LAW-2799 Urban Mechanics: Boston Practicum
Fall 2019 This course will provide an opportunity for an in-depth study of one or more state or local government law issues that is under consideration by the City of Boston Law Department or another local or regional public agency. The Law Department or other agency will select an area in which a new or revised ordinance, statute, or policy is needed. The students will then research the area and draft the desired legal documents, memoranda, or draft ordinances and statutes (Course Project) with the guidance of a representative from the governmental agency and the professor. Examples of possible ordinances: housing code; overlay zoning; transfer of development rights; storm water management; legal status of neighborhood development associations. The research for the Course Project will involve finding models from other parts of the country that have bearing on the City's particular need. Class sessions will be devoted to document/memoranda/ordinance/statute drafting and to a discussion of other assigned topics. Course Project (main class project): The project involves (1) ascertaining the legal issues that arise from City economic development programs, including those that rely upon public/private partnerships between the City and private developers, and (2) the feasibility of mixed-use development in which disparate private and public uses may occur in close proximity to each other. We will be working with Adam Cederbaum, Chief of Government Services, of the City of Boston Law Department. He has asked us to research this course project. He will provide a more in-depth statement of the course project in class and will provide guidance from time to time. I. Inquiries for Class Project: A. What legal tools are needed for the City to build and finance mixed-use buildings on publicly owned land that could have mixed uses such as library uses on some floors and subsidized housing on other floors? B. Can the City build and finance mixed-use developments on publicly owned land in which a portion of the parcel is used for public purposes, such as subsidized housing, and the remainder of the site is used for commercial or retail purposes? C. Ascertain whether the State's Infrastructure Investment Incentive Program, known as I-Cubed, could be implemented on a municipal scale by the City. The City would thus be funding infrastructure from economic development projects by crediting new revenue raised from the redeveloped site in the form of new state income tax revenues to pay off the debt service on the bonds issued to finance the infrastructure. The "credited" income could not constitute property tax revenue (need to avoid state constitutional debt limitations on revenue derived from property taxes). D. Examine Massachusetts' statutes and programs relating to Tax Increment Financing (TIF), District Improvement Financing (DIF), and Business Improvement District (BID) to determine their use as economic development tools.