all right Mike all you great uh good morning and thank you for joining the Boston zoning commission public hearing the open public meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded Please be aware that an audio and visual recording of this meeting is being made
we'll now take a roll call of the members of the commission present at the beginning of the meeting please identify yourself as being present Mr Mah present Miss Miller pres Mr Le present Mr Ro Royo pres Mr
ostrich present Mr Woods present Mr mcneel present and I the chair is present uh this is our 9:00 am public hearing um this is a public hearing before the Boston zoning commission to consider text Amendment application
number 530 with respect to residential uses in the bull Finch triangle District the hearing was duly advertised on February 20th 2025 in the Boston Herald in a Boston zoning commission hearing on proposed petitions the proponent will first present their case and are subject to questioning by members of the
commission only we are taking support and opposition at the same time if you plan to testify please take time now to verify that computer microphone is active you can click the hand icon in your Zoom control panel this will signal to staff that you will like to speak when you when your hand is raised it will be blue if you're calling into the
meeting and would like to testify please dial star9 to raise your hand when we call for Testimony staff will announce your name and you allow you to unmute your microphone uh your webcam will not be active in an effort to accommodate all who would like to speak about this proposal each person will be given up to
two minutes to comment commission staff will indicate when 30 seconds remain at that time please conclude your remarks so that the hearing may continue and others may be heard finally the proponents will be allowed a brief period of rebuttal if they so desire uh today's onon are is counselor Durkin
would counselor durkin's office please begin their presentation um good good morning everyone I think we're g to um get started with the planning department staff um uh presentation about this quickly before um Sharon Durkins team um so my name is Jack Halverson and I'm a
planner on the zoning reform team with the planning department I'm excited to be here today to provide our planning department recommendation on the bullfinch triangle text Amendment put forth by Boston City counciler Sharon Durkin um the draft text Amendment
proposes to change residential uses from conditional to allowed in the Bolin triangle District I'll let councelor Durkin provide more details on the proposal um but we wanted to voice our support for this petition based on a couple of key points um our analysis of
the zoning petition is also described in our staff report on the proposed text Amendment um the map on the right shows the boundary of the bulling triangle District where the proposed text Amendment would apply after reviewing the text Amendment
for clarity and drafting um The Proposal would not create any structural issues in the code the amendment moves existing text describing residential uses directly from the conditional uses section to the allowed uses section the planning Department's zoning
reform efforts uh broadly include um reducing regulatory barriers for housing production and better aligning zoning with the built context which we think this proposal achieves there are no proposed changes to the dimensional regulations in the
bullfinch triangles article 46 and article 80 review would continue to apply for small and large projects the proposed change is perhaps most important for the conversion of underutilized or outdated buildings to residential uses and for property owners
who would like to make Renovations or updates to their existing buildings and may otherwise get flagged for non-conformity um with respect to residential use there is some appetite today in the area to convert underutilized spaces to residential uses particularly through the ongoing office
to residential conversion program and so the planning department recommends approval of the petition put forth by councelor Durkin based on sound text Drafting and the rationale provided for the change thank you all so much and now I'll pass it off to councelor
durken thank you so much Jack um and I I'll just wait a second for my slides to come up um okay next slide um so today um it's a real honor to get to be before the zoning commission as a petitioner usually I'm weighing in on things before the zoning
commission and it's an honor to be with you Cher Nichols who I know is one of my constituents I'm so honored to have you as chair um I just this uh zoning code text Amendment would make residential use and allowed use in the buin Triangle
right now it's a conditional use this was approved by the city council in a 10 to vote um and I believe that this would remove outdated zoning barriers to encourage Housing Development next slide in October I walked the area with local leaders business owners and the
landmarks commission to understand shared priorities shared goals between the city and Community include a more diverse mixed use neighborhood that benefits both businesses and residents including more housing which supports local businesses and economic development a strong residential
presence helps create liveliness vibrancy and promote safety in this walkable Neighborhood Housing reduces Reliance on on office and commuter driven activity making the area more vibrant Beyond 9 to-5 next slide um so I think you all know sort of
the history of uh the bullfinch triangle but it was once a Tidal Basin um the M Pond and the bullfinch triangle was filled in using soil from the cut down Beacon Hill um bullfinch uh grew with transportation in the 19th century it
was Stables blacksmiths local businesses on the west side of the buin triangle and warehouses train and Industrial uses on the east side and that's the reason for the existing zoning in the 20th century the elevated Highway cut through the area and leveled residential
buildings stalling growth and a lot of parking lots replaced Community spaces uh The Big Dig removed the highway revitalizing the area with the Rose Kennedy Greenway and made it a more ideal place to live today the area is poised for preservation and smart growth
and that is the context in which we present this amendment next slide so right now residential um uses are conditional requiring extra approvals and slowing development I'm not expecting this to have uh you know a
waterfall effect but any barrier that we are introducing to building housing in an area that's so primed for it near Transportation um you know shouldn't happen so I that's sort of uh the alignment of the community the alignment
