Boston City Council Approves New Planning Department Ordinance 8-3 After Fractious Debate

BOSTON — March 27, 2024 — Boston City Council votes 8-3 to create a new city Planning Department, ending 60 years of quasi-independent agency control. Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, guided Docket 0257 through approximately 17 hours of hearings and working sessions before it reached the floor March 27, with her amendments adding mandatory financial audits of the Boston Planning and Development Agency during its transition, a publicly posted list of assets and ground leases, and an annual report tied to an independent third-party performance review empowered by the council. Councillor Julia M. Mejia's competing amendment to create a Commission on Accountability and Transparency in City Planning failed 2-9 with two present votes; Mejia and Councillor Tanya Fernandez-Anderson then voted present on final passage. Councillor John FitzGerald, who spent nearly 18 years at the BPDA, was among the three no votes, warning that separating planning from development would strip the city of its ability to react nimbly to market forces — "the largest transfer of land, money, power, and authority in the history of Boston." The council also unanimously passed resolutions honoring Crioulas International Day, Transgender Day of Visibility, and supporting striking Boston University graduate workers represented by SEIU Local 509, who walked off the job March 25 seeking a first contract covering roughly 3,000 workers.