(Deleted by Text Amendment No. 189, effective March 15, 1993.)

1.

Ground Level Uses

The following uses are Ground Level Uses and are allowed uses within the Midtown Cultural District. This list is intended to be illustrative of Ground Level Uses and not exclusive, and includes uses and space accessory to ground level uses.

Antique stores

Appliances, repair shops

Appliances, sales

Artists' supply and music stores

Athletic goods stores

Bakeries and pastry shops

Bank branch offices

Bank machines, limited to two

Barber shops

Beauty parlors

Bicycle shops: sales, rental, or repair

Book stores and card stores†

† Subject to the provisions of Sections 38-18.5 (Allowed Uses) and 38-23 (Adult Entertainment District).

Cafes

Candy stores

Carpet, rug, linoleum, or other floor covering stores

Child care centers

Accessory family child care home

Churches

Cigar stores

Clock sales or repair shops

Clothing retail establishments

Clothing stores (men's, women's, children's apparel)

Clubs, noncommercial

Coffee shops

Coin stores

Community centers

Dance halls, public

Delicatessens

Department stores

Diners

Dressmaking shops, custom

Drug stores

Dry cleaning establishments

Dry goods stores

Eating or drinking places, in accordance with the provisions of Use Item No. 38*

* Subject to St. 1956, c. 665, s. 2.

Fabric stores

Fire stations*

* Subject to St. 1956, c. 665, s. 2.

Fishing tackle or equipment sales, or rental establishments

Florist shops

Food stores, including supermarkets, produce and grocery stores, markets, health foods, delicatessens, prepared food/special food, spices and herbs, coffees, teas, meat, fish, poultry, and cheese stores

Furniture stores

Furrier shops, custom

General merchandise mart

Gift shops

Hair products or headwear

Hardware stores

Historical exhibits

Hobby shops

Housewares stores

Household appliance repair shops

Ice cream stores

Interior decorating establishments

Jewelry shops

Kitchenware stores

Lamp shops

Laundromats

Leather goods stores

Libraries

Locksmith shops

Luggage stores

Millinery shops

Newsstands, enclosed

Office or business machine stores: sales or rental

Offices (only lobby space is allowed at grade on streets bounding blocks)

Optician and optometrist establishments

Orthopedic stores

Paint stores

Parish houses

Parks, public or private

Party shops

Perfume shops

Pet shops

Phonographic repair shops

Photographic developing or printing establishments

Photographic equipment stores

Photographic studios

Photographic supply stores

Photostating establishments

Picture framing stores

Police stations*

* Subject to St. 1956, c. 665, s.2.

Post offices

Printing establishments

Radio appliance shop: repair or sales

Record stores

Recreational centers (noncommercial)

Residences (only lobby space is permitted at grade on streets bounding blocks)

Schools

Sewing machine stores selling household machines

Shoe repair and shoeshine shops

Shoe stores

Sign painting shops

Skating rinks, outdoor ice

Sporting goods stores

Sports shops

Stamp stores

Stationery stores

Tailor shops, custom

Telegraph offices

Television repair shops

Tobacco stores

Tour operators

Toy stores

Typewriter stores

Typewriter or other small business machine repair stores

Variety or convenience stores

Video or motion picture store, sale or rentals

Wallpaper stores

Watch sales or repair shops

Yarn stores

2.

Cultural Uses

The following uses are Cultural Uses, and are allowed uses within the Midtown Cultural District. This list is intended to be illustrative of Cultural Uses and is not exclusive.

Art galleries, commercial and nonprofit

Art metal craft shops

Art needle work shops

Auditoriums

Costume rental establishments

Motion picture or video production studio

Museums

Music stores

Musical instruments, repair

Philanthropic and nonprofit institutions which provide direct support to the arts

Public Art, display space

Studios: music, dancing, visual arts, or theatrical

Theater*

* Subject to the provisions of Sections 38-18.5 (Allowed Uses) and 38-23 (Adult Entertainment District).

Ticket sales

(Text Amd. No. 464, §§ 3a., 3f., 11-8-2023)

(Deleted by Text Amendment No. 189, effective March 15, 1993.)

(Deleted by Text Amendment No. 189, effective March 15, 1993.)

For the purposes of this article only, the following words and phrases, when capitalized, shall have the meanings indicated.

