BPDA edges toward becoming a city department

The Boston Planning and Development Agency is one step closer to becoming a city planning department, rather than a separate quasi-governmental entity, with a vote from the Boston City Council on Wednesday. The council approved an ordinance creating a planning department that “shall be the city’s primary land use agency charged with planning and designing the city’s built environment, proposing recommended changes to the zoning code, and evaluating and managing urban development.” The BPDA oversees private commercial, residential, and mixed-use development proposals, along with proposals on property the BPDA owns or controls, and has since the council and state Legislature created the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 1957. Planning and development work for other city departments — such parks, schools, and transportation — has traditionally been handled by those separate departments rather than the BPDA. “For the first time in 60 years, there is serious pursuit to change the entire structure of how Boston does planning and development through multiple legislative reforms and zoning initiatives,” said District One Councilor Gabriela Coletta (left) on Wednesday. “To the question: ‘why now?’ The answer is simple. The status quo of the current system cannot continue.” The BPDA includes employees of both the Boston Redevelopment Authority and Economic Development and Industrial Corp. of Boston, most of whom would become city employees when the fiscal year starts on July 1. The ordinance includes multiple amendments to its original form, such as a full financial audit of the BPDA’s expenses — including land, leases, and developer mitigation funds — and also requires that the council approve any future structural changes to the department. The vote came after the council rejected a proposed amendment by At-Large Councilor Julia Mejia, who contended the ordinance does not go far enough to include community input and oversight and suggested incorporating an independent oversight committee. “Time and time and time again, we have heard from the community that they are not being heard,” Mejia said. “I don’t feel comfortable voting on the ordinance as-is without fighting one last time to give people a voice in the decisionmaking process.” The city ordinance is a separate process from a home-rule petition that would formally dissolve the BRA and EDIC as legal entities. That home-rule petition has been at the state Legislature since last March.