Globe Editorial - Boston zoning code should be revamped

A recent Boston Globe editorial agrees with Mayor Wu's assessment that the city's zoning code is “long, dense, and internally inconsistent in ways that make planning confusing, unpredictable, and costly.’’The consultant from Cornell who analyzed Boston's arcane code (and who is being hired to spearhead the revamping) gives the following example:“A homeowner who wishes to put a gabled dormer on a roof or a small business owner who wants to add a takeout component to their restaurant may pay $10,000 and undergo a six-month review process to achieve what in other places might have a one-day approval turnaround time and cost less than $100. The costs of zoning compliance make Boston less affordable, because those costs get internalized or passed on, including to tenants and customers.’’The Globe editorial writers agree that the code is a problem but also wonder if there is the political will in the legislature to change it. The editorial notes that "every line in that 3,791-page code is there because someone had the political muscle to put it there or today benefits from it."

Wu to overhaul Boston's arcane zoning code

Boston's Mayor Wu has proposed a wholesale overhaul of the city's complex zoning bylaws. She announced it a Chamber of Commerce speech, signaling that she believes the changes will be helpful to business. The news was reported in the Boston Globe.Rather that the current neighborhood-based model, the new zoning will focus on "squares and streets," making mixed-use hubs along main corridors near transit - sometimes straddling two neighborhood.The BPDA will look at reforming zoning by-laws so that fewer projects would require a variance and would instead be granted by right.A Cornell professor who consulted on the review and will work on the revision called Boston's current zoning "bloated, outdated, inconsistent and inequitable" and says Boston's code - at 4,000+ pages long - is too much. Nashville's zoning bylaw is 349 pages long and Portland, Oregon's is 1,830 pages.Neighborhood groups and individual owners are concerned. Right now they can kill a project they don't like or at least stall it with complaints to the Development Review Board. With more uses provided by-right, they will lose that veto power and with it, the power to have a say in how their neighborhood develops. 

Proposal to build 4 million SF of new buildings in South Boston

Core Investments is proposing a major redevelopment of a 21-acre space in South Boston. If approved, the development would contain 11 buildings with a mix of ground-floor retail, industrial/lab/office space, and multiple residential units.This would likely be a ten-year long project, and the first proposed phase would create 2 million SF of space: a 325-unit apartment building at 495 Dorchester Ave and three commercial buildings.The Boston Globe reported on the proposal, but Core Investments declined to be interviewed.

Matta-plan

The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) recently released a detailed report with zoning and planning recommendations for Mattapan, as part of the sweeping "Imagine Boston 2030" planning revision. The BPDA vision for Mattapan encompasses a neighborhood where “a resident can obtain all their basic needs and material wants within a 10-minute walk” according to the 93-page long PLAN: Mattapan document. The idea of being able to reach “all basic and material needs and wants” in just ten minutes is upping the ante on the idea of the “15 minute city” a current favorite concept of urban planners around the world. In the UK, the idea of the 15 minute city (15mC or FMC to the cognoscenti) is also paired with strong feelings about the urgent need to reverse climate change by reducing automotive emissions. City planners in Oxford (England) were shocked to find that there was vehement opposition to their proposal to create 15 minute zones, which severely limited where residents could and couldn't drive their cars. People driving outside of their allotted 15 minute radius would be fined 70 pounds (about $85) when driving outside of the allowed zones. Thousands of Oxford residents signed petitions protesting the enforced no-drive zones and the planners were simply astonished that residents felt their rights were being impinged upon and took to calling those opposed to the plan conspiracy theorists and "flat earthers".PLAN: Mattapan believes that the way to reach the 10 minute walkability goal is to implement significant zoning changes, including allowing more business development in residential neighborhoods (outside of the Mattapan Square area where business is now concentrated and also by adding residential development in the Square).The proposed zoning changes will also allow ADUs by right, encourage microunits, and expand multi-family zoning throughout the neighborhood, especially around transit hubs, which supports the walkability goal.One such development has already happened. The Loop at Mattapan Station, built on a former parking lot, opened in April 2023. It contains 135 affordable apartments, all of which are reserved for households earning less than the area median income (which is $112,150 for a family of four). The Loop at Mattapan Station also contains 10,000 SF of storefront retail and a 2,000 SF fitness room for residents. There are plans, according to the Globe to build a second building with nine affordable condo units.PLAN: Mattapan touts itself as having been created with significant community input, unlike the top-down Oxford 15 minute zones. Mattapan residents have often felt left out and left behind when it comes to businesses and infrastructure. “Greater Mattapan didn’t get to where it is overnight,’’ said Fatima Ali-Salaam, chair of the Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council in a Globe article. “It’s a buildup of decades of neglect.’’ PLAN: Mattapan envisions an urban planner’s utopia – ample bike and pedestrian access, abundant public transit (by extending the Mattapan T line into Readville and electrifying the Fairmount Line, plus increasing bus traffic), more open space, larger front setbacks for new development, and trees planted along the sidewalks. It has a vision “to proactively shape development and investment” and prioritizes small local businesses over national chains.Many of the zoning changes are in effect in other Boston neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods, such as Neighborhood Shopping (NS) and Multi-Family Residential (MFR) zones, that allow increased residential and business density along key neighborhood corridors.The plan goes into very minute details of how to improve Mattapan, such as by hanging public banners that “honor and affirm residents’ cultural identity”.                     The BPDA is going through the same process in other neighborhoods in the city and we can expect more planning and zoning changes in the next few years. The last time the city's zoning laws were revised (city-wide) was 50 years ago and the "Imagine Boston 2030" initiative is an attempt to bring the city's planning and zoning regulations into the 21st century.