Boston City Council Hears ZBA Reform Petition Seeking Expanded Board and New Oversight

BOSTON — June 27, 2025 — Boston City Council committee hears testimony on home rule petition to restructure the Zoning Board of Appeals. District 1 Member Gabriela Coletta Zapata, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, presented Docket 0613 at a June 27 hearing, proposing to expand the ZBA from seven to nine members, impose two-term limits, mandate stricter conflict-of-interest rules, and create a City Council oversight panel with quarterly reporting requirements. City Planning Department Deputy Director of Zoning Kathleen Onifer told the committee that roughly one in three long-form building permit applications citywide require zoning relief and that 739 cases received ZBA decisions last year, with 525 involving a variance; she also reported an approximately 40 percent reduction in variance requests in East Boston following the May 2024 adoption of Plan East Boston. Member Edward M. Flynn called for the ZBA to return to in-person hearings, while Member John FitzGerald warned that quarterly hardship reports could create legal conflicts with the board's own approved decisions. The docket remains in committee with working sessions planned.