Boston Council Advances 11 Landmark and Zoning Board Nominees, Holds Two

BOSTON — August 12, 2024 — Boston City Council's planning committee advanced 11 appointments to landmark and zoning oversight boards while holding two dockets and withdrawing two others at its August 12 hearing. Committee Chair Liz Breadon moved nominees including Sherry Dong for ZBA reappointment, first-time ZBA nominee Shamiya Turner of Sheet Metal Workers Local 26, Jamie McNeil of Hospitality Workers Union Local 26 for the Zoning Commission, and Paul Raber Uffendorf II as a Fort Point Channel Landmark District Commission alternate to the full council for an August 28 confirmation vote. The sharpest exchange came from Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, who presented data showing 80.5 percent of East Boston variance requests — 789 of 980 cases since 2013 — were approved by the ZBA, and pressed nominees on whether they would hold the line on the city's newly enacted Plan East Boston zoning framework. Dong acknowledged the ZBA had not received a full briefing on the plan in the five months since its adoption, prompting Coletta Zapata to call that "unacceptable" and issue a formal request that the administration brief all board members on the new standards. The reappointment of Hansi Better-Baranza to the ZBA was held after she did not appear, with Coletta Zapata stating for the record she would vote no without a direct hearing.