One of the primary goals of the City's waterfront planning is to ensure that the public has meaningful access to Boston Harbor, a goal that is consistent with state law that protects the public's rights to use and enjoy the Commonwealth's tideland areas.
The state’s Waterways Regulations, which can be found at 310 CMR 9.00, implement Chapter 91 of the Massachusetts General Laws. The Waterways Regulations require a state license for most development on filled tidelands in Massachusetts. Because the Waterways Regulations apply to the entire coast, the regulations allow for the development of Municipal Harbor Plans to allow municipalities to tailor the Waterways Regulations to the unique circumstances of that city, its economy and its harbor.
The Waterways Regulations establish use and dimensional requirements for non-water dependent projects as a means of ensuring the availability of the tidelands for public use and enjoyment. Acknowledging the unique character of individual harbors, the Regulations, however, provide a municipality with flexibility to substitute these use and dimensional requirements with requirements that are more reflective of the individual municipality's planning goals and harbor area than the corresponding Waterways standard. The regulations also require that any adverse effects on the public's rights caused by the substitute requirements be offset by other requirements that will enhance the public’s ability to use and enjoy the tideland areas. In some areas, a creative combination of substitute and offset provisions can result in development that is more hospitable to public use and access than strict application of the Waterways requirements.
In South Boston, the City elected to develop a Municipal Harbor Plan for the waterfront to create a harbor plan and public realm more in keeping with Boston’s urban character and mixed-use economy. A series of substitute use and dimensional requirements was presented with corresponding offsets provisions that, when implemented, will create a better and more inviting public environment. The Plan emerged from a series of open, public meetings with the Municipal Harbor Plan Advisory Committee appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
The Plan was submitted in July 2000 to the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and in December 2000, the Secretary issued a Decision on the Plan.
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