Brookline Select Board Approves Tree Removal for 181-Unit Affordable Housing Project

BROOKLINE — January 6, 2026 — Brookline Select Board approves tree removal for 181-unit affordable housing project and sets May 5 town election. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to allow the Brookline Housing Authority to remove three declining linden trees on Juniper Street, clearing a key obstacle for the Walnut High Apartments redevelopment, a two-phase project seeded with $7.5 million in town funding that will replace 100 aging units with 181 fully accessible, 100 percent affordable apartments. Tree Warden Jack Schleifer confirmed the trees — with trunk diameters in the high 20s to low 30s — are in structural decline and would not survive construction; the BHA will replace them with five new lindens in improved growing conditions. The board also unanimously authorized the Town Administrator to sign pre-construction permitting documents for the Brookline Music School's proposed $800,000 recital hall expansion at 25 Canard Road, of which roughly $670,000 has already been raised. Three candidates — Anne Trekker, Kaylee Bennett, and Victoria Fernandez — were interviewed for seats on the Commission on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Relations, with appointments to be made at a later meeting.