of the city um and of my office just felt like a a we were in a really interesting time to put this forward um amending the zoning to make it an allowed use Cuts red tape um and uh this supports the city's housing goals I know
other zoning changes may be on the horizon but this Common Sense change is a step in the right direction um and this is a article from BBJ from October 2023 it doesn't mention uh housing as a conditional use but just uh note that
almost every mention in the media of the buin triangle is is regarding how how it's underutilized and could be space for growth so next slide um so this is our Amendment it just simply um strikes um housing as a
conditional use and allows for all types of housing as an allowed use um and I'll let's go to the next slide and I'll give a little more context on the community's conversation so I I did want to share that there are at least 11 open surface
parking lots um in the bued Triangle this is the list and I do want to thank uh West End Museum Sebastian bellanti for uh for his work just helping us uh put this together but just for your context uh there there are a lot of under utilized
spaces um that that are right for right for something but um I know there are some plans for a couple of these but just for for your context uh while the zoning commission has uh probably a limited knowledge of everything the buin triangle just wanted to make sure to
include this context next slide so um we had a hearing um the city council supported this 10 to the hearing was on January 23rd um it's clear that neighborhood residents want housing and mixed use development the West End
Museum and the West civic association spoke broadly in support of changes at the hearing uh local businesses uh spoke Spen support the downtown North Association um shared that residential uses would add um to the residential base which would support local
businesses um I've spoken to developers in the area who are ready to convert housing but are deterred by red tape um this is also a preservation measure um because uh my Amendment doesn't change the confines of the zoning code in terms
of height so really this is just making it a little bit easier to convert houses and to build within the existing zoning regulations and uh as you heard from Jack the planning department supports this next slide um so I did want to just raise um
that we did hear after the hearing um from some members of the community who were concerned about um the the mentions of lodging or boarding house and temporary dwelling structure I do want to defend these diverse uses allowing
for a variety of residential uses ensures flexibility and meeting diverse housing needs and typologies which can um can use dated zoning definitions to meet modern needs of Workforce housing senior housing social housing and other
models to meet the moment that we uh need for housing um and then all new structures remain subject to regulatory review ISD fire and other oversight agencies so I am not concerned about uh the these uses but I did want to just
share that there were some Community um that reached out about about that and um just ensuring that you know that we create necessary opportunities for them to weigh in on any changes in the bull fence triangle but I I definitely defend
the um allowed uses uh portion of this and every single one of them because it is very important that uh that we use sort of these out these outdated zoning language for future um you know modern
uh opportunities um you know shared kitchens shared bathrooms um and I have spoken with the MGH president about the opportunities that might exist for Workforce housing in the buin triangle as well so next slide um so in conclusion um this
encourages new housing where people want to live near Transportation uh preserves neighborhood character while allowing for smart growth strengthens the west end's Revival by bringing new residence energy and small business traffic and this demonstrates our commitment uh as a
city to tackling Boston's housing challenges um and again I'm Sharon Durkin I'm District 8 city counselor and it's a real honor to present in front of you so let me know if you have any questions thank you thank you councelor we'll now move to um uh questions from
Commissioners only um so at this time we'll take comments or questions from Commissioners uh to the proponents followed by public testimony Drew yeah just one small one there's I think a typo that was in the origin that's in the current zoning it's
uh I think it's the fifth line down it says conversation instead of conversion um that we actually sorry I screenshotted the prior version we did fix that um actually in uh we fixed that before it passed the city council oh
because uh didn't the what we got as the revised version uh didn't have that change interesting um so I know that we talked about it in the hearing and that it was fixed I will check what what's on
file with the clerk but it was a it was a typo in the original zoning code um that was copied over um so I I believe that that was fixed and it actually was caught by the West civic association so thanks to them for catching it
I think this is I um uh applaud this uh this effort um uh zoning is not is here to um prevent um uh uh uh to make sure we're we're allowing uh the right kind
of development here and I think that this is exactly what this will be doing there's no uh no need to restrict this um um further moving it to uh uh allow you I think is the right way to go and I applaud uh the counselor for bringing
this uh to us thank you drew any other comments or questions from Commissioners at this time okay hearing none um we will open up public testimony um if you are interested in testifying on this matter please raise your hand or if you are on
the phone please dial Star n uh folks will be uh allowed to unmute and speak uh in the order that they sign up to testify and uh you have up to two minutes for your testimony terrific it looks like we have one hand two hands I guess we'll start
with uh Dan jaff hi my name is Dan Jeffy I live in Charlestown and uh I was involved a little bit in the North Washington development that was also taking place here um my concern here is that this
takes away one of the walls of overdevelopment as you well know we have some sizable uh very expensive housing in the West End area and dropping into the bulling and my concern here is not
having any controls to prevent that from happening I want more housing it's not a question of not wanting more and I want it to be sure that it's mixed not uh for the elites and that's the question at hand here while this uh the idea is
sound unfortunately it needs to stay as it is not altered into U the change here from um um from allow from a conditional use to allowed use I I I sympathize with
Sharon I I want more housing but I also don't want us to lose the character of the space with overdevelopment and that's uh specifically for expensive housing kiss killing off the midle mid class and lower class that lived here
