Wu makes case for BPDA home rule petition
Testifies before lawmakers
In testimony before a legislative committee Monday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu urged lawmakers to approve a home rule petition to legally restructure the Boston Planning and Development Agency as part of an effort to streamline and promote transparency of the city’s development processes.
Wu’s petition, passed by the City Council last March, requires approval from both legislative branches and the governor in order to dissolve two legal entities the city’s powerful development agency operates under, the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Economic Development and Industrial Corp. of Boston. It would consolidate the bodies into one quasi-governmental entity called the BPDA, and calls for a change of the agency’s stated mission from “urban renewal” and “eradicating blight,” to increasing “resilience, affordability, and equity” in development.
Wu told lawmakers she also plans to introduce an ordinance to the City Council next week to “codify other pieces of the bigger vision,” including bringing the BDPA’s operations under City Hall, and transitioning its staff to the city’s payroll.
The change would make the agency, which has operated separately from city government since the state created the BRA nearly seven decades ago, accountable to the City Council, which will have oversight and approval powers of its budget, Wu said.
“We need a modern, transparent, and predictable system that’s accountable to our residents and communities that development is supposed to serve,” Wu said in testimony before the joint committee on community development and small business.
The proposals are part of Wu’s effort to redesign the city’s development approval process, though it doesn’t go as far as abolishing the BPDA entirely, which Wu had called for on the campaign trail and in a white paper published in 2019.
It remains unclear how the BPDA would operate differently under City Hall’s jurisdiction.
The home rule petition is an important step in Wu’s plans to ensure Boston is a sustainable place for families of all income levels to live and thrive, she said. Wu is also working to change the city’s zoning laws, an effort led by the BPDA director and the city’s chief of planning Arthur Jemison.
Wu told lawmakers that Jemison, who also testified before the committee Monday, has already taken steps to improve the department’s processes in order to better match community needs.
One of those priorities is reforming the Article 80 process, which is the agency’s current development-review process that involves mandatory public input opportunities and developer briefings.
But some representatives of community organizations testified Monday against the home rule petition. Stephen Fox, chair of the South End Forum, a coalition of neighborhood groups, said he wants more details on, and codified processes for, community input and engagement when the BPDA is under City Hall before lawmakers approve the home rule petition.
“It strengthens the ninth floor of City Hall, the BPDA home, and it does very, very little for communities. In fact, it’s the BPDA on steroids, as we see it,” Fox said during his virtual testimony.
Senator Pavel Payano, a Democrat who represents First Essex in the state Senate and is also co-chair of the joint committee that heard testimony Monday, said he anticipates the committee will take action on the bill in the next couple of weeks.
Fox and other other representatives of community organizations expressed opposition to the current Article 80 review process, particularly with the makeup of the mayor-appointed steering committee that is providing recommendations on how to improve the process. Anthony D’Isidoro, president of the Allston Civic Organization and a member of the steering committee, defended its efforts as he testified in support of the home rule petition.
“The [current] process isn’t working ... every project has a different outcome in terms of how it was managed,” said D’Isidoro. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a more consistent, standardized process across the board where we treat every project the same way, we conduct our due diligence in the same way, and we allow for significant engagement in the community.”
While the mayor’s steering committee includes several representatives of developers and real estate organizations, D’Isidoro said it is in communication with stakeholders, holding regular meetings to keep people informed on the committee’s efforts, and working with consulting groups that have conducted numerous focus groups and interviews to inform the final recommendations the committee will eventually release for public comment.
Changes to the Article 80 process and community engagement do not fall within the purview of the home rule petition, according to the mayor’s office and a spokesperson for the BPDA.