Adjusted Income is defined as it is in 24 CFR Section 813.102 (1986), as amended, or as set forth in regulations adopted in accordance with Section 38-24.

Affordable means either an owner-occupied dwelling unit, requiring the expenditure by a Low-Income or Moderate-Income Household for mortgage and insurance payments, real estate taxes, and condominium fees of not more than thirty percent (30%) of its Adjusted Income to occupy the unit, or a renter-occupied dwelling unit, requiring the expenditure by a Low-Income or Moderate-Income Household for rent payments of not more than thirty percent (30%) of its Adjusted Income.

Annual Income is defined as it is in 24 CFR Section 813.106 (1986), as amended, or as set forth in regulations adopted in accordance with Section 38-24.

Chinatown means the area defined in Article 27D as the Chinatown Special Study Area, or any successor regulation of this code.

Cultural Uses means the uses listed in paragraph 2 of Appendix B to this article.

[Development Plan]. Deleted on May 9, 1996 by Text Amendment No. 228.

Display Window Area Street Wall means the area below the floor structure for the second floor of a Proposed Project, or fourteen (14) feet, whichever is less.

Ground Level Uses means the uses listed in paragraph 1 of Appendix B to this article.

Historic Building means any building listed from time to time in the Massachusetts Register of Historic Places.

Landmark means any building or structure from time to time designated a landmark pursuant to Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended.

Low-Income Household means any household whose Annual Income does not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the Median Gross Income of households in the Boston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Median Gross Income is defined as it is by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, pursuant to 24 CFR Section 813.102 (1986), as amended, or as set forth in regulations adopted in accordance with Section 38-24.

Midtown Cultural District Plan means the comprehensive plan, adopted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority on January 12, 1987, pursuant to Chapter 652 of the Acts of 1960, Section 3 of Chapter 4 of the Ordinances of 1952, and Section 27D-18 of this code, which sets forth the planning policies, development controls, and design guidelines for the Midtown Cultural District, as amended from time to time.

Midtown Cultural District means the area depicted on Appendix A to this article and on a map entitled "Map 1A Midtown Cultural District" of the series of maps entitled "Zoning Districts - City of Boston" as amended.

Moderate-Income Household means any household whose Annual Income does not exceed eighty percent (80%) of the Median Gross Income of households in the Boston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Neighborhood Business Establishment means a business firm with fixed offices or distribution points located within the boundaries of the Chinatown/South Cove or Midtown Cultural District boundaries and with a business street address within such boundaries. A residential address may be used to establish status as a "Neighborhood Business Establishment."

Proposed Project means the demolition, erection, reconstruction, structural alteration, or extension of any structure or part thereof, or the change of use of any structure or land, for which the Applicant is required to obtain a building or use permit. A Proposed Project may proceed in phases and may include more than one building structure, or use.

(As amended on September 10, 2007.)

State Building Code means the state building code and amendments and rules and regulations thereto as promulgated by the state building code commission under sections ninety-three, ninety-four, and ninety-five of Chapter One Hundred Forty-Three of the General Laws.

Street Wall means the exterior wall or portion of the exterior wall of a Proposed Project that faces a street on which such Proposed Project is located, and is below the Street Wall Height, determined pursuant to Section 38-18.2.

Substantial Accord means, with respect to building height, that the vertical distance from grade to the top of the structure of the highest occupied floor of a Proposed Project shall not exceed the specified height limit for the applicable district or subdistrict by more than fifteen (15) feet for any Proposed Project to which the Substantial Accord standard applies. The issuance of a Certification of Consistency for Planned Development Area Review, pursuant to Section 80C-8, or the issuance of a Certification of Compliance for Large Project Review, pursuant to Section 80B-6, shall conclusively determine compliance with the requirements of this paragraph. This Substantial Accord standard applies only

(1)

north of Bromfield Street or

(2)

within Planned Development Areas.

(As inserted on August 17, 1989 and amended on June 14, 1990 and May 9, 1996.)

Theater means a facility equipped for the production and presentation of performing and visual arts events.

Zoning Relief means any zoning variance, exception, conditional use permit, interim planning permit, or zoning map or text change, or any other relief granted by the Zoning Commission or the Board of Appeal.

(Text Amd. No. 463, § 14, 8-16-2023)

Downtown Crossing District