Councilor seeks exemption for law aimed at protecting the Emerald Necklace from tall nearby buildings for proposed Fenway apartment building

The Boston City Council this week agreed to consider a proposal by Councilor Sharon Durkan (Fenway, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill) to amend an ordinance aimed at preventing some city parks and parkways from being overwhelmed by tall buildings next to them to allow a tall residential building next to the Charlesgate section of the Emerald Necklace.

The then BPDA board last month approved plans by Scape, a European developer that has several Fenway-area projects underway, to replace three little used commercial buildings where Boylston and Ipswich streets meet Charlesgate overlooking the turnpike with a 28-story, 400-unit apartment building along with a new open stairway and elevator to connect Boylston and Ipswich. The proposed building would have 68 affordable units - 16 more than required by city regulations.

The problem is a city ordinance that forbids new construction of buildings more than 70 feet tall on lots within 100 feet of parts of the Emerald Necklace (as well as certain parkland in South Boston and Brighton), and the proposed 2 Charlesgate West would be both within that zone and 280 feet tall.

At a council meeting earlier this week, Durkan said Boston's need for more housing is just so acute, the city needs to let the Scape project proceed.

"We don't have option to not build more housing," she said.

She emphasized that, if approved, the exemption for the project would be a one-time exemption, rather than a precedent that could lead to more towers along the city's famous stretch of parkland, one that would respect the "context" of the park.

Her formal request for an exemption written into the ordinance has the approval of the city Parks and Recreation Department, which wrote that without it written into code, it could become a precedent that would lead to additional development right on the park's borders if, for example, the Zoning Board of Appeal granted a variance.

To gain BPDA approval, Scape agreed, in addition to the new outdoor stairway and elevator, to "provide an accessible public bathroom for park visitors that will be open year-round and feature wayfinding" that would point people to those restrooms, give the Parks and Recreation Department $500,000 for "parks and open space improvements in the immediate vicinity of the Project Site" and give DCR $200,000 for tree care on nearby state land.

The approval also calls for another $30,000 to the city for tree care and $40,000 to install lighting near the Leif Erikson statue on the Commonwealth Avenue mall.

This is not the first time a tall Boston building has run into park issues. In 2017, the city and the developers of the Winthrop Square tower had to get a change to a state law barring shadows on the Common to allow construction of that project.