‘HONE’-ing in on Compliance

February 15, 2024
• An overview of the options developed by the Housing Needham (HONE) Advisory Group that meets or exceeds the housing expectations for MBTA communities.

The Town has spoken a lot about housing over the past few years, so you’d be forgiven if it all seems to run together at points. From the affordable housing debate to ecological zoning changes to the “teardown” phenomena, the various debates pull at loose strings, hoping to lead the town into a shared vision for the future, each with fiscal and sociological impacts. Perhaps the most urgent matter for the town is addressing the MBTA Communities Act, which has the state imposing zoning requirements at the potential cost of future state funding. The town has been wrestling with options for compliance through the intense work of the Housing Needham Advisory Group, who are working toward generating viable solutions for public feedback by next month. We caught up with the co-chairs to discuss their progress so far, and to find out what they hope everyone will know before the completed plans are submitted to the Commonwealth for approval this May. As Municipal Producer Yuxiao Yuan reports, even then, there will be more work to be done.

This story ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site.