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BOSTON - Wednesday,
December 22, 2021 - Today, Mayor Michelle Wu signed an amendment to the
Boston Zoning Code to eliminate off-street parking minimums for affordable
housing developments. The amendment will remove parking minimums for
residential developments where at least 60 percent of the units are
income-restricted at 100 percent Area Median Income (AMI) or below. This
will streamline and remove burdens in developing affordable housing in
Boston.
“This action will
help take down barriers to the creation of new affordable housing across
the city,” said Mayor Wu. “We need every tool in our toolbox to
address our city’s housing crisis. Eliminating parking minimums removes an
outdated standard from our zoning code and will spur new housing to make it
easier for Bostonians to live and stay in our city.”
This follows
unanimous approval by the Boston Zoning Commission, as well as the Boston
Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) Board last month.
“Eliminating parking
minimums for affordable housing developments in Boston is a major step
towards expediting much needed transit-oriented housing and moving forward
on our climate and sustainability goals,” said BPDA Director Brian
Golden. “I thank the BPDA staff and our partners in City Council who
have helped us move this important zoning amendment forward.”
The zoning change
will not eliminate all parking at qualified residential projects, but
rather will allow each individual project to determine the amount of
off-street parking necessary based on the needs of the project's residents,
rather than the existing, outdated formula.
The Boston City
Council unanimously passed the text amendment to the zoning code at a
meeting in October, put forward by Council President Pro Tempore Matt
O’Malley and Councilor Kenzie Bok.
“The need to build
affordable housing in Boston has never been more vital, with half of
Boston's renters being rent-burdened,” said Council President Pro
Tempore O’Malley. “Eliminating parking minimums is an impactful and
commonsense policy solution that can provide transformative relief for
affordable housing builders.”
“We know that
every unit lost due to delay or the cost of unnecessary, mandated parking
is a lost housing opportunity for someone who badly needs it. This zoning
amendment allows the city and our partners to put homes for people first
and remove parking minimums that don’t reflect our current needs,” said Councilor
Kenzie Bok. “I’m so proud to have co-sponsored this with Councilor Matt
O’Malley, and I’m grateful to folks like Mass Senior Action and others that
shared and organized public testimony, as well as the BPDA, DND, and BTD
for their partnership and support of this amendment.”
“Too many barriers
get in the way of creating affordable housing that communities want,” said Bart
Mitchell, President and CEO of The Community Builders. “Removing
parking minimums helps clear the way for more homes Boston residents can
afford. Thanks to Mayor Wu, the BPDA, DND, and the Boston City Council for
leading this reform to create a more inclusive and resilient city.”
“Boston
desperately needs more affordable housing and the costly parking minimum
mandates were a barrier to that shared community goal,” said Executive
Director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts Jesse Kanson-Benanav. “Today,
that barrier was lifted. With the elimination of parking minimums for
affordable housing we can expect to see more affordable homes being built
for more people, more quickly across the entire City of Boston.”
Earlier this year,
the BPDA and the Boston Transportation Department announced the new
Transportation Demand Management development review guidelines. As part of the new guidelines, developers of large projects
must complete a demand management point system tool to increase access to
sustainable transportation for their tenants. The guidelines also include
new maximum parking ratios that model the amount of parking built based on
a development’s walkability and mobility choices. The maximum ratios will
urge developments in walkable, transit-rich areas to build less parking
than developments with fewer mobility options.
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