By Mark Pickering
At a recent meeting of the Housing for All Watertown group, speakers touted the group’s success in its effort to deliver “the most ambitious MBTA Communities Act plan in the state.” Now the group is shifting gears to focus on getting more affordable housing as part of the plan.
In Watertown, the YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) movement is alive and kicking. Members of the grassroots group say that the next step is to bring a greater number of affordable units into Watertown Square.
Communities served by the T are required to submit rezoning plans (under the 2021 MBTA law) that would allow for building multifamily housing.
To that goal, the Watertown group has come up with an “affordable housing bonus plan.” The idea is to increase the incentives for developers to build up if their plans meet certain affordable housing guidelines.
As it now stands, the Watertown Square rezoning lacks robust incentives for including affordable housing in new buildings. Further, it does not measure up to what other area communities are doing to encourage affordable housing – including those in Newton, Chelsea and Medford.
The group notes that during the rezoning process “residents emphasized” their support for increasing the amount of affordable housing in Watertown Square.”
After a lengthy review process, the Watertown City Council and Planning Board approved the rezoning plan over the summer. The two boards are poised to debate the details of the plan: the city has scheduled the first joint meeting for Oct. 16, 6:30 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library.
Watertown’s actions regarding the MBTA Communities law stand in stark contrast to Milton. That South Shore town has rejected the law and taken the fight to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.
Of course, it’s anti-growth behavior like that that has trashed the Massachusetts housing market in the first place. Set in its ways, Milton wants to live in a world free of consequences.
Milton’s MBTA service includes multiple MBTA Red Line trolley stops, so it has missed its end-of-2023 deadline for submitting a plan. Because Watertown lacks any trolley, subway or commuter rail service, the city’s deadline is the end of this year.
Under the MBTA law, Watertown is required to allow for 1,700 housing units.
However, the approved rezoning plan allows for more than 4,000 additional housing units in Watertown Square. That housing, however, is not in the pipeline. Rather it awaits developers that may take advantage of the rezoning.
Another local fan of building more housing: The Charles River Chamber of Commerce. The business group argues that out-of-control housing prices are the main obstacle preventing the growth of the area’s economy.
Mark Pickering is a veteran of the local news business, having worked on the business desk and the opinion pages of the Boston Herald.