Linda Haar, Director, Planning and Zoning
Boston Redevelopment Authority
Boston City Hall
Boston, MA 02201
January 26, 2000
Dear Ms. Haar:
The Alliance of Boston Neighborhoods is concerned to learn that a development project in Mission Hill (Global Ventures LTD, 166 Terrace St., nine-story 210 unit artists' / mixed use building and accessory parking garage) was granted Zoning Board of Appeal approval for variances (11/23/99) without receiving the required Article 80 large project approvals at the BRA. A Scoping Determination had been issued in November 1998 that required the developer to file a Draft Project Impact Report. A DPIR has not yet been filed; therefore the large project review mandated by Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code is incomplete. For a large project, without the Adequacy Determination there is no documentation that justifies a BRA recommendation to the ZBA.
The ZBA approvals in this case are further questionable because the financial disclosure statement -- although requested by the Authority in its Scoping Determination -- has not yet been filed. Developers with projects undergoing large project review are required to file a statement of "disclosure of beneficial interests" [Boston Zoning Code section 80B-8] so that public officials making land use decisions can identify and avoid conflicts of interest.
Apparently, the developer and his attorney felt they could expedite the approval process by ignoring BRA staff and Civic Design Commission objections to the design and putting the ZBA hearing ahead of BRA action. The community is concerned that this process was reversed, albeit after several ZBA hearing deferrals. Although the developer will still be required to complete the Article 80 process, residents fear that the developer may try to use the ZBA approval to "leverage" the remaining support needed, making this a pro forma exercise. Questions of jurisdiction over final building permit approvals should be clarified at the next community meeting planned for this project.
The Alliance is concerned that, in this case as in many others across the city, the ZBA is being mis -used as a zoning commission, providing "spot zoning" grants for developers. Per the Zoning Code, ZBA approval requires that requested variances are necessary for the reasonable use of the land or structure; that the variances granted are the minimum required, and that the appellant has demonstrated the practical difficulty and substantial hardship of building without zoning relief. For this project, we know of no documented claims on any of these grounds. The varianced items (height, FAR, setback, parking ratio) have not been, and are likely not to be, acceptable by the BRA, which recommends action to the ZBA based on project impacts and public comment.
We ask that, in order to avoid future mis-use of the ZBA to provide the appearance of legitimacy to projects which have circumvented proper process, the ZBA be directed to schedule hearings only for projects which have received all prerequisite approvals.
We further ask that the ZBA be directed to stop the granting of variances on arbitrary and capricious grounds, which is spot zoning and leaves the City open to legal challenge. Every ZBA approval should be documented in writing by ZBA staff, not by the proponent, showing how Zoning Code hardship criteria were met by the proposal.
We understand and support the City's desire to promote housing construction, but this goal must be met within the regulatory framework established to protect the quality of the urban fabric. In the end, we will not benefit if we produce inappropriate housing developments with lasting environmental impacts. We must not send a signal to developers that regulatory manipulations will be tolerated simply to produce housing.
The implementation of these procedures for this project shows how development interests can take advantage of weaknesses in the system and violate the City's commitment to meaningful community participation and consistent city-wide review procedures. These abuses of the City's public processes undermine public confidence in the BRA's planning role and regulatory integrity, as well as in the ZBA's appeal process. The citizens of Boston need a fair and consistent public process in managing growth and development.
Sincerely,
Shirley Kressel,
President, ABN
Cc: Paul McCann, BRA Acting Director
Arthur Jemison, BRA Project Manager
Mayor's Office (Jeffrey Sanchez )
City Councilors
Boston Civic Design Commission (David Carlson, for
distribution)
Zoning Board of Appeal (Chairman Richard Dennis)
Boston Zoning Commission (Chairman Robert Marr)
BRA Board (Chairman Clarence Jones )
Press