City's Zoning Commission Approves Changes Meant To Streamline Development

The Boston Zoning Commission on Wednesday voted in favor of several zoning changes in an effort to streamline development in the city.

City officials moved forward with plans to reform its large-building review process, known as Article 80, as well as other articles that regulate crucial parts of the city's development process. The zoning commission unanimously approved the measure, which the city hopes will streamline the design and approvals process to produce more affordable housing.

The modifications include changes to the Boston Civic Design Commission, updates to sustainability and conversion projects, and modernization of communication, coordination and processes. The city said it hopes the changes will act as a foundation for more reform in the future.

"The zoning strategy overall here is one of incremental improvement," Kevin Crossley, a city official overseeing the Article 80 review modernization project, said during the Wednesday hearing. "The package before you today is intended to make the zoning code, especially in the development review procedures, easier to use for all the different stakeholders, proponents, development teams and community members."

The Article 80 process is a large-project review of buildings more than 50K SF and small projects more than 20K SF. The process has faced scrutiny from officials and developers alike, who argue it is too slow and unpredictable to build throughout the city.

In the fall of 2024, city officials came out with a draft action plan, which later in the year codified the recommendations. The plan was amended this spring, with the first zoning amendments approved by the Boston Planning Department in July.

Some of the biggest changes are to the BCDC with the threshold for projects under design review increasing from 100K SF to 200K SF.

The new change will help to fast-track approval for affordable housing projects that fall between 100K SF and 200K SF by cutting out another approval. Crossley said the department found through an analysis that 75% of affordable housing projects fall under 200K SF.

"We think this change is really important because it helps speed up the approval of affordable housing," Crossley said.

The commission's procedures will also migrate from Article 28 to a new Article 81 to be more in line with the development review process. The BCDC recommendations will now be sent to the city's Planning Department rather than to the mayor's office.

Not everyone supported the change. Dolores Boogdanian, president of the Audubon Neighborhood Association, said she was concerned that the lowered BCDC threshold would limit the public engagement crucial to the process.

"I think consolidation of power in the [Boston Redevelopment Authority] on the whole range of development in the city is not a good step," Boogdanian said. "Why would we eliminate this opportunity for the public to engage with the BCDC, or vice versa, in the exchange of ideas in the course of shaping our city?"

The second-biggest change to the zoning discussed was in regards to conversions, sustainability and reinvestment into existing buildings.

There will be updates to the code when it comes to projects of "substantial rehabilitation." These projects will no longer need to go through the Article 80 process but rather be subject to a new notification requirement.

Landlords looking to change the use of certain buildings will also be exempt from the city's linkage fee program as long as the change happens within a 15-year window of their initial approval and the project is within the same square footage. These developers would only need to pay the difference in rates if they expand on the lot.

Crossley said that this will help to avoid any potential "double dipping."

The change has been supported by Harvard University and Boston University, which had representatives in the meeting. Both institutions are working on bigger capital improvement projects that include things like green infrastructure upgrades and other renovations to older facilities.

"Many of our capital projects involve reinvesting in existing buildings through interior renovations that enhance academic space, accessibility and energy," said Gregg Snyder, vice president for campus planning and operations at Boston University. "The revised threshold offers a proportionate review process for these renovation projects while maintaining opportunities for design resiliency reviews where appropriate."

Other changes to the process include streamlining certain processes, coordination efforts and communication to make the overall review process faster. For example, the two technical submission documents — the notice of project change and letter of intent — are now added to the zoning text to make them easier to use.

Mayor Michelle Wu has hinted at a zoning overhaul for years, first announcing the vision in 2023 as part of a restructuring of the Boston Planning Department and its processes.

Since its inception in the 1960s, the city's zoning code has been a pain point for developers and other stakeholders, who have argued that its inconsistencies and inequities have led to longer approval times, costly building and less housing production.

There haven't been any major changes to Article 80 since its adoption in 1996. Today the city's zoning code is 4,000 pages, 40% longer than New York City's, according to a 2023 report by the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The mayor has also moved forward with other big changes to the city's development review process, including dismantling the old BPDA and replacing it with a city Planning Department and new planning guides for every neighborhood.

"The package of changes before you today helps introduce a new culture of development review," Crossley said. "This is a first step that hopefully builds momentum for future reforms along these lines down the road."

CORRECTION, AUG. 14, 12:30 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story misstated the commission that conducted the vote. The story has been updated.