Click image for larger version. Image courtesy of Boston Planning Department

Roslindale Square is being primed to add mid-rise development under a rezoning plan intended to spur multifamily housing construction.

Boston Planning & Development Agency directors approved the rezoning language at their monthly meeting Thursday.

“This is the next step to allow for more housing which is desperately needed, and to allow for more businesses to thrive and support,” board member Matt O’Malley said.

Only 11 percent of Roslindale’s land parcels currently allow multifamily housing, Zoning Reform Planner Abdul-Razak Zachariah said during a presentation to the BPDA board. Less than 4 percent are occupied by multifamily structures.

The Roslindale Square zoning was amended twice in recent months in response to comments from the public and elected officials.

The MBTA commuter rail parking lot and nearby parcels on Corinth Street would have the highest base building heights of 145 feet.

The second-highest density would be allowed along Washington Street near the intersection of Cummings Highway. Parcels along would be rezoned under the S4 zoning district, allowing 7-story building heights.

An upcoming Boston Zoning Commission vote is the final approval needed for the Roslindale Square plan.

Launched in late 2023, Boston’s Squares + Streets planning initiative focuses on business districts and main thoroughfares near public transit stops. The multi-year program raises base building heights and floor area ratios to encourage redevelopment, particularly multifamily structures.

Each neighborhood will be rezoned for up to six districts, allowing building heights ranging from 4 stories to 145 feet.

Mattapan was rezoned under the planning initiative last year, the first of up to 18 neighborhoods identified for rezoning. Hyde Park’s Cleary Square and Dorchester’s Fields Corner also are undergoing a planning studies.