Pine Manor Eminent Domain Question: Public Meeting Monday Night In Brookline

BROOKLINE, MA —The Board of Selectmen and School Committee will hold a Public Hearing regarding the decision to expand potential 9th Elementary School sites to include seizing seven acres of land at Pine Manor College, 400 Heath Street. The purpose of the meeting is to get the public's input on the possibility of a taking by eminent domain.

In anticipation of a lot of discussion and perhaps some charged words, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Neil Wishinsky took to Facebook to post an outline how the meeting would look.

"The boards will be listening and will not be deliberating at this hearing," he wrote. "I expect there will be many points of view and hope we can listen to each other and if we disagree, to do so without being disagreeable in the best Brookline tradition."

In case you missed it, the possible seizing of about 7 acres of Pine Manor's land is a bit contentious.

The town has been looking for a way to address the growing enrollment since 2006 when the number of K-8 in Brookline has grown from 4,059 students to 5,482. The School Committee expects the trajectory to continue and worry that time is running out to find a place for a ninth and eventually tenth school to accommodate children. After a years long process, a team winnowed down a handful of sites to three. The committees scrapped several after various pushback from the community members, and eventually voted on a property in South Brookline where there once was a school, the Baldwin site. After Patriot owner's son Jonathan Kraft and neighbors pushed back and the town discovered more complications with the land the boards entered into executive session and came out with the Pine Manor option.

It had previously been looked into, but the school had expressed that it was not interested in selling any more land. The president of Pine Manor College is pushing back. In the weeks since Brookline officials came out of an executive hearing where they decided to broach the topic with the community, the college has written letters to the Town Meeting Members and urged the community at large to encourage the leaders not to seize the school's land. A number of local colleges including Newbury College on Fisher Hill have written letters to town officials expressing disapproval for the option. The school has also filed an Open Meeting Law complaint against officials for that executive session meeting, which was private.

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The joint Board of Selectmen-School Committee 9th School public hearing will be Monday evening, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Brookline High School auditorium. The purpose is for the School Committee and the Selectmen to get a sense of the public's view on the possibility of taking the portion of the school's land to build a ninth school. Wishinsky has said repeatedly it's not a done deal.

The hearing will begin with a short presentation to set the context, according to Wishinsky. The rest of the hearing will be devoted to public comment.

Speaker sign up sheets will be situated in the hallway before you enter the auditorium, for those who plan to take the mic.

"I expect a large number of people wishing to speak, so in order to be fair to all and to allow as many people to speak as possible, we will need to set a time limit, probably 3 minutes," said Wishinksy on Facebook.

He are also encouraged written comments be submitted here or via email to sorsini@brooklinema.gov
The hearing will be broadcast by Brookline Interactive Group.

Catch up on the October 3, 2017 presentation by Jonathan Levi Architects and other materials related to a 9th Elementary School by heading to the Public Schools of Brookline website.

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