Zoning districts · Article 62

Charlestown Neighborhood District zoning

Charlestown Neighborhood District is governed by Article 62 of the Boston Zoning Code. It covers about 2,932 parcels across 20 subdistricts. Below are the dimensional limits and off-street parking ratios from the Article 62 tables.

Last verified Oct 2026. Table D and Table E values were checked against Article 62 as replaced by Text Amendment No. 465 (effective Nov 7, 2023), using the official Boston Zoning Code text published on Municode and the BPDA amendment PDF. Residential and open-space tables are not shown yet. Heights the Code gives without a unit are shown in feet. Source: Boston Zoning Code, Article 62.

Subdistricts

Map code	Subdistrict type	Parcels
3F-2000	Three-Family Residential	1,971
C-1	Commercial	14
C-2	Commercial	11
LI	Local Industrial	36
LI-1	Local Industrial	4
MFR	Multifamily Residential	56
MU-1	Mixed Use	23
MU-2	Mixed Use	14
MU-3	Mixed Use	55
MU-4	Mixed-Use	13
MU-5	Mixed Use	3
NS	Neighborhood Shopping	112
NS-1	Neighborhood Shopping	19
OS-CM	Cemetery Open Space	3
OS-RC	Recreation Open Space	13
OS-UP	Urban Plaza Open Space	7
RH-1500	Row House Residential	425
RH-2000	Row House Residential	149
OS-G	Community Garden Open Space	1
OS-P	Parkland Open Space	3

Parcel counts come from City of Boston 2025 parcel data and BPDA zoning subdistrict boundaries, matched by Stratum. Each lot is counted in the subdistrict that contains it; road, rail and water strips are excluded. Open-space and other subdistricts not listed above are included in the district total.

Table D — Neighborhood Shopping, Local Industrial, Commercial and Mixed-Use Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	NS	NS-1	LI	LI-1	C-1	C-2	MU-1	MU-2	MU-3 (parcels <20,000 sq ft)	MU-3 (parcels >20,000 sq ft)	MU-4	MU-5
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	2.0	none	2.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	2.0	3.0	6.0	4.0	2.0	2.0
Max. building height	35 ft	70 ft	45 ft	45 ft	150 ft	150 ft	90 ft	90 ft	280 ft	90 ft	90 ft	40/70 ft⁽⁵⁾70 ft only west of a line 100 ft west of Main Street; 40 ft elsewhere
Min. permeable lot area (%)	N/A	15	N/A	20	35	35	35	35	15	35	20	20
Max. building lot coverage (%)	none	70	N/A	50	50	50	50	50	70	50	70	50
Min. usable open space per dwelling unit (sq ft)	50⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	N/A⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾	none⁽¹⁾
Min. front yard (ft)	none⁽²⁾	10⁽²⁾	none⁽²⁾	none⁽²⁾	30⁽²⁾	none⁽²⁾	none⁽²⁾	10⁽²⁾	10⁽²⁾	10⁽²⁾	none⁽²⁾	10⁽²⁾
Min. side yard (ft)	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾	none⁽³⁾
Min. rear yard (ft)	20⁽⁴⁾	5⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	50⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	10⁽⁴⁾	10⁽⁴⁾	none⁽⁴⁾	10⁽⁴⁾

(1) In a Neighborhood Business Subdistrict, all or a portion of required usable open space may be met by suitably designed and accessible space on balconies of main buildings or on roofs of wings of main buildings, or on the roofs of accessory buildings.
(2) In a required front yard, no plaza, terrace or public access to a basement (other than required by the State Building Code) shall be below the grade of the nearest sidewalk unless, after public notice and hearing and subject to the provisions of Article 6, the Board of Appeal grants a permit therefor. In a Neighborhood Business Subdistrict, every front yard required by this code shall be at grade level along every lot line on which such yard abuts.
(3) In a Neighborhood Business Subdistrict, no side yard is required except in the case of a lot with a side lot line abutting a Residential Subdistrict, which shall have side yards as if it were in such abutting district. Every side yard so required that does not abut a street line shall, along every lot line on which such yard abuts, be at a level no higher than that of the lowest window sill of the lowest room designed for human occupancy or so occupied, and relying upon natural light or natural ventilation from windows opening on such yard.
(4) In a Neighborhood Business Subdistrict, every rear yard required by this code that does not abut a street line shall, along every lot line on which such yard abuts, be at a level no higher than the level of the lowest window sill in the lowest room designed for human occupancy or so occupied, and relying upon natural light or natural ventilation from windows opening on such yard.
(5) The 70-foot height limit shall apply only in that area to the west of a line drawn parallel to and 100 feet west of Main Street.

Table E — Off-Street Parking Requirements

Use	Ratio
Banking and Postal Uses	0.75
Community Uses	0.80
Educational Uses — Elementary or Secondary School	0.6
Educational Uses — Kindergarten	0.6
Educational Uses — Other Educational Uses	0.6
Health Care Uses	0.6
Industrial Uses	0.22
Office Uses	0.8
Public Service Uses — Police Station	0.6
Public Service Uses — Fire Station	0.6
Public Service Uses — All other Public Service Uses	0
Research and Development Uses	0.5
Retail Uses	0.4
Service and Trade Uses	0.4
Storage Uses, Major	0.22
Transportation Uses	0.22
Vehicular Uses	0.22
Wholesale Uses	0.22
Cultural Uses	0.2
Entertainment Uses	0.3
Funerary Uses — Funeral home	0.1
Funerary Uses — Mortuary chapel	0.1
Funerary Uses — All other funerary uses	0
Places of Worship	0.1
Restaurant Uses — Restaurant	0.3
Restaurant Uses — Other Restaurant Uses	0.15
Open Space Uses — Stadium	0.2
Open Space Uses — Other Open Space Uses	0

Spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, as listed in Table E.

Where the Code gives a height without a unit, we show it in feet.

Numbers in parentheses, like ⁽¹⁾, are footnotes in the Code table. They often add conditions or exceptions, so read them in Article 62.

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Stratum is not affiliated with the City of Boston or the Boston Planning Department (formerly the BPDA). This summary is for early design and is not a legal determination. Zoning is amended over time, and overlay districts, map amendments and the table footnotes can change what applies to a parcel. Always verify with the Boston Zoning Code and the city before relying on these numbers.