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Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn is advocating for a more exhaustive review process around adult entertainment businesses downtown, in Chinatown, and in the Bay Village neighborhood. The move, Flynn said, is meant to give residents more agency and to prevent the area from sliding back into its history as the notorious \u201cCombat Zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flynn filed a measure <\/a>this week that would amend the city\u2019s zoning code in order to make adult entertainment businesses in those neighborhoods a \u201cconditional use\u201d rather than an \u201callowed use.\u201d An amendment like this should have been made \u201cdecades ago,\u201d Flynn said, so that adult entertainment establishments must undergo a significant community review process before being approved.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cResidents of a neighborhood deserve a say in what takes place there. With ongoing concerns in Chinatown, downtown, and the Bay Village regarding public process, public safety, quality of life, it is critical that all establishments go through a full ZBA community process moving forward, and that my constituents are respected,\u201d Flynn said during Wednesday\u2019s City Council<\/a> meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June, a Stuart Street property was the subject of a proposed change of use that would allow it to become a \u201cmulti-story night club adult entertainment complex.\u201d Flynn opposed the change, writing in a letter <\/a>to the Zoning Board of Appeal that residents \u201chave expressed their alarm and dismay by the recurring lack of community engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n Flynn\u2019s proposal this week received a tepid response from his City Council colleagues. Only two others, Councilors Erin Murphy and John FitzGerald, signed onto the order before it was referred to the Committee on Planning, Development and Transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata said that she looked forward to future discussion, but that any more conversations need to consider \u201cindividual agency, labor rights, and public perception of this work within the context of gender.\u201d<\/p>\n Coletta Zapata also said that councilors need to be careful not to \u201cperpetuate outdated narratives of misogyny.\u201d It is not proven that adult entertainment businesses necessarily bring crime to an area, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to be careful not to weaponize the zoning code to police or make others feel less than for their chosen profession,\u201d Coletta Zapata said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Flynn pushed back on this, saying he did not \u201cweaponize\u201d anything but was instead seeking to simply represent his constituents, improve their quality of life, and allow them to have a greater say in what businesses shape their neighborhoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy residents have said to me they want to ensure Chinatown doesn\u2019t go backwards. Downtown doesn\u2019t go backwards, or the Bay Village. They want a say in the process,\u201d Flynn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n