Please Sign Austin St. Petition

Hi Everyone,
Please click on this link...  http://tinyurl.com/rejectaustin

I would be very grateful if you would take a look at, and consider signing the Newtonville Trust's petition against the 6 current development proposals for the Austin St. lot.  Many, including some of our alderman, in Newtonville and in Newton generally, believe that the process of declaring this public property surplus and offering it to developers was done without transparency and without sufficient public input.  The petition calls for Mayor Warren to reject the current proposals and require the creation of a new RFP designed with public input.  
The petition is different from the Newtonville Area Council's survey (which I urge you to complete as well).  The AC's survey asks the residents of only Newtonville to give their views on the 6 current proposals, and doesn't include any questions that would allow a respondent to answer that they want to reject all the proposals or that they think the process to date has been flawed.  
The survey also includes a biased characterization of renters that could skew results toward a preference for condos, which indicates a lack of understanding of the way Chapter 40B works and impacts communities. Rental units "count" 9 times more than condos in getting to Chapter 40B compliance, so a community that wants to satisfy the state's 40B affordable housing requirement with the least possible adverse effects in terms of adding density, school overcrowding and taxes, would encourage the creation of Chapter 40B rental units, not condos.  
Please send a link to the petition to all your Newton friends, neighbors and networks.
Thank you so much,Kathleen Kouril GrieserNewtonville