Select Board Opens Hearing On Rewritten ADU Rules

Select Board · Meeting of April 21, 2026

BROOKLINE — The Brookline Select Board opened hearings on a rewritten ADU zoning bylaw after the state attorney general struck down parts of the town's 2024 law. Jonathan Klein, chair of the Housing Advisory Board's ADU subcommittee, said the state disapproved Brookline's five-year ownership rule and 22-foot height cap, calling them "unenforceable." The rewrite would allow 900-square-foot ADUs by right with no townwide parking requirement. The board also weighed Alec Lebovitz's proposal to raise the inclusionary zoning threshold back to 19 units, noting "there have not been a single 10 to 19 unit development" built since 2003.

Member Michael Rubenstein pushed back on a disputed $2,400 cost estimate for a new public records reporting rule, saying "we're voting on incurring an expense." The board's only vote, 4-0, approved the Community Preservation Act's annual fund appropriation; all other articles, including a $200,000 golf fund amendment, were held for future meetings.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of April 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.