By Michael Coughlin Jr.
The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) Zoning Committee hosted members of the Planning Department to discuss Squares + Streets at its meeting last week.
According to the Planning Department’s website, Squares + Streets is a “planning and zoning initiative focused on adding, supporting, and improving housing, public space, small businesses, and arts and culture in transit-accessible neighborhood centers and along main streets.”
Eileen Michaud, a member of the Planning Department, explained that Roslindale Square was one of the first Squares + Streets processes that launched alongside Cleary Square in Hyde Park.
Michaud indicated that the process has two parts and first discussed small area plans. She described them as “the planning documents we produce as part of the process that contain recommendations for physical improvements such as transportation and open space investments in the study area, small business supports.”
She also added that they “[identify] housing development opportunities and areas that would benefit from more ground-floor activity, more housing density, different public amenities, and those recommendations are also contained in the plan in what we refer to as a land use and design framework.”
Michaud then noted that the small area plans mentioned above inform the second part of this process, a zoning map amendment, which looks to implement the plan’s recommendations.
Moreover, Michaud explained that Squares + Streets has its own districts used in the planning process. These districts would be mapped in appropriate places within the area being studied.
Specifically, there are six Squares + Streets zoning districts—S0 to S5—each with different guidelines for building scale, allowed uses, and more.
Following Michaud’s brief description of the zoning districts, Dave Baron, the chair of the JPNC Zoning Committee, asked about Roslindale Square’s process and if areas are being rezoned only with the new Squares + Streets districts or whether some of the areas include older existing zoning districts, like 3F-5,000.
In response, Michaud, in part, said, “The direction of the Planning Department as far as rezoning is mapping districts that have a city-wide applicability rather than zoning districts that only exist in a neighborhood article.”
She also mentioned that, for the most part, the only districts they mapped were the Squares + Streets districts.
There was also a discussion about the fact that none of the Squares + Streets zoning districts require parking. However, Kathleen Onufer of the Planning Department noted that these districts were mapped in Mattapan last year, and new buildings are being proposed with a 1:1 parking ratio.
This conversation evolved into Baron stating that they had heard from developers who proposed projects for which the Planning Department advocated trimming parking.
He wondered how this would work in Squares + Streets districts and if the amount of parking would solely be up to the developer or if the Planning Department would have a hand in the decision.
Onufer indicated that it would be determined by whether a project is subject to Article 80 review because Article 80 projects are subject to a complete transportation analysis.
Michaud also indicated that the Planning Department uses the Boston Transportation Department’s parking maximums as a guide for small Article 80 projects and that those maximums are a requirement for projects over 50,000 square feet.
Later, Michaud and Onufer offered their perspective on the Roslindale Square process.
Michaud spoke about how the process from the beginning to the adoption of the small area plan lasted longer (over a year) than the anticipated nine-month timeline.
She explained that traditional engagement strategies, such as meetings at night during the week, were not reaching a wide audience, which included small businesses and Spanish speaking populations, among others.
“We were not seeing those populations although they have a strong presence in Roslindale Square and the larger neighborhood,” said Michaud, who added that the Planning Department pivoted its engagement strategy with events like pop-ups, which added time to the process.
“I will say that in the way it will inform future planning efforts is really thinking about—well ahead of any planning process starting—really identifying those stakeholders who traditionally don’t show up to night meetings or virtual meetings… and thinking of ways to reach those folks in more creative ways,” said Michaud.
Onufer discussed collaborating with local elected officials to reach small business owners, especially Spanish speaking small business owners.
She also commented that the neighborhood was split up: More than half of the participants think that planning has not gone far enough, and under half are not fans of the proposed scale in the area.
As the conversation continued, there was a discussion about displacement, which neighborhood groups like the Roslindale Coalition think could occur with the proposed zoning changes.
Michaud emphasized the need to protect existing tenants and that multiple city departments are working on an anti-displacement action plan that will be released this month.
She also said a report from the Planning Advisory Council, which identifies existing tools for addressing displacement concerns, has already been released in advance of the anti-displacement action plan.
“That report also does the job of identifying gaps in the services that we already provide in providing protections to tenants and businesses,” said Michaud.
Later in the meeting, attendees like Bernie Doherty voiced concerns about this process and how it may impact traffic, working-class individuals, and seniors.
Renee Stacey Welch also addressed traffic and concerns about the lack of parking requirements in the Squares + Streets zoning districts. She indicated that residents’ car needs must be considered in these planning processes, and she feared that this process would be another way to gentrify neighborhoods.
As the meeting ended, others commented, and more conversations centered around parking and other topics.
It should be noted that areas in Jamaica Plain are among the locations listed on the Planning Department’s website that are eligible for the Squares + Streets process. However, Onufer stated that there are no plans to launch anything in Jamaica Plain this year except for neighborhood housing, which is already happening.
For more information about Squares + Streets, visit https://www.bostonplans.org/planning-zoning/planning-initiatives/squares-streets.
