Boston ZBA Approves Boch Center Digital Sign, Defers Roxbury Birth Center Project

BOSTON -- February 4, 2025, Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal deferred a proposed Roxbury birth center and nonprofit complex while approving a digital billboard for the Boch Center in a marathon February 4 remote hearing. The board voted unanimously to defer Community Movement Commons' plan to redevelop four parcels at 14 Winthrop Street, which would house the state's only freestanding birth center east of Western Massachusetts, to February 25 after State Representative Chynah Tyler requested delay and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services reported that a second abutters meeting drew "majority of attendees heavily opposed." A prior motion to approve the project failed 4-2, with Chair Kim Janey and board member Hansy Batarraza voting no. Separately, the board unanimously approved a digital sign for the Boch Center at 50 Stuart Street with conditions including a 2-to-7 a.m. shutoff, citing the venue's "estimated $80 million annual impact on the local economy." The board also cleared a 236-unit mixed-use project at 295 West 1st Street in South Boston, 35 units income-restricted, after 18 months of Article 80 review, and approved five city-sponsored affordable homeownership buildings in Mattapan under the Welcome Home Boston Phase 2 program.