Reforming the Boston Zoning Code

Abstract

The Boston Zoning Code governs nearly everything that gets built within city limits. It has significant, and not necessarily positive, impacts on social fabric, the economy, equity, the environment, resiliency, and public health. I have been tasked with taking a hard look at the Boston Zoning Code and charting a path to reform it to ensure it produces the city Bostonians say they want.

When first adopted in 1964, the Boston Zoning Code was fairly typical of codes nationally. It divided land into districts and distinctly regulated the uses, structures, and lots in each district. While the Zoning Code continues to perform these basic functions, it now deviates greatly from the typical American zoning code. Over the last six decades, officials have added thousands of pages and dozens of new “articles” (chapters), increasing the number, type, and scope of the original regulations. These changes have been made without a comprehensive vision for what they are intended to achieve. Paradoxically, the much-amended Zoning Code has not kept up with the changing times. Rather, it has become detached from modern realities – and ignored in practice.

Part I of this report assesses the Boston Zoning Code, finding it bloated, outdated, inconsistent, and inequitable. Part II posits that a significant contributor to the Zoning Code’s current state is the dominance of neighborhood-specific, rather than citywide, planning. Part III lays out a framework for reforming the code, including reversing neighborhood-specific zoning, establishing drafting benchmarks, adopting form- based zoning, and deliberately advancing the City’s planning goals. And Part IV offers two pathways to achieve reform: a complete overhaul – preferred for reasons articulated below – and an incremental approach.

Keywords: zoning, boston, land use, equity, form-based, planning