thank you thank you our second comment now we'll go to Carol thank you my my name is Carol Matika I'm the president of the West End civic association and I want to thank councelor Durkin for address for
bringing this amendment to address the need for housing in the the West End um we are aware of certain concerns and housing types and Zoning requirements etc etc and I just want to state that
the West End civic association and our residents will continue to closely monitor all development in the bullfinch Triangle of the West End and we look forward to providing a much needed and valuable public input to ensure that we
have a healthy and vibrant neighborhood so I think that this um amendment is um there's always things to be worked out in the development process I think that I'm reassured somewhat by the statement that the uh public comment uh will
follow uh article 80 for both small as well as large H uh developments um that's encouraging um and uh we intend to continue to have a voice in all development in the West End so uh I thank you for the opportunity to make
housing um more accessible and we'll do our part to make sure that happens too thank you thank you those are the only two hands that we've seen raised at this time any other public comment seeing none we will close uh
public testimony move into our business session uh any any rebuttal from the proponents uh to the public testimony um yes I just wanted to make sure um that um Dan who testified thank you for
his testimony and thank you to Carol for their testimony um I wanted to just uh remind um everyone that the amendment um doesn't change the Contour of the height restrictions in the bullfin Triangle it it simply changes housing from
conditional to allowed um so really this this is both a smart growth proposal but it's also preserv proposal um so I appreciate Dan's thoughts I care about the buffet triangle and I care about its character and its historic quality and
um and I think that this uh proposal does both things so thank you thank you any comments questions or discussion from Commissioners I I had a question um so um in terms of new Housing Development
wouldn't it fall under the requirements of providing 20% affordable housing so that in a sense to Dan's comment about you know shutting out the working and middle class I mean I think wouldn't the wouldn't those wouldn't a new development need to follow the
provisions we approved last year uh for affordable housing uh it's about the threshold um because it's only as over a certain amount of units so um so it is about the threshold but um AB absolutely
I think uh I know how expensive it is to convert buildings and partly what makes it makes it expensive is the regulatory hurdles we put in front of developers so this is also a proposal that uh really seeks to to make uh development possible
for smaller developers who can't hold you know who who don't have the regulatory bandwidth to be uh to be moving from conditional to allow okay thank you nice presentation any other comments questions discussion
or motions from Commissioners someone looks ready to make a motion my agenda open hold on right either I don't have motion as well I just don't have language in front of
me I can I can try Michael true I uh I move that we approve uh text Amendment application number 530 um uh article 46 the uh triangle District um I think that's all we need
isn't it second second yeah have a motion and a second any any final discussion hearing none we'll move to a roll call vote Mr mAh yes Miss Miller think you're muted I'm back to Aisha Mr Le yes Mr
aroyo yes Mr ostrich yes Mr Woods yes Mr mcneel exuse myself recusal and um Miss Miller
sorry yes I'm like saying yes and I'm on mute sorry about that no worries at all and the chair is a yes um that's seven yes and one exstension I will look to Kathleen or commission staff if that's enough yes see congratulations councelor
derkin great thank you counselor and thank you every good that is our only item on the formal agenda for today we we did have a uh annual report that um with uh with Jeff's absence and Kathleen's voice I
think we will Port over to a future meeting um our next meeting I believe is um scheduled for early April April 9th April 9th hold April 9th when Kathleen
will be back in full force and course um we are going to have to um in have that meeting back at City Hall in the boardroom um the state has not passed a further extension of the covid emergency
order for virtual meetings at this time so we are planning to host that as a hybrid meeting um we as the commission and staff and we will ask the proponents uh to come in person but we have a technology setup that we've worked through the bpda board to allow the
public and others to testify virtually or in person um so for some of you that were on the zoning commission pre pandemic um time to run it back like it's 2020 2019 again for others this
will be our first um inperson zoning commission um Jeff and I will be kind of calling all of you just to go over calendar for the coming year um indiv ually uh we are under current state law allowed if we have a quorum of in-person
Commissioners um to allow then further Commissioners pass that quorum to participate virtually and know that that might be necessary for Commissioners that have an emergency or something urgent come up or something where they know they can attend but cannot be in
person um but we're going to need to balance that with the need to have a quorum in person overall um so so expect to hear from me when talking is less painful uh about this issue in the next couple of days Kathleen one quick uh question uh
since I joined the commission after uh in the post pandemic period uh where do we meet the um the BPA boardroom on the ninth floor of City Hall okay great feel better Kathleen thank you appreciate it
good morning Kathleen more information follow that meeting Kathleen feel better thank you everyone for being here today we will adjourn thank you uh commissioner Royo did you have a question I I just had a suggestion you had
um we we were we were prescheduling um two days a month in the past um one of them we didn't always use but I wanted to suggest that we uh maybe continue to adopt that model that way it uh it helps us build a calendar my fills up pretty fast so I even even if we don't use it
it was very helpful that that's good to know and that's actually part of what Jeff and I were going to uh ask you all talking individually is to try and block off both days uh we will designate one of them an alternate so that you kind of
know this is the one I can count on this is if it's a really full agenda um but I can tell you now that it looks like May might be a month where we need to be able to use both dates all right thank you very much everybody have a good
uh great to see everybody bye bye