Audit finds most Brookline lodging houses compliant; Pine Street Inn and Caritas noted for higher medical call volumes

Town licensing staff and police presented an audit Jan. 28 reviewing 42 lodging houses and five in‑holders in Brookline, finding that most properties were compliant with licensing requirements and that calls for service and code violations were generally low.

Tiffany Oliva, Assistant Town Administrator for Operations, and Lieutenant Charles Thornton of the Brookline Police Department summarized findings from the audit. The town focused on three additional data points this year at the Select Board’s request: 911/dispatch call types, DPW/health code complaints and violations, and compliance with the town’s resident‑agent policy.

The audit found two owner entities — Pine Street Inn properties and Caritas Communities properties — had higher 911 call volumes among lodging houses; staff said most of those calls were medical in nature and not classified as intoxication or antisocial behavior. Oliva said only a single dispatch required the use of naloxone (Narcan) among the calls reviewed for one property. DPW and health code complaints were limited; three properties (1017 Beacon; 809 Marion; 1043/1045 Beacon) were identified with higher complaint or violation volumes largely tied to trash and waste management.

Oliva said three lodging properties had not completed their 2025 renewal paperwork as of Jan. 28: 1876 Beacon (Caritas Communities), 58 Manchester (Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house) and 259 Saint Paul (Epsilon Theta House). She reported Caritas had scheduled an in‑office visit to complete paperwork and that MIT’s government affairs office was assisting with the two campus‑related properties.

As next steps, staff recommended: (1) Pine Street Inn provide an updated neighbor contact card and on‑call contact information to improve response and accountability; (2) DPW and licensing staff meet with owners of properties with recurring trash violations to identify operational fixes; (3) send warning letters to lodging houses lacking a resident agent and schedule public hearings in February for properties that remain noncompliant.

Lieutenant Thornton told the board that police and property security staff have been responsive when notified, and that neighborhood complaints have declined from pandemic peaks, though some neighbors still report concerns about activity near Lower Beacon Street and Monmouth Street park. Oliva said the new centralized contact/on‑call approach will create a trackable record of neighbor complaints and town responses.