Towers rise around downtown Boston’s Winthrop Square. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Real estate developments under 200,000 square feet will no longer be required to go before the Boston Civic Design Commission for review under a legal change approved Thursday by the Boston Planning & Development Agency board.
The changes are part of Article 80 reform, which seeks to update and streamline Boston’s main development review process for the first time since it was enacted in 1996.
During a comment period, developers “time and time again” said the design review process was expensive, and delayed groundbreakings with the need to revise plans, a Planning Department official said last year.
The seven-member panel of architects currently reviews all projects 100,000 square feet or larger.
Only projects 200,000 square feet and larger will be subject to BCDC review “to allow the commission to focus their time and expertise where it is most valuable,” the Boston Planning Department announced.
The board also voted to replace print noticing and physical copy distribution requirements with website updates and real-time email notifications, “reflecting the current best practice,” the Planning Department said.
The BPDA board also backed a change to centralize primary responsibility for reviewing and approving projects’ transportation access plan agreements, or TAPAs, in the Planning Department. They’re currently assigned to the Boston Transportation Department.
The BCDC zoning amendment still requires final approval by the Boston Zoning Commission in August.
At its July meeting, the BPDA board of directors also approved four projects including 309 housing units in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and South Boston.
The largest project is at 3430-3440 Washington St. in Jamaica Plain, where Boston Real Estate Capital submitted plans to replace a vehicle impound lot and Hatoff’s gas station with one 5- and one 6-story apartment building containing a total of 230 units.
In Dorchester, a 29-unit residential project was approved at 29-33 Romsey St., replacing a vacant residential building and the former AMVETS Post #28.
Two projects were approved in South Boston: conversion and expansion of an office building at 19-21 West 3rd St. into a 35-unit residential building, and a 15-unit residential building at 75-77 Dorchester St.
