you to SEPAC for organizing this important event. My apologies to the cochairs, to the concerned parents, and to the students that I am unable to participate today. Special Education has always been an important topic for my family from my great aunt who was an educator to my little brother who learned with an IEP. He was diagnosed early on with ADHD and spent most of his time as a student working with paraprofessionals to stay “mainstream.” His experience, and my mom’s experience as his advocate, taught me plenty about the challenges many families face to get an equitable education for their children. For me, the most important takeaways have always been that inclusion and compassion are crucial to the success of any and every student. As a school committee member I will strive to make sure every student’s voice is included and brought to the discussion.

Statement for CAB Candidate Forum

I was unfortunately unable to attend the Climate Action Brookline candidate forum on 4/10/23 where school committee candidates were given one minute to introduce ourselves and address how schools relate to the climate crisis. I drafted a one minute statement given I was unable to attend virtually despite some last minute confusion. You will notice a trend in my writing as I took the opportunity to reexamine the Pierce School Debt Exclusion from a climate perspective.

Our schools play a major role in the climate crisis which is especially true with the Pierce School. I’ve heard some people argue the school should be closed and the students disbursed to the closest school. Our kids should be able to walk to their school which reduces carbon emissions from cars and buses. I’ve heard people argue for doing nothing with Pierce. Our schools should utilize geothermal, solar, heat pumps, and energy efficient electricity consumption to eliminate emissions from burning natural gas. I’ve heard people say that demolition is going to have a bigger impact on the environment. The reality is at least 75% of the materials will be recycled and not end up in our landfills. We’ve already made several investments through our schools to combat climate change and it’s time we make the next one. 

Meet Christopher Mutty - Candidate School Committee & Town Meeting P17

Hello Neighbor!

My name is Christopher (“Chris”) Mutty, I am running for both Town Meeting (Precinct 17) and School Committee, and I am writing to ask for your vote on May 2. I live at 15 Green Street–between the old Osaka building and the Waldo/Durgin project–with my wife Peg, our two sons Morgan (5) & Malcolm (2), and our dog Fitz. After 9 years of living & working in Brookline–starting a neighborhood business (“Green Line Growers”), founding a nonprofit (“Hub Rugby”), and raising a young family–I want to put my experience to work for my neighbors.

My wife and I grew up in the diverse old mill city of Winooski, Vermont (population 8,300). Peg and I both attended the Winooski public schools, which are now majority minority because of Vermont’s humanitarian role in resettling refugees from Vietnam, Bosnia, Sudan, and Somalia. Many of my Winooski classmates received free school lunches. Winooski’s graduation rate was far below the state average. Few of my Winooski classmates went to college. At Winooski High School I captained the football, basketball, & baseball teams, was active in theater productions (mostly one man shows) and school politics (elected class president). I also took several night and college courses to supplement my public school’s inability to provide Advanced Placement options. Despite its limited resources, Winooski was an incredibly supportive community and the public schools there provided a tremendous foundation for my life.

Thanks to generous financial aid, I enrolled in Middlebury College (2006-2010) as a FEB. I loved the liberal arts and took several semesters to discover economics as my major. I also focused on environmental studies and political science, but chose to take courses that interested me over fulfilling Minor requirements. My initial plan was to play football for Middlebury, but a chance encounter with the rugby coach set off a reaction that resulted in a lifelong passion for the sport of rugby. I was a part of 2 national championship teams (2007 & 2009) and captained the club in my final semester. Middlebury was an unbelievable experience. The highlight was my year spent as a First Year Counselor (RA) where I mentored 30 students from diverse backgrounds. I loved my time at Middlebury and still try to give back every way possible. 

After graduation, Peg and I moved to Burlington, Vermont  where I worked for a renewable energy developer turning brownfields into solar arrays. It was the early days of community scale solar and the startup also specialized in building arrays on underutilized farm land to “take the least productive acre of land and make it their most productive.” Peg and I married in May of 2011 at what the local press dubbed the “muddy Mutty” wedding (pictures available on the website). Afterwards we left Vermont and moved to Massachusetts so Peg could start a job at Massachusetts General Hospital. I worked in startups before landing a sales position at Zipcar. Finding corporate life was not for me, I decided to spend a year as a substitute teacher in the Boston Public Schools. It was a tough year. I learned that every classroom and student is different, administrators can make a huge difference in a school’s environment, and that teachers have one of the hardest jobs imaginable.

