There’s a piece of legislation, House No. 853, that sounds like mom and apple pie. We want to protect our parks. So why not pass a law that would prevent any building not conforming to Boston’s 1990 zoning code from creating any new shadow on the Esplanade, Christopher Columbus Park, the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Copley Square and the Back Bay Fens and Magazine Beach?

“An act protecting certain public parks” was filed by state Representative Marty Walz, one of the bill’s three sponsors. Walz said that passage of the bill would protect the parks from shadows just as the 1990 legislation protecting the Common has “proven successful in ‘balancing’ development.”

Walz said she sponsored the bill because “we don’t trust the BRA to make the right choices for the city.”

But this bill has problems. It pits parks against other important goals. It further erodes Boston’s autonomy in that the legislature is making decisions that should be left to city officials. Finally, it may end up hurting the parks more than it helps them. Continue reading →