Boston Planning Department Defends $29M FY26 Budget Before City Council

BOSTON — May 12, 2025 — Boston City Council scrutinizes Planning Department's FY26 budget amid housing and displacement debate. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Brian Worrell, held a roughly four-hour hearing Monday on docket numbers 0822 through 0830, the department's proposed operating budget of approximately $29 million — down about $2.6 million from FY25 solely due to a one-time accounting correction on multi-year contracts, Executive Director Teresa Pohemus told the panel. Chief of Planning Cairo Shen and Deputy Chief Devin Quirk reported nearly 16,000 housing units approved under the current administration, a $110 million Housing Accelerator Fund with more than 15 rental applications under review, and 15 office-to-residential conversion applications covering more than 760 units. Councilor Edward M. Flynn challenged the department over a ZBA rejection of a no-parking South Boston apartment building, citing Article 68's 1.5-space-per-unit requirement versus the department's use of the Boston Transportation Department's 0.5-space guideline. Councilor Julia M. Mejia demanded a spending breakdown for the Squares and Streets community engagement effort and flagged that $330,000 in disclosed BRA-side contractual spending had not produced inclusive outreach, while a public commenter, Lori Radwin of the Roslindale Coalition, presented a petition signed by 231 residents calling for council review of the Squares and Streets program and a second petition signed by 99 residents requesting a civil rights and fair housing review before Roslindale is rezoned.