The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) met on Thursday, Nov. 5, during which it focused on an ongoing Planning Department rezoning initiative that isn’t Squares + Streets.

The Neighborhood Housing zoning initiative (NH) has been underway for Hyde Park, Roslindale, and West Roxbury since March 2024. Its stated goals are to bring the city’s housing stock into zoning compliance, and to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for residential properties.

Almost every piece of residential real estate in the city has some sort of pre-existing zoning violation and, by themselves, they are not an issue. However, any exterior change made to a property – however minor – triggers all of them, requiring homeowners to seek zoning relief.

Seven NH zoning districts are proposed for the three neighborhoods, and four of them (RD-2, RD-3, RD-4, RD-6) allow more dimensional wiggle room for small properties to make exterior changes without setting off those violations – thus reducing time, expense, and red tape.

This has been generally well-received at the Planning Department’s NH community meetings.

The ADU component of the initiative, on the other hand, has gotten a mixed response because the new zoning would also allow for independent living units (internal, attached, detached) in addition to what’s already on a given lot, provided they meet building and safety requirements.

While this has received support, there has also been significant concern regarding the initiative’s effective elimination of single-family zoning and the community input built into the zoning relief process. Fear of developers exploiting the new zoning has also been repeatedly expressed.

The Planning Department intends the NH to be citywide, and it first selected Hyde Park, Roslindale, and West Roxbury because of their large residential lot sizes compared to other neighborhoods, and because of their similarity and compatibility, in terms of zoning.

Allston and Brighton are next on the docket.

For Hyde Park and Roslindale, NH has run parallel to S+S, as the community processes for both initiatives kicked off for them at about the same time. However, though the two initiatives form City Hall’s attempt to simplify neighborhood zoning (S+S concentrates on business districts) – while encouraging increased residential density – they are separate and independent.

In July, the Planning Department released its proposed NH zoning maps for all three neighborhoods, as well as the zoning text amendment that goes with them. It also held community meetings and office hours to present them and to field questions.

Nonetheless, there has been much confusion – particularly regarding how many ADUs can be built per property – and that was evident last Thursday. Despite that, notable points were raised:

Advertisement

NH zoning includes Residential Dormer (RD-2, RD-3) and Residential Decker (RD-4, RD-6) districts, with the former designated for primarily single-family housing areas and the latter for primarily multi-family housing areas. Yet Hyde Park often has both mixed together. This could lead to implications for whichever type of property the district was not designed to regulate.

Also raised was the great expense to build an ADU leading homeowners to sell to better financed developers, leading to the potential of new multi-family construction changing the architectural identity and ownership possibilities of the block/section in question.

The amendment’s inclusion of a section also allows conditional use permits for new buildings exceeding the maximum units established in RD-2 through RD-6. Such a building may contain no more than 16 units and must comply with the dimensional regulations in its district.

For more NH information, including links to the draft amendment and maps, an address lookup relevant to the proposed zoning district, a story map with explanations of the districts, and recordings of virtual meetings, visit https://gvimes.link/nhbrhdzng

Although the comment period has closed, there is no set timetable for the initiative to move forward for approval, and comments can still be submitted by emailing nbhdzoning@boston.gov.

In S+S news:

On Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 9 a.m., the Boston Zoning Commission will hold a virtual hearing regarding the adoption of the proposed S+S zoning map for Cleary Square. For information, visit https://gvimes.link/sqrstsbzc

The HPNA meets on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Hyde Park Municipal Building/BCYF (1179 River St.). For information, email hydeparkneighbors@gmail.com.