Re “BPDA OKs key update to zoning rules for sections of downtown” (Business, Sept. 20): With the Boston Planning and Development Agency board’s approval of PLAN: Downtown, it’s time, before the proposal goes before the Zoning Commission, for all Bostonians to ask themselves what kind of parks and public spaces they want to leave for the next generation.
While city officials assure us that future development projects will “comply” with state shadow laws, they are not addressing the broad exemptions built into the laws for the Midtown Cultural District. The building heights allowed in this zoning are disproportionate to the existing shadow protections and could significantly and irrevocably diminish sunlight across the downtown parks.
Sunlight shapes the ecological health and welcoming nature of green spaces like Boston Common and the Public Garden. Over time, the slow erosion of sunlight threatens these landscapes that are so central to the vitality of our city.