Hub’s council passes ZBA reform package
The City Council passed a bill that would overhaul the zoning board, changing its makeup and requiring regular reports from the troubled body.
“This is a huge win for us in terms of transparency,” City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who introduced and spearheaded the legislation.
The final version of Edwards’ bill would add seats on the Zoning Board of Appeal for environmental and urban planning experts, and it would institute term limits — two three-year terms — for members. The legislation would require quarterly reports on the ZBA’s actions and regular postings about the results of meetings. Further, board members would not be allowed to sit for hearings on any properties they had anything to do with in the previous five years, rather than the previous two years, as the rule is now.
The original version of the legislation had sharper changes to the board composition, including getting rid of many of the board’s “technical” seats — like for a real estate professional and architect — but that changed after hearings on the order and dialogue with Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration.
The council approved it by a voice vote, with no “nays” audible in the virtual meeting on Wednesday.
The future of Edwards’ legislation is uncertain. The initiative is a home-rule petition, so it requires the signature of Mayor Martin Walsh and then the approval of the Legislature and the sign-off by the governor for it to go into effect. Home-rule petitions often have a hard time getting through Beacon Hill — even when they aren’t introduced in the waning days of the legislative session, as this is. The session was due to end Friday, though lawmakers are moving to extend it.
Walsh in a statement thanked Edwards and said he will readily sign the petition.
“Along with the standards and timelines set in the Executive Order I issued earlier this year, these smart reforms will continue to remake the ZBA into a body that is accessible, transparent and responsive to the needs of our city and our people,” the mayor said. He added, “I urge the Legislature to permit these changes to go forward as swiftly as possible.”
The ZBA ran into scandal last August when staffer John Lynch pleaded guilty to taking bribes and board member Craig Galvin resigned over conflicts of interest. The city launched multiple investigations; one, by a former federal corruption prosecutor, cleared all of the still-sitting ZBA members in the Lynch scandal. A second slammed the board’s general functionality — or lack thereof — and suggested that its policies and procedures be changed. Upon releasing that report, Walsh’s administration announced changes to the board, particularly around members’ business dealings and transparency.