Chair Dennis Doughty
Brookline Advisory Committee

Chair Bernard Greene
Brookline Select Board
333 Washington St, 
Brookline, MA 02445

April. 28 2025

Dear Chairs Greene and Doughty,

On behalf of the Charles River Regional Chamber and the Brookline business community, we write in support of rezoning the entire Chestnut Hill West.

The rezoning of this neighborhood presents a rare opportunity for the town to grow its commercial tax base and stem the cycle of large override votes. If that is truly the goal, there is no policy more counterproductive than limiting the rezoning of Chestnut Hill West to a subsection of the original area.

New growth has to be earned. The market and developers flock to areas with demand and certainty. The demand in Brookline is undeniable, but for too long the town has cultivated an uncertain development environment through piecemeal, half-measure rezoning efforts.

We have seen this strategy play out in Newton, where some have held up deal-by-deal rezoning as a model. In reality, it is just the opposite. That approach has led to decade-long permitting processes, projects that perpetually fail to pencil out, and anemic growth to show for it — so bad that Newton faced an 11-day teacher strike two years ago.

We agree with EDAB and the Revenue and Expenditure Study Committee that the only way to break the cycle of overrides is through broad-based rezoning that provides certainty to developers. This zoning is not a gift to developers; rather, it sets the table for how we want our community to grow. That kind of long-term planning is what has brought sustainable growth to Cambridge and Watertown — and has allowed them to avoid overrides altogether.

While that level of growth may not be fully attainable for Brookline and modifications may be needed to specific parcels through the special permit process, we can still avoid overrides so large that they break records. 

This is the moment to get it right. We urge the Advisory Committee and Select Board to recommend the full, original zoning package to Town Meeting.

Sincerely,

Greg Reibman

President & CEO 

Charles River Chamber