The goal of the South Boston Rezoning Initiative was to create new zoning that is predictable, using a thorough and transparent process guided by residents, elected officials, community groups and members of the business community.

The process included twelve public meetings, both with civic groups and BPDA sponsored public meetings.  Information and professional analysis regarding current dimensions of buildings (height, density, setbacks, parking ratios) were provided by the BPDA.  This information was then juxtaposed against existing zoning regulations, demonstrating that the majority of land was undevelopable under current zoning laws leading to a prevalence of zoning variance requests.  There was overwhelming agreement that zoning in its current form needed to be changed.

With an agreement that current zoning was insufficient, causing regular variance requests and the individual public processes that come with each, the next challenge was to come to agreement on what dimensions were acceptable from a community perspective but also realistic from a development perspective. 

The end result created a new height limit of forty (40) feet, and allowable FAR or density of two(2), and parking ratio of 1.5 spaces per new unit.

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