Boston Council Committee Hears Plan to Allow Housing by Right in Bullfinch Triangle

BOSTON — January 23, 2025 — Boston's City Council planning committee heard testimony Thursday on a proposal to make residential development easier in the Bullfinch Triangle, Boston's small historic West End district. Committee Chair and District 8 Councillor Sharon Durkan sponsored Docket 0189, which would reclassify residential uses in the Bullfinch Triangle's Article 46 zoning regulations from conditional to allowed, eliminating the need for a Zoning Board of Appeal conditional use permit on the question of residential use. Amy Chambers, Director of Planning, testified in support, saying the change aligned with the administration's goals for "increasing housing writ large across the city." Councillor Edward Flynn said he had not yet decided how he would vote, warning he would not want to lose "even 1 percent" of influence over development projects in a neighborhood he represented for six years. The West End Civic Association's new president, Carol Matika, backed the amendment as "a positive step toward the critical need for housing in the West End" but pressed the city to preserve meaningful public input for projects that fall below the Article 80 community review threshold.