Text Amendment Application No.
Boston Redevelopment Authority
Downtown Interim Planning Overlay
District: Financial District Housing Incentive
TO THE ZONING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOSTON:
The Boston Redevelopment Authority petitions to amend the text of the Boston Zoning Code, as established under Chapter 665 of the Acts of 1956 as amended, as follows:
1. By amending Article 27D (Downtown Interim Planning Overlay District) as follows:
a. In Section 27D-3, Definitions, insert the following definition in the appropriate numerical order:
7a. "Residential Development Area" shall mean a Proposed Project with not less than fifty (50) percent of its gross floor area occupied by a residential use. A Residential Development Area shall be established pursuant to Section 3-1A.a, Planned Development Areas, provided that a Residential Development Area may contain not less than one half (1/2) acre, and such Residential Development Area shall be subject to the provisions of Section 80C.
b. In Section 27D-8, Planned Development Areas, insert the following after subsection number five (5):
6. Residential Development Areas. Notwithstanding the above provisions, Residential Development Areas are permitted within the Financial District Special Study Area, as described in Appendix H, provided that the area is still subject to the Downtown IPOD and not subject to State Chapter 91 Regulations, for the purpose of encouraging residential development in the Financial District. Any Proposed Project within a Residential Development Area subject to the provisions of this section may be permitted to exceed the building height standards established for the applicable subdistrict in Table A, Section 27D-7, to a maximum building height of three hundred and fifty feet (350í) except as provided in Section 27D-8.6a pertaining to affordable housing, provided that buildings identified by the Boston Landmarks Commission as Category I, II or III buildings or sites containing such buildings at the effective date of this amendment shall not exceed one hundred and fifty-five feet (155í). Buildings erected within Residential Development Areas shall have slender proportions, with the gross floor area of any story above 155í no more than ten thousand (10,000) square feet.
(a) Affordable Housing. At least ten percent (10%) of the proposed dwelling units within a Residential Development Area shall be affordable in accordance with the Cityís policy on affordable housing. A Residential Development Area with at least twenty percent (20%) of the proposed dwelling units affordable may exceed the building height standards to a maximum of four hundred feet (400í) provided such Proposed Project is subject to or elects to comply with Large Project Review and has received a Certification of Compliance pursuant to Section 80B-6.
(b) Parking. Parking ratios for proposed projects within Residential Development Areas shall not exceed 0.75 spaces per dwelling unit, and 0.4 spaces per 1000 square feet of commercial space. Proponents shall provide car sharing, car pool/van pool and bicycle parking spaces as determined by the Boston Transportation Department and outlined in any applicable Transportation Access Plan Agreement.
(c) Rooftop Additions. Within a Residential Development Area no roofed structure designed or used for human occupancy, access, or storage shall be erected or enlarged on the roof of an existing building, unless after public notice and hearing and subject to Sections 6-2, 6-3, and 6-4 the Board of Appeal grants permission therefor. In reaching its decision, said Board shall consider whether such roof structure is architecturally consistent with the distinctive historical and architectural character of the building and area.
(d) Landmark Commission Review. Any Proposed Project within a Residential Development Area that includes a Category I, II, or III building is subject to review by the Boston Landmarks Commission. Within five (5) days of its receipt of the application, the Boston Redevelopment Authority shall transmit a copy of the application to the Boston Landmarks Commission for its review. The Boston Landmarks Commission may, within thirty (30) days after its receipt of the application, file with the Boston Redevelopment Authority a report with recommendations, together with maps, plans, and other materials to aid the Boston Redevelopment Authority in determining consistency with the design guidelines set forth below. The Boston Redevelopment Authority shall not transmit its findings to the Inspectional Services Department until the Boston Redevelopment Authority has received and considered the Boston Landmarks Commission report with recommendations; provided that if the Boston Redevelopment Authority has not received such report within thirty (30) days, it may transmit the Directorís certification to the Inspectional Services Department without such report.
(e) Development Guidelines. In addition to the applicable provisions and development guidelines in Section 27D-18.3 (Special Study Areas/Financial District) and Article 80, the following guidelines shall apply to Residential Development Areas:
(i) Building design and massing should seek to enhance and enliven the pedestrian environment with transparent, animated street frontage and the use of materials and setbacks which reinforce the qualities of texture and light exhibited by the surrounding buildings and spaces. Ground floor uses should serve the public and reinforce or complement the programs in the surrounding context of the district
(ii) Category I, II, and III buildings should be preserved and dynamically reused as significant contributors to the complex urban fabric that makes Boston a unique city, without fundamentally altering the inherent characteristics (e.g. scale, proportion and richness of detail) that have earned them this status.
(iii) Significant view corridors and open space, as determined by the Boston Redevelopment Authority, should be preserved.
(iv) No portion of buildings above 155 feet should be closer than eighty (80) feet.
Petitioner: Boston Redevelopment Authority
By: ____________________________________
Mark Maloney, Director
Address: City Hall/9th Floor
Boston, MA 02201-1007
Tel. No.: (617) 722-4300, ext. 4308
Date:
As authorized by the BRA Board at its meeting of _________,
2002.