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.