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Petitioners urge Select Board to ensure Fisher Hill planning accounts for seniors' needs
Summary
Petitioners and the Brookline Community Aging Network asked the board to ensure planning for the Fisher Hill property includes space and services for older residents, citing limited current senior-center capacity and parking constraints.
Petitioners for Warrant Article 13 asked the Select Board to direct planning for the recently acquired Fisher Hill property to explicitly consider the needs of Brookline’s older residents. The petitioners — representing Brookline Community Aging Network (Brookline CAN) and other age-friendly groups — said the town’s older-adult population (residents 60 and older) represents more than 20% of the town and that current funding and facilities for seniors are constrained.
Petitioner Carol Cara, and others, said the senior center is over capacity, lacks parking, and that Fisher Hill offers an opportunity to provide additional multi-use space that can serve seniors alongside other community needs. “We are asking the town respectfully ... that the needs of Brookline's older adults in their deliberations on Fisher Hill,” Cara said. Petitioners emphasized they were not asking for a dedicated, standalone senior center at Fisher Hill but for equitable consideration of programming and space in a community center concept.
Board members noted prior discussions and outreach. Select Board members and staff reported that the Fisher Hill Study Committee had discussed various uses, and committee materials referenced a community center in which senior programming played a role. Some board members urged more direct engagement between petitioners and the study committee; petitioners said reception at a recent study-committee meeting was “lukewarm” and sought a clear commitment to consider senior needs during planning.
The hearing closed with the Select Board indicating the petitioners would be able to present to town meeting and that additional hearings and the study-committee work will continue. The board did not take a final vote at this meeting.
Ending: The petitioners’ request will be part of the ongoing Fisher Hill planning process. The Select Board indicated the item will return to the board or to town meeting for further action as the study committee refines proposals.
