Since January of 2025, the City of Boston has systematically disregarded the work of the PLAN: Downtown Advisory Group and a broad coalition of stakeholders. Despite significant opposition from Downtown stakeholders and the vast majority of city and state elected officials, including Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Rep. Jay Livingstone, Sen. Nick Collins, Councilor Ed Flynn, Councilor Erin Murphy, and Councilor Julia Mejia, the City’s Planning Department decided to proceed with its flawed zoning proposal. The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Board of Directors, which very rarely votes against the City, approved the City’s zoning proposal.

The City of Boston’s Zoning Commission will now be voting on the Downtown Zoning Proposal on Thursday, October 22nd, 2025, at 9:00am via Zoom (register here to attend and/or testify). The Mayor’s Office and Planning Department need to operate with greater transparency and respect the will of the people that they are supposed to serve.

Please click below to email the Zoning Commissioners and your elected officials to let them know that there are still significant, yet solvable, issues that remain unaddressed and unresolved.

If you run into any issues with the buttons above, you can copy / paste the content below into your email application:

TO: 

zoningcommission@boston.gov

jeffrey.hampton@boston.gov

aaron.michlewitz@mahouse.gov

ed.flynn@boston.gov

erin.murphy@boston.gov

gabriela.coletta@boston.gov

henry.santana@boston.gov

jay.livingstone@mahouse.gov

julia.mejia@boston.gov

lydia.edwards@masenate.gov

Nick.Collins@masenate.gov

ruthzee.louijeune@boston.gov

sharon.durkan@boston.gov

info@BOSdowntown.org

info@friendsofthepublicgarden.org

info@nabbonline.org

info@bhcivic.org

info@thefreedomtrail.org

info@revolutionaryspaces.org

 

SUBJECT:  Please vote NO on PLAN: Downtown Zoning

 

Dear Zoning Commissioners,

 

I am writing to ask you to vote NO on the PLAN: Downtown zoning amendment at the Zoning Commission meeting on October 22nd. The city has yet to address the most critical concerns raised by numerous Downtown stakeholders nor has it produced any renderings or analysis regarding the impacts on housing, infrastructure, groundwater, shadows, and transportation. Instead, despite strong opposition from the community and from nearly all state and city elected officials representing the area, the City continues to push through a fundamentally flawed zoning plan that will yield negative consequences for the heart of Boston for decades to come.

 

I am primarily concerned about zoning that allows several tall buildings of up to 500 feet in height between Washington and Tremont Streets (Ladder Blocks) and between Stuart and Boylston Streets (Park Plaza). Most buildings in these areas are no taller than 155 feet. If approved, these tall structures will undercut at least three of the six stated goals of PLAN: Downtown: 1) historic preservation, 2) supporting small business growth, and 3) creating housing that is more affordable. Building as high as the sky in the Financial District is broadly supported and appropriate. However, maintaining a more moderate height in these historically sensitive areas will:

 

• Preserve the character of the area and protect nearby landmarks
• Prevent additional shadow from being cast on Boston Common and the Public Garden. As you know, the State Shadow Law was last violated in 2017 to build Winthrop Tower – ironically, mitigation from that project was used to fund PLAN: Downtown
• Provide small local and legacy businesses more opportunity to secure affordable leases
• Improve the prospects for the development of middle-income housing vs. high-rise luxury housing. Despite what multiple administrations have promised, developers almost always build luxury residences in Downtown, and almost never put “required” affordable housing on site

 

By voting NO, you are asking the city to reconvene with stakeholders and elected officials to work through these remaining critical issues so that a better outcome can be achieved for current and future Bostonians. It is what our city deserves, and with a little more work and cooperation, it can be achieved. Mayor Wu has said that we should take the necessary time to get this right – I couldn’t agree more.

 

Thank you in advance for considering these points with independence and professional discretion.

 

Sincerely,

 

[Enter Name]

[Enter Address]