Announcing: Boston ZBA Cases Archive
Published on
I just published an archive of ZBA appeals cases to the Boston Zoning archive at https://nattaylor.com/eastboston/boston-zoning/. I believe this is the first time that Boston ZBA’s minutes, which document appeals, are available as structured data, and I am excited to offer it to the public! I hope folks find it useful.
The cases archive is offered as a collection of JSON documents that follow the Boston Zoning Appeal Archive Specification. JSON was chosen over a tabular format since the data is quite wide and the contents are unpredictable, so a delimiter format like CSV is not suitable.
The archive currently contains 2,959 from January 2017 to October 2019.
Below are a few examples of what can be done with the data.
The ZBA Minutes are enhanced in a few ways, most notably:
- Parcels For GIS use cases, the appeals are linked their GIS Parcel ID from the City’s assessing data, so that it is easy to map the cases.
- Zoning Code For users unfamiliar with the zoning code,
lookup-articles.jsonis offered to add a description next to the code. - Cleansing The data is cleansed and normalized to remove typos, etc.
Top 10 Applicants
| Appeals | Applicant |
| 65 | Patrick Mahoney |
| 60 | George Morancy |
| 43 | John Pulgini |
| 34 | Derrick Small |
| 30 | Timothy Johnson |
| 26 | James Christopher |
| 25 | Timothy Sheehan |
| 25 | CAD Builders, LLC |
| 23 | Timothy Burke |
| 22 | Oxbow Urban, LLC |
Top 10 Variances
| Appeals | Variance |
| 639 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts |
| 438 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts Floor area ratio excessive |
| 418 | Off-Street Parking and Loading Requirements |
| 373 | Use Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts |
| 211 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts Side yard insufficient |
| 198 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts Bldg height excessive (stories) |
| 187 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts Rear yard insufficient |
| 173 | Dimensional Regulations Applicable in Residential Subdistricts Usable open space insufficient |
| 149 | Roof Structure Restrictions |
| 134 | Extension of Nonconforming Uses and Reconstruction and Extension of Nonconforming Buildings |
10 Most Recent Approved Appeals
| Appeal | Address |
|---|---|
| BOA-449621 | 135 Bremen Street |
| BZC-30746 | 585-585B Ashmont Street |
| BOA-596775 | 158 Lexington Street |
| BOA-570065 | 10 Everett Street |
| BOA-995279 | 150 West Canton |
| BOA-996703 | 15 Arlington Street |
| BOA-998206 | 643A Tremont Street |
| BOA-973517 | 82 Chandler Street |
| BOA-973536 | 82 Chandler Street |
| BOA-909666 | 265-275 Dartmouth Street |
| BOA-991604 | 751-753 East Fifth Street |
| BOA-983259 | 105 M Street |
| BOA-984114 | 273 Gold Street |
| BOA-981180 | 199-201 Hampden Street |
| BOA-977345 | 46 Wareham Street |
| BOA-992424 | 754 Tremont Street |
| BOA-979491 | 1530 Tremont Street |
| BOA-997914 | 295-311 Blue Hill Avenue |
| BOA-924708 | 213-217 Washington Street |
| BOA-962400 | 49 Summer Street |
| BOA-903505 | 49 Hobart Street |
| BOA-944276 | 98 Prescott Street |
| BOA-937963 | 12-14 Commonwealth Avenue |
| BOA-939964 | 77 Worcester Street |
| BOA-994371 | 77 Worcester Street |