In a public meeting Thursday, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) voted to approve changes to the Article 80 review process, adding climate change preparedness and resiliency guidelines in reaction to two storms in the last two years which city representatives said had the potential to be "100-year storm events."
Under Article 80, the impact of both large and small projects, planned development areas and institutional master plans on transportation, public realm, the environment and historic resources can be reviewed, according to the BRA.
After the havoc Hurricane Sandy wreaked on the East Coast and the potential destruction Massachusetts faced, the new Article 80 preparedness checklist aims to combat possible climate change conditions.
"Going forward, the principle is how we make investments on our buildings," said Boston Chief of Environmental and Energy Services Brian Swett. "As stuff starts to turn over, every chance we have of using capital investments to address resiliency, we’re taking it."
Using 10 categories covering topics from the building location and classification to flood proofing, the checklist will help builders anticipate future climate challenges.
Slight changes were made to the wording of the draft document over the last two weeks to reflect that developers will not be seeking BRA approval of the climate preparedness of their building, but confirmation that they completed the checklist. Developers will not be held to specific standards, as there is no "one size fits all," Swett said.
The preparedness checklist will affect all future development projects undergoing Article 80 review. Swett added that current projects in various development stages may be asked to retroactively complete the checklist.
At the Oct. 29 meeting announcing the new guidelines, representatives said that the BRA would recommend that established buildings use the standards when future investments are made on buildings.
The announcement of the new preparedness checklist came a year to the day that Hurricane Sandy touched down and ravaged the East Coast.
The storm caused more than $20 million dollars in property damage in Massachusetts, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
However, the state was spared the damage inflicted on Connecticut, New York and New Jersey where the storm touched down. Up and down the East Coast, Sandy caused an estimated $25 billion in insured losses, reported Reuters.
More than six percent of Boston, including parts of all coastal neighborhoods, would have been deluged with water if Sandy had hit during high tide.
"Had Sandy hit Boston during high tide, our city would have experienced a 100-year flood event," said Boston Mayor Tom Menino at the Climate Ready Boston announcement last month. Boston sea level maps show that a 100-year flood event could result in a five-foot surge.
