City Council adopts ordinance to prioritize affordable housing on surplus municipal property

The Boston City Council on Wednesday passed—12 to 0 in roll call—the Councilor Colette Zapata–led ordinance that prioritizes affordable housing as the preferred use for city-owned properties formally designated as surplus.

The ordinance requires early coordination among departments, gives the mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) authority to evaluate surplus sites for affordable housing, lengthens the deadline for formal exception determinations to 180 days with a possible automatic 180‑day extension, and mandates annual public reporting that includes a summary of housing units created through surplus designations.

Councilor Colette Zapata, chair of the Committee on Government Operations, said the measure strengthens transparency and accountability for property the city no longer needs for municipal purposes, clarifies definitions (including a revised definition of “affordable housing” tied to Mass. General Laws and the Boston City code), and places MOH in an early role to assess sites before an RFP goes out. “This provides additional structure to an unstructured process right now, provides transparency to what is currently an opaque process with the PFC, and puts it on MOH to essentially have first right of refusal to make more affordable housing,” Zapata said.

Council President Louie Jen credited advocates and administration staff for changes made during a working session, saying the ordinance preserves flexibility by allowing documented exception determinations when another public use is clearly the better option. The adopted text requires written exception determinations to be made publicly available and included in future RFPs for the property.

The ordinance was discussed at multiple hearings and a working session where administration witnesses—including James (Jamie) Smith, senior environmental compliance manager at the Mayor’s Office of Housing; Daniel Lesser, chief of staff at MOH; and Rebecca Tomasovic, director of real estate at the Planning Department—testified about current surplus procedures. The committee reported that amendments tightened definitions, extended timelines for exception determinations from 90 to 180 days, clarified that the ordinance applies only to municipal property under city control, and required annual reporting even in years with no new surplus designations.

Councilors across the chamber from different districts praised the measure for creating predictability and a clearer public record on municipal property decisions. Several members emphasized the ordinance is a tool—not an exclusive mandate—and preserves the Council’s review: surplus designations and final actions still come back to the Council for votes required by law.

The Council accepted the committee report and passed docket number 1276 in the new draft by voice vote, then completed a roll call that recorded 12 votes in the affirmative. The committee placed the ordinance on the floor for final action under the adopted process required by the City Charter and state law.

Because the ordinance changes the city’s internal procedures, implementation will be governed by existing state procurement and municipal property rules and will continue to involve the Public Facilities Commission as provided under state law. The ordinance requires MOH to jointly submit the annual surplus-property report with the Planning Department and to include a summary of housing units created from surplus designations within the previous five years, when applicable.

Councilors said the measure aims to speed conversion of vacant municipal assets such as former schools, police stations, libraries and other facilities into public goods while preserving a documented path for documented exceptions.