Zoning Commission Hearing

The Zoning Commission of the City of Boston hereby gives notice, in accordance with Chapter 665 of the Acts of 1956, as amended, that a public hearing will be held on April 16, 2025, at 9:00 A.M., in Room 801, 8^th Floor, Boston City Hall, Boston, in connection with Map Amendment Application No. 794 and a petition for approval of the 2025-2035 Harvard University Allston Campus Institutional Master Plan (“IMP”), filed by City of Boston Planning Department on behalf of Harvard University.

The IMP describes the Proposed Institutional Projects (“PIPs”) that Harvard aims to complete over the next decade, including focusing its efforts on campus stewardship, sustainability, and resiliency to ensure a high-quality academic campus environment. The IMP contains six PIPs, three of which were included in the IMP approved by the BPDA in 2013 but were not constructed and are being carried over into the new Harvard Allston IMP. The six projects total approximately 720,000 SF of new construction and 140,000 SF of renovation and reuse of existing spaces that Harvard is considering completing over the course of the IMP term.  Said map amendment would amend “Map 7A/7B/7C/7D Allston-Brighton Neighborhood District,” and “Map 7B/7D Allston-Brighton Neighborhood District, “ by subtracting approximately 2.5 net acres of land from the current IMP Area boundary. This amendment reflects the following changes:  1) the addition of approximately 1.1 acres at 168 Western Avenue to convert an existing commercial kitchen into a University catering kitchen and to include a section of the parking lot at the rear of the site that is incorporated into the

parking at 28 Travis Street;  2) the adjustment of the west and north IMP boundaries at the District Energy Facility ("DEF") adjacent to the Planned Development Area of the ERC,

resulting in a net loss of approximately 0.15 acres from the IMP Area. This adjustment will allow the DEF to accommodate future sub-surface equipment, storage tanks, etc. It will also create a consistent right-of-way for Axle Way; and  3) the redesignation of approximately 3.5 acres from the IMP Area that is associated with the Greenway in an effort to recognize its public/community use and to establish it more clearly as one defined area. Though the Greenway will be outside of the IMP Area, it will support occasional Harvard events and programming, which will be limited in terms of frequency, time duration, and geographic scope and designed to ensure public / community use at the Greenway and not to preclude public pedestrian access or the overall public activation of the Greenway.

You may also participate in this meeting by going to https://bosplans.orgBZCApr1625.  A copy of the IMP and map amendment may be obtained from the Zoning Commission electronically, and you may also submit written comments or questions to zoningcommission@boston.gov.

Interpreting services are available to communicate information at this hearing.  If you require interpreting services, please contact the following:  zoningcommission@boston.gov or 617-918-4308.  The meeting is scheduled for April 16, 2025.  Please request interpreting services no later than April 11, 2025.