Zoning
| January 11, 2005
| I met briefly with Rick Shaklik. The zoning amendment language is being circulated around City Hall (Bo Holland mentioned that he was looking at it). Rick hoped that we would see it by the end of the month. |
| February 15, 2005
| Spoke yesterday with Rick Shaklik. He is meeting with Mark Maloney later this week to go over draft. If the Director agrees, he will then share the draft with a select group including us for comments. Then he will proceed to the required public meeting. He says that much of the internal City response has been positive. |
| August 23, 2005
| Jim Hunt hosted a meeting that included BGwT, Citywide GET, and NABB, as well as BRA and BWSC, to discuss potential ways to accomplish what NABB had hoped to achieve with a zoning overlay district. While there was much positive in the discussions, final resolution was not reached. |
| October 11, 2005
| The BRA will hold a public meeting on the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District on Oct. 27 at 5:30 at the Rabb Lecture Hall at the Boston Public Library. The zoning will make construction below elevation 7’ BCB or any construction that adds 50 square feet to the ground coverage of a building conditional, requiring notification of abutters and a hearing in front of the Board of Appeals. It will also require new paving to be pervious or to include a recharge system. |
| November 17, 2005
| I spoke at the BRA’s public meeting on the proposed Groundwater Conservation Overlay District zoning on Oct. 27. I was supportive of the zoning plan and of a change that had been proposed in a meeting the previous day with Jim Hunt, John Sullivan, and Don Wiest and Rick Shaklik of the BRA. This change would switch the requirement for recharge from the ability to infiltrate the water from a 2.55" 24 hour storm to the ability to capture the water from 1" of rain. This change clarifies the size requirement for the recharge system, eliminating the need to gauge the permeability of the soil. In most cases, it is likely to lead to no less infiltration. |
| January 11, 2006
| The BRA has received and analyzed the comments on the GCOD proposal. They plan to have a meeting shortly with people outside the Authority who are concerned about the groundwater issue, including us, to go over potential refinements, which include an expansion of the original map. They plan to take a zoning proposal to their Board for approval on Jan. 26. |
| February 15, 2006
| The Groundwater Conservation Overlay District went before the Zoning Commission this morning. Everyone who testified was very positive about establishing the district and wanted to be included in it. In spite of some efforts that were made over the last week, including a letter committing to a process and timetable from Jim Hunt and Mark Maloney to Speaker DiMasi, Senate President Traviglini, and Councilor Scappichio, there were a group of people who asked that the zoning be pulled back until the study areas could be included. The Commission voted to adopt the zoning as presented (they cannot amend a petition) and to separately send a letter to the BRA asking that the process for considering the study areas be expedited and that they get monthly reports on its progress. |
| March 22, 2006
| The BRA is working with the Zoning Board of Appeals to discuss the new zoning requirements. The first projects to be affected by the zoning are working toward the board, including one non-Article 80 substantial renovation (41 Fairfield St), one Article 80 Small Project Review (79 Chandler St), and one Article 80 Large Project Review (285 Columbus Ave). It will be important that these and other early projects establish strong precedents for compliance. The early words from the proponents are encouraging. |
| April 27, 2006
| I will be meeting with Jim Hunt, Nancy Grilk, ISD, and ZBA next week to discuss how we can best expedite those projects that require no other zoning relief besides the conditional use permit under GCOD so that they don’t have to face the regular wait for a ZBA hearing, now 4-6 months. Jim Hunt and I presented information about GCOD and the decision process on its potential extension to the study areas at a meeting in East Boston on April 10; we will be doing the same in the North End on May 4. |
| June 5, 2006
| Jim Hunt convened a meeting on June 4 including ISD, BWSC, the ZBA, the BRA, and the Trust to discuss implementation of the GCOD. The group committed to expedited consideration for those projects that had filed for building permits or zoning relief before the January 26 submittal date of the GCOD with the Zoning Commission and were now facing a different zoning situation. I attended the May 23 session of the ZBA at which four of those cases were rescheduled for July 11, the shortest deferral that would allow proper advertising of the hearing. These will be the first GCOD cases actually heard by the ZBA. |
| July 17, 2006
| The first cases to be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals under the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District were presented on July 11. There were five applications to which the zoning applied, one each in Fenway, Bay Village, and Back Bay, and two in the South End. All applicants agreed to meet the requirements; their zoning signoff will be held back pending review by BWSC of the technical adequacy of their plans. There were no efforts to install less recharge than is required under the code. We should be seeing significant recharge from this source in relatively short order. |
| September 20, 2006
| The Zoning Board of Appeals has worked out a procedure in which they make sure that BWSC has confirmed that recharge requirements are properly met before issuance of any final zoning approvals for projects that trigger GCOD. There has been no effort yet to provide less than the GCOD mandated recharge (this would require a variance rather than a conditional use permit). The ZBA continues to look to the Trust for input on GCOD cases. The City continues to study the value of extending the GCOD into those areas in the North End, Fort Point Channel area, East Boston, and Charlestown that were designated for further study when the GCOD was adopted. A decision on extension is planned for later this year. |
| October 26, 2006
| Applicants continue to consistently meet the GCOD requirements as they come before the Board of Appeals. The Board looks to us for input on these cases. The City remains on track to decide on whether to recommend extending the GCOD to East Boston, the North End, and/or the Fort Point Channel area before the end of the year. |
| January 18, 2007
| There will be a public meeting in the North End on Jan. 25 to discuss the possibility of extending the GCOD into portions of that neighborhood. There will probably be meetings soon after in other study areas that were designated when the GCOD was adopted. The GCOD continues to be handled well by the Zoning Board of Appeals. No variances from the requirements have been sought. The Board looks to us and to BWSC for input on all cases. |
| February 15, 2007
| There were public meetings in the North End and Fort Point Channel neighborhoods to discuss extending the GCOD. Because groundwater levels in these areas are generally high, there will be no recharge requirement and the zoning will only apply to those projects digging down below Elevation 7 Boston City Base or covering 50 square feet or more. The zoning is scheduled to go to the BRA Board and then the Zoning Commission in March. |
| March 22, 2007
| The BRA Board has endorsed the extension of the Groundwater Conservation Overlay District in modified form to portions of the North End and the Fort Point Channel neighborhood. The petition will be heard by the Boston Zoning Commission on March 28. |
| April 23, 2007
| The petition for extension of the GCOD was heard by the Zoning Commission on March 28. They are scheduled to vote on adoption at their business meeting tomorrow. |
| May 14, 2007
| The Zoning Commission voted to extend the modified Groundwater Conservation Overlay District to the Bulfinch Triangle, North End Waterfront, and Fort Point Channel neighborhoods. It is now in effect in those areas. |
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