The Boston Metropolis Council unanimously handed an ordinance that requires vacant metropolis buildings to be redeveloped into inexpensive housing as a “first priority” earlier than different proposals.
The Council voted, 12-0, Wednesday for an ordinance to “prioritize surplus municipal property as affordable housing” to handle what the lead sponsor and Council President Ruthzee Louijeune described in a associated order as the town’s “severe and ongoing housing affordability crisis.”
“This ordinance is about reimagining public assets as part of the solution, ensuring that when municipal properties are no longer needed for city operations they’re repurposed transparently and thoughtfully to create affordable housing and strengthen our neighborhoods,” Louijeune mentioned.
“Our city owns countless buildings and parcels of land that sit vacant or underused while so many Bostonians struggle to find an affordable home. It is time that we use our assets proactively and in a meaningful way,” she added.
The ordinance would set up inexpensive housing as a most popular use for vacant metropolis buildings, as soon as the town has decided the property just isn’t wanted for different municipal makes use of.
A press release issued by Louijeune’s workplace after the vote cites a 2022 citywide land audit that recognized 5.4% of city-owned properties — comparable to municipal buildings, colleges, police stations and libraries — as sitting vacant, underutilized or unused.
The town would conduct a feasibility research for surplus municipal property to gauge whether or not a selected constructing is appropriate for housing redevelopment, when it comes to zoning and environmental constraints, the positioning’s bodily situation, estimated prices and the place neighborhood sentiment lies, Louijeune’s workplace mentioned.
Councilor John FitzGerald emphasised throughout the day’s assembly that the physique’s approval of the ordinance wouldn’t change the town’s legally required public procurement course of for redeveloping vacant or underutilized municipal buildings.
FitzGerald mentioned the town would launch a request for proposals to solicit curiosity from builders, as is required by state public procurement legislation. The ordinance, he mentioned, would prioritize using that individual land first, however “doesn’t favor any one person to build on that land.”
Louijeune mentioned that whereas the ordinance would create a course of to judge surplus buildings for housing potential earlier than the rest, it “doesn’t lock anyone in or the city” for that use, “and it’s not rigid.”
“It allows for an exception determination, should there be an alternative or best use through clearly documented reasoning as to why affordable housing shouldn’t be prioritized,” Louijeune mentioned.
Additional, she mentioned, the housing-first precedence within the ordinance would enable for mixed-use developments, with mixed residential and industrial makes use of.
The Council president mentioned she sees the ordinance as a “tool” within the metropolis’s “toolbox,” however acknowledged that it received’t remedy its affordability disaster.
“It’s not a silver bullet,” Louijeune mentioned. “There’s no silver bullet that’s going to assist us remedy our inexpensive housing disaster, nevertheless it’s an vital structural reform that advances transparency and public goal.
“Housing prices are still at historic highs,” she added. “This helps ensure that every possible public asset contributes to addressing Boston’s housing crisis.”
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