Councilors push ONS to tighten ZBA and licensing notice process after missed abutters

Boston — Councilors at a May 27 hearing pressed the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services to tighten how applicants notify neighbors about Zoning Board of Appeals abutters meetings and licensing hearings, citing instances where nearby businesses and residents said they did not receive timely notice.

The council’s questioning, led in part by Councilor Flynn and others, focused on the city’s current practice that requires an applicant to deliver flyers within a 300-foot radius and said the Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS) recently added requirements for applicants to post meeting dates on the city events webpage and to provide photographs showing flyering.

Why it matters: Notification drives who participates in development and licensing decisions. Councilors said inconsistent notice can leave neighbors and nearby businesses unaware until after decisions are made, limiting public input on projects that affect neighborhoods.

ONS Director Lindsay Santana described the standard sequence for ZBA cases: when the ONS receives a refusal letter the office schedules an abutters meeting, provides the applicant with a list of addresses within a 300-foot radius, and asks that the applicant distribute flyers "within 7 to 10 days before the actual voters meeting." Santana said the office also uploads meeting dates to the city events webpage to increase transparency.

"The applicant has a list. We provide the flyer, the 300 foot radius list of addresses that there needs a flyer within 7 to 10 days before the actual voters meeting," Santana said.

Councilors said those protections have not always worked in practice. Councilor Weber cited recent liquor-license cases in Jamaica Plain where business owners and some civic groups said they did not receive notice. "It just seems to be a common theme, at least in Jamaica Plain," Weber said.

ONS Chief Brianna Mellor said the office has begun asking for photographic proof of flyering and posting meeting dates on the events site, and that staff will pursue additional process changes to ensure consistent notice across neighborhoods. "We've increased our transparency, asking for pictures to, for proof of flyering," she said.

Councilor Flynn and others urged ONS to include district councilors on the initial abutters notification email so elected representatives learn of meetings at the same time as neighborhood groups. Santana said the office does not currently send the flyers automatically to council offices but committed to "look into" how to add councilors to notification lists across all districts and to follow up after the hearing.

Other procedural issues raised included whether notice to a building owner (often a landlord) is sufficient notice to an operating business at that address, and whether certified mail or other proof should be required. Santana said the flyer requirement supplements mail to owners and that ONS can discuss further improvements with council offices.

The office also said it will use a second round of engagement if initial outreach by an applicant is inadequate. ONS described the process as standardized across neighborhoods but acknowledged there are opportunities to improve timely notification and accessibility for residents who do not use online event pages.

The committee did not take a formal vote on changes; staff committed to follow up with council offices and to review procedures for automatic council notification and proof-of-notice requirements.

Councilors asked for a report back to the committee on how the notification changes will be implemented before the council’s upcoming budget vote.