Brookline Town Meeting To Tackle Taxes, E-Scooters, Surveillance

BROOKLINE, MA –For the first time in recent memory Brookline's annual fall Town Meeting looks set to take up five days. Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, the town's legislative board will once more file into the high school auditorium to vote a number of button issues, including electric scooters, a tax levy and the future of face recognition surveillance technology in town.

This fall the town had nearly 40 items to tackle, and many of them high profile topics - from renaming the Coolidge Corner school to banning the use of fossil fuels in new construction and tightening regulations for cannabis shops. In the three days, the town's legislative board made their way through almost two dozen items. There are about 17 more warrants yet to discuss and vote on.

What's on the docket:

• Vote:

16. Resolution pertaining to E-Scooters and other micro-mobility devices (Warren, TMM1)

• Vote:

17. Resolution pertaining to Open-Air Parking Licenses and Electric Vehicle Charging Outlets. (Ananian, TMM10)

• Vote:

18. Amend the Town's Zoning By-laws to change the definition of "lodger" and permit certain short term lodging. (Gladstone, TMM16, et al)

• Vote:

19. Amend the Town's Zoning By-law to allow Accessory Dwelling Units (Blood)

• Vote:

20. Amend the Town's Zoning By-law to allow Micro Unit Dwellings in the Coolidge Corner General Business District. (Zuker)

• Vote:

15. Amend Zoning By-law to eliminate minimum parking requirements and establish maximum parking ratios for storefront uses within the Transit Parking Overlay District. (Pehlke, TMM2

• Vote:

22. Amend Town's By-laws to prohibit the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers. (Warner)
23. Amend Town's By-laws to prohibit blowing leaves and debris onto public property(Warner)

24. Amend Town's By-laws pertaining to the Commission for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations and Citizen Complaints (Conquest, TMM6)

• Vote:

25. Adoption of a new By-law prohibiting the Town from using Face Surveillance. (Hummel, TMM12)

• Vote:

What else will they vote on?

29. Resolution pertaining to an Economic-Equity Advancement Fund (O'Neal, TMM4)
30. Adoption of a new General By-Law pertaining to the establishment of a Brookline Community Engagement Plan (Brown, TMM1, et al)
31. Resolution pertaining to the Town's response to Climate Change. (Milner-Brage
TMM12)
32. Amend the Town's General By-laws to replace "Chairman" and "Chairperson" with
"Chair". (Gordon, TMM1, et al)
33. Amend the Town's General By-laws to replace references to "inhabitants" and
"Citizens". (Gordon, TMM1)
34. Amend the Town's General By-laws regarding eligibility for membership on boards,
commissions and committees. (Gordon, TMM1)
35. Reports of Town Officers and Committees. (Select Board)

Read these, too:

• Brookline Pushes For Special Town Meeting On ...
• Electric Scooters In Brookline Saved 50K Car Trips: Lime
• As Coolidge Corner School Set To Be Renamed, Students Petition
• Town Meeting Night 1: Stipends, Driscoll, Oak Street
• Brookline Town Meeting Night 2: Bans Fossil Fuels, Renames Coolidge Corner
• Town Meeting Night 3: Brookline Votes To Lower Voting Age, Set New Hours For Cannabis Shops

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).