These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City of Somerville website.
Proposed affordable housing
Affordable Housing Trust Fund, 5:15 p.m. Thursday. Trustees review a proposal from the groups Just A Start and the Somerville Community Land Trust to build affordable housing at 297 Medford St., Winter Hill. The empty lot, which could house 33 apartments by right, was last occupied two years ago and is listed for $5 million. The board also considers an ask from the Somerville Community Corp. to further fund its 100 Homes Program, which aims to ease local housing displacement. Watchable via videoconferencing.
Broker fees and an Armory plan
City Council, 7 p.m. Thursday. Councilors will consider a petition put forth by the Mayor’s Office to require landlords or tenants who hire brokers to pay the brokers’ fees; receive a draft plan for governance at the Armory arts building, which the city seized in 2021, and hear about “a potential shift in the art studio ecosystem”; and better enforce snow and ice removal after storms. There are also orders around the city’s rat problem and school maintenance issues (along with a call for educational swing space “to mitigate disruption to students, families and staff while a school building is unavailable or during construction”), as well as a proposal for citywide community cleanup days in each ward.
The effects on small business of a new federal hostility toward immigrants and how police handle their detentions are asked about in agenda items, and a consideration of installing emergency call boxes in key city locations such as Davis Square. There are also a few development-focused motions, including for a Teele Square commercial area plan; an update on the status of a Gilman Square neighborhood plan; and to accept a $2.5 million grant to build housing on the site of a former Star Market at 299 Broadway, Winter Hill.
The city solicitor also presents a response to a complaint lodged at a previous meeting, rejecting a resident’s claim that council members deliberated unlawfully in signing a petition. At Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave., Central Hill, and watchable via videoconferencing.
Home and clinic renovations
Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Wednesday. A resident retroactively requests a major amendment to a building permit for renovations to their home at 59 Linden St., Ward 2. The owner got a special permit six years ago that contractor Best Boston Construction used to begin work expanding the home – but the company made such “egregious mistakes” that plans must be changed to make up for them, the homeowner said. The company’s licensing was revoked for a year due to its onsite negligence, the homeowner said.
A veterinarian, Chris Ulrich, hopes to remodel slightly the future location of a solo clinic at 34 Allen St., Ward 2. The location, formerly the site of a martial arts gym, is an atypical structure for the area, and a special permit is needed to make adjustments. Watchable via videoconferencing.
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Could someone help me understand how broker fees go away knowing that if the landlord takes responsibility for the fee, that the assumption would just be that fee is then split into what us being charged for rent? Or does this encourage the broker market to go away, and landlords go directly to renters?
Brokers only are able to charge a months rent for opening a door because the fee is pushed onto the tenants. If landlords are responsible they aren’t going to use brokers or will negotiate lower fees, which tenants have no power to do.
Also even if the cost is simply added to rent the fee split over 12 months is much less of a burden than having to pay 4 months rent up front, a dynamic that keeps people in substandard housing, abusive relationships, etc. because they cannot afford to leave.