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.