In 2014, I discovered a small start-up in Boston called “Freight Farms.” Curious about the possibilities of urban farming, I began exploring the potential to bring a hydroponic farm to Brookline. I spent the next year researching the technology, business model, and potential sites. As many of you know, my business partner and I launched “Green Line Growers” in 2015 and later added a local food store/farm stand called “Brookline Grown” all here in Precinct 17/Coolidge Corner. The press coverage was incredible including an article in the Boston Globe, included with this letter. I did everything to be embedded in the Brookline community including hosting school tours of the farm and our annual pumpkin patch where countless kids decorated their jack-o-lanterns. “Green Line Growers” and “Brookline Grown” was a roaring success for five years, but we shut down in 2019. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life to close the business. I am proud of the business’ legacy and lasting successes including at least one business incubated/spun out of our store that exists today in Jamaica Plain. I cannot thank Brookline and the Coolidge Corner community enough for supporting “Green Line Growers” and “Brookline Grown” and love seeing my former customers around the neighborhood and the town.

Since 2019 I have explored other entrepreneurial and start-up opportunities (stay tuned Brookline!). Peg and I also expanded our family during the pandemic, so I’ve taken on the best and hardest job of all, being a stay-at-home parent. In addition, I returned to my rugby roots, taking roles as (1) an assistant men’s rugby coach at Harvard University and (2) head coaching “Beantown” a women's premier league rugby team. I also co-founded the nonprofit Brookline Youth Rugby (now known as “Hub Rugby”). Hub Rugby is a non-contact, coed program for kids in K-8 from Greater Boston. You can come see us practice on Sundays at the Ridley school! Teaching kids to play rugby and sharing my passion for the game has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and makes up for the administrative burden of running a 501c3 nonprofit. Rugby has played an important role in my life and Rugby is the community that has made me feel at home.

I am asking you to consider voting for me on May 2. I want to serve Brookline as a former teacher, a serial entrepreneur, a rugby coach, and most importantly as a parent with children in the local public schools. It is with these experiences and the skills acquired that I hope to have an impact on the School Committee and as a Town Meeting Member. I invite you to visit my website: www.chrismutty.com to learn more about me, what I’m passionate about, and to support my campaign. I cannot do this alone!

Take care and talk soon,

Christopher Mutty

15 Green St, Apt 2 Brookline, MA 02446

Candidate Brookline School Committee

Candidate Brookline Town Meeting Member - Precinct 17

(617) 935-2589 (calls or texts welcome and encouraged)

muttychristopher@gmail.com

www.chrismutty.com

P.S. Even if you don’t vote for me please get out and vote in favor of the override and debt exclusion. See my stance on the Pierce Debt Exclusion on my blog www.chrismutty.com/blog

Vote Yes on 5/2 for the Pierce Debt Exclusion!

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction” JFK

Let us set aside the notion that Pierce was the school most deserving of improvement and yet it was left for last. Let us also set aside the cost of the project to focus on one thing-when evaluating the Pierce School debt exclusion, can we afford inaction? 

The Pierce School does not meet the standard for a public school district and community that strives to be one of the best in Massachusetts. Brookline has a long standing reputation for excellence in public education and yet the state of the Pierce School wouldn’t be acceptable in any other district, anywhere. It is crowded. It is inaccessible. It is hazardous. Anecdotes from some children include not using the bathrooms throughout the course of the day due to their decrepit conditions and perceived safety. Some children and staff have to attend other schools because the building is not ADA compliant. All children will experience being taught in closets, hallways, external buildings, and open classrooms that are not conducive to learning. 

How did we let the situation get this bad? How is this acceptable in Brookline? We must act now not only because it is the right thing for our schools but also because we cannot afford further inaction.

The impacts of the Pierce project may be uncomfortable at times and should not be understated. Demolition and construction will be a nuisance for pedestrians, commuters, and the neighborhood but they will be temporary. The long term costs borne by the community are not insignificant but will also be temporary. Ironically, the students and staff will likely have better accommodations in their interim classrooms before returning to a more appropriate school environment.  

I believe we have to rebuild the Pierce school because inaction and delay will only further erode the public’s opinion of the Brookline Public Schools and our community’s commitment to a world class education for all students. 

Checkout this video for a good overview of the current conditions at the Pierce School https://youtu.be/Vi0rABw0C_I