| [Editor’s note: the following is from the BPDA]
Dear Friends and Neighbors in East Boston:
Happy New Year! We hope everyone is doing well.
Throughout the past few months, the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) has held many engagement opportunities to provide broad and inclusive awareness and space for public participation and discussion on the full report of PLAN: East Boston, East Boston Tomorrow.
We have used the many events and discussions to continue to collect community feedback on the recommendations within the report, and take everyone’s thoughts, comments, and input very seriously; your input has helped shape PLAN: East Boston and continues to inform changes and updates made to the report.
Today, we’re excited to present the updated Final Drafts of East Boston Tomorrow and its accompanying zoning amendments. You can find the report and the zoning documents posted to the PLAN: East Boston webpage. This final report includes significant changes that respond to much of the recent feedback we’ve received during extensive engagement. We are proud to produce a comprehensive planning document that many of you helped shape and create.
To highlight a few of the most recent changes to the report, we:
- Removed envisioned reconfigurations of Border, Meridian, and Bennington and highlighted the need for more detailed planning and design processes that address the needs of all modes of transit. ;
- Added “Implementation Spotlights” to showcase in-progress public realm improvements born from PLAN: East Boston recommendations;
- Adjusted recommendations in the Neighborhood Residential areas to limit development of more than three units in this residential character area;
- Amplified ferry service recommendations and improved regional connections;
- And, expanded information about the City’s commitments to anti-displacement, while also strengthening the recommendations to preserve existing structures, as well as existing affordable housing.
These points are a few of many meaningful improvements to the plan that directly respond to your thoughtful and robust participation in the process. As outlined in previously published timelines of the plan, the next step is to present East Boston Tomorrow and its accompanying zoning amendments to the BPDA Board for their review and potential adoption at their next upcoming meeting, scheduled for Thursday, January 18, 2024. Should the BPDA Board vote to adopt the Plan, implementation would begin with the first step in advancing the zoning recommendations through the Boston Zoning Commission for their review and approval. This is a generational effort to ensure growth and development in East Boston are predictable, appropriately scaled, and suit the needs of residents today.
As the PLAN nears its completion and shifts towards implementation, the BPDA and the City of Boston look forward to working with the community to continue to ensure the planning efforts are effectively working and begin to initiate subsequent planning efforts such as a Needs Analysis.
We graciously appreciate the community’s ongoing participation in the PLAN: East Boston process over the last 5+ years and every voice helped improve the outcome of East Boston Tomorrow. Should you have any additional questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the planning team.
Sincerely,
The PLAN: East Boston Team |
