Brookline voters this month approved spending $610,000 in damages as part of a mediated agreement the town reached with a developer who sued the community in 2021, claiming the town barred it from building affordable workforce housing.
Brookline Opportunities LLC/Tamposi Brothers Holdings LLC filed suit in U.S. District Court in Concord in September 2021, claiming Brookline’s “unlawful and discriminatory actions” prevented it from building a proposed 80-unit affordable workforce housing development, which was in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
The complaint alleged the developer encountered “fierce, community opposition” soon after presenting its proposal to the town’s Planning Board on Feb. 18, 2021, including the imposition of a one-year moratorium on residential development.
“Opponents suggested that allowing affordable housing to be built would increase crime, lower property values and increase taxes, and allow lower income children to overcrowd Brookline’s schools,” the complaint said. The developer sought compensatory damages and requested a jury trial.
The agreement will allow the developer to build up to 98 housing units on part of a 126-acre tract on Route 13 in a phased approach. The first phase will consist of 58 housing units for older people, and the second phase will include 30 workforce housing units and 10 market-rate units, selectmen said in a November statement detailing the terms of the agreement.
Half the dwellings will be one-bedroom; the other half can have no more than two bedrooms.
Additionally, 6 acres that are zoned commercial-industrial will be subdivided for future commercial development, about 50 acres will be donated to the town for municipal use, and the town will pay the developer $610,000 to settle damages.
The developer still needs to proceed through the town’s standard application process and obtain all local and state approvals. The town has agreed to work with the developer to support their application, according to the agreement.
“The Town of Brookline is pleased that we were able to find a solution with the developer that balances the rights to develop the property with the town’s need to manage growth. Concerns were raised in 2021 when the developers provided a conceptual plan that included 80 units on one half of the property with an anticipated similar number on the other half; this agreement clearly defines the total amount of development,” selectmen stated.
“It was a path forward that worked for both parties,” Selectman Brendan Denehy said Tuesday.
The court recommended the parties attempt to resolve the suit through mediation, which began in October.
Town Meeting voters on March 13 approved raising and appropriating $610,000 to settle the lawsuit.
‘Working with the town’
“The way it is structured, we have permission to take up to $610,000 from the unassigned fund balance,” Denehy said. The payment would not be made until the developer receives all approvals.
Joseph Tamposi, manager of Tamposi Brothers Holdings LLC, said only, “We are working with the town.”
“The settlement agreement states the terms, but given we are still doing our application and moving forward with the development … I really don’t have any (other) comment,” Tamposi said Tuesday.
In the 34-page complaint, the developer sought compensation for damages it said it suffered from economic losses.
The developer also expended “substantial time and resources” to locate a parcel and enter an option-to-purchase contract, which it couldn’t exercise once the town imposed new ordinances and a moratorium, the complaint said.
