BPDA Board Passes Plan Downtown Zoning 4-1, Sends Framework to Zoning Commission

BOSTON — September 18, 2025 — Boston's planning board advanced sweeping downtown zoning rules and reluctantly approved a Hyde Park development under court order at a marathon September 18 meeting. The BPDA Board of Directors voted 4-1 to adopt amendments to Plan Downtown — an eight-year planning effort establishing two new Skyline zoning districts for the area between Boston Common and the Rose Kennedy Greenway — and to petition the Zoning Commission for companion text and map amendments; Dr. Theodore Landsmark cast the lone dissenting vote, saying concerns "may still be areas of refinement that could be addressed in a short time period." Director Arthur Shen told the board the new zoning, which requires 17 percent income-restricted units on-site for new residential projects and limits 700-foot heights to the already-built-out financial district core, drew "almost half in support and half on the other" in written comments. In the meeting's most contentious moment, the board voted 3-1 — with Landsmark opposed and member Thomas Shepherd recused — to approve a preliminary adequacy determination for the 204-unit, all-market-rate 990 American Legion Highway project in Hyde Park, with Chair Priscilla Rojas stating the board was compelled by a Land Court order issued April 10, 2025; the Boston Civic Design Commission had recommended against the project on September 9. The board separately approved 354 total residential units across five other development projects, including 78 deeply affordable senior housing units from Hebrew Senior Life in Roslindale and a $500,000 ARPA grant to BDC Community Capital for a small business loan-loss reserve program.