The BRA proposed amending the zoning rules for the area by allowing certain types of buildings to go up to 350 feet. The current allowable height is 150 feet. The building would have to be at least 50% residential and be on at least a half-acre parcel to be eligible.
But according to John Spampinato, chief of staff to City Councilor Maura Hennigan, the idea was proposed during Christmas break and Hennigan was concerned the amendment would be pushed through without a public process. "There were no impact studies, no information, no public hearings," Spaminato tells GlobeSt.com. "When you propose to double the allowable building heights in the city you need to talk to the residents."
Spaminato emphasizes that Hennigan is not opposed to the concept of increasing the heights of buildings here as much as to the process by which this was done. At the last City Council meeting, Hennigan filed a resolution calling on the city to present an impact analysis of the change in heights. Susan Ellsbree, spokesperson for the BRA, tells GlobeSt.com that her agency is "currently working on an impact analysis" of the change in zoning on the Downtown area. Ellsbree indicates that the idea to increase the allowable heights was not in response to a specific project but rather to increase housing in the Downtown area. "We felt this was the most efficient way to do that," she says.
As to whether Hennigan would agree to the change in zoning, Spaminato says that she is waiting to see the results of the impact analysis. "Her concern is focused on process," he notes. "She hasn't prejudged this."
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