by Frank Schroth

The Planning Board meeting this coming Thursday and the posted agenda has the Master Plan Committee joining them for a second time in advance of the Master Plan Committees public Round Table on Housing and Neighborhoods to be held on June 11th at Cunningham Park. Of the three topics focused on by the Master Plan Committee this is the only one to receive this level of attention from the Planning Board.

The first joint session was held on May 22nd. At that session Daphne Politis, who is leading the consulting team on this second phase of the Master Plan process, reviewed the goals of the housing roundtable, some current facts regarding housing in MIlton and some of the potential issues that could be addressed. In addition to the Planning Board, there were members of the Master Plan Committee, the consulting team and other consultants with expertise in housing (e.g. a representative from MAPC). Altogether there were 18 people at the table.

Ms. Politis asked for confirmation that there was consensus among the group that the purpose of the roundtable was to focus on the need for greater diversity of housing types and how to get there. There appeared to be consensus until John Sheldon arrived. (Mr. Sheldon and Planning Board member Bryan Furze were appointed to the Master Plan Committee by the Planning Board at the beginning of the meeting.) Mr. Sheldon who missed Ms. Politis introduction asked why there was a need to change housing types and suggested that might be driven by supply and demand. It cut to the heart of the matter in that the Master Plan committee is making the case that there should be a plan for the type of housing Milton wants and how to direct development to meet that.

A number of considerations were voiced. These include but were not limited to:

• The need for smaller more affordable units that would be appealing to singles and senior citizens, two growing demographics. Politis had noted in her introductroy remarks that  30% of the people living in Milton could afford to buy a home here if they had to purchase it today.
• Should there be more rental units?
• How should Milton deal with large estates that may come on market. Fisher Hill in Brookline was identified as a possible model for development. Ipswich was also cited as having a good estate provision.
• What is anything should be done with inclusionary zoning (i.e. the requirement that a development contain some portion of affordable units)? Cambridge is the only town that has mandatory inclusionary zoning. It was mentioned that for inclusionary zoning  to work, it has to benefit the developer in some way.
• Should Milton consider hiring a housing coordinator? Could that position be regionalized / shared with neighboring communities

These are samples of the issues to be discussed and debated. The Planning Board will resume the discussion this Thursday at their scheduled session. The heightened level of attention this is receiving from the Planning Board may be due to number of 40B developments in the pipeline, the lack of progress on a Housing Production Plan, and the request of local developers for zoning bylaws that will allow for condominium developments.

The Master Plan Committee has held two roundtables to date. The first was on a Healthy Milton and the second was on Vibrant Mixed Use Districts. The Planning Board did not meet with the consulting team in advance of those sessions but two members, Alex Whiteside and Emily Innes, did attend the meeting on Vibrant Mixed Use districts.

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There is a new privately run mass transit operator starting up in Boston today. Bridj will be running buses for commuters along two routes: one from Coolidge Corner to Kendal Sq and one from Coolidge Corner to Downtown Boston (Federal Street). Those routes are not terribly convenient for Milton Commuters; but the service plans to expand rapidly. There value proposition is to move folks more efficiently between locations that is possible on the T. The service is free for the month of June. You can find a CBS Boston article on the service here.

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State Representative Dan Cullinane, who represents Milton Precincts 1 and 2, is running for re-election. He has three challengers: all Democratic, in Corey J. Allen, Carlotta M. Williams, and Ruthella J. Logan-Cruz. The election will be in September.