Are developers delivering the community benefits they promise? A council committee asks today

When a large building project wins approval in Boston, the developer usually promises something back to the neighborhood: a renovated park, money for local nonprofits, public access to a gym or pool, job programs. A City Council committee scheduled a hearing for this morning on whether those promises get kept.

The Planning, Development and Transportation Committee, chaired by City Councilor Sharon Durkan, posted the hearing for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Iannella Chamber, with public testimony allowed in person or virtually (city notice). The order behind it (docket 1337) has waited in committee since July 8.

What the order says

The order, filed by City Councilors Enrique Pepén, Benjamin Jacob Weber and Ruthzee Louijeune, explains how the process works. Under Article 80, the city's development review rules, applicants for building projects must identify benefits for the surrounding community. Those benefits are written into a cooperation agreement between the developer and the Boston Planning Department, formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority, as a condition of approval.

The order says that even when benefits are agreed to, neighborhoods can have trouble getting them because they are placed on unclear timelines or never completed. It asks Planning Department officials to testify about how community benefit projects are completed and the status of current ones, and says transparent public timelines are "crucial."

What councilors said when they filed it

Introducing the order on July 8, Pepén told colleagues that community benefits "can face unclear timelines or not be completed at all," and that the hearing would look at the status of benefits for current projects and how to keep them on schedule (watch at 1:58:33).

Weber said getting developers to deliver promised community benefits had been "an issue in District 6" on several projects (watch at 1:59:19). Louijeune said her office had been working on the issue and pointed to problems with databases meant to ensure accountability (watch at 1:59:44).

Eleven councilors are listed as sponsors. City Councilors Gabriela Coletta Zapata and Julia Mejia are not.

What our records show

• A related proposal. Mejia's ordinance to create a Displacement Impact Mitigation Initiative and Trust Fund (docket 1959), which deals with a different side of development's effect on neighborhoods, was referred to the Government Operations Committee on Oct. 21 (our story).
• Development money the council has accepted. In May the council accepted $250,000 in mitigation funds tied to 35-75 Morrissey Boulevard (docket 0972). The approved towers planned for that Dorchester site, which came with a promised park and a civic contribution, are now tied up in a lawsuit between the developer and the landowners (our story).
• Durkan's committee is the busiest standing committee. By our count, Planning, Development and Transportation holds 43 items in committee, 22 of them hearing orders, more than any committee except the Committee of the Whole. Its other October work included the confirmation hearing for 10 Zoning Board of Appeal nominees on Oct. 16 (meeting page).

What's next

Hearing orders usually stay in committee after a first hearing, and the chair can call a working session or a second hearing before reporting back to the full council. Video and a transcript of today's hearing will be added to our meetings page once the city posts the recording. Written comments can be sent to the committee at the address in the city's notice, which says they become part of the record.