Zoning districts · Article 56

West Roxbury Neighborhood District zoning

West Roxbury Neighborhood District is governed by Article 56 of the Boston Zoning Code. It covers about 9,737 parcels across 15 subdistricts. Below are the dimensional limits and off-street parking ratios from the Article 56 tables.

Last verified Oct 2026. All 144 values shown were checked against the Article 56 tables in the official Boston Zoning Code text published on Municode. Values we could not verify are left out. Heights the Code gives without a unit are shown in feet. Source: Boston Zoning Code, Article 56.

Subdistricts

Map code	Subdistrict type	Parcels
1F-6000	One-Family Residential	8,398
1F-8000	One-Family Residential	573
2F-6000	Two-Family Residential	127
CC	Community Commercial	90
CF	Community Facilities	11
CPS	Conservation Protection	72
LI	Local Industrial	9
MFR	Multifamily Residential	99
NI	Neighborhood Institutional	1
NS	Neighborhood Shopping	274
OS	Open Space	4
OS-CM	Cemetery Open Space	64
OS-P	Parkland Open Space	6
OS-RC	Recreation Open Space	5
OS-UW	Urban Wild Open Space	4

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 — Residential Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	1F-6,000 — 1 Family Detached	1F-8,000 — 1 Family Detached	2F-6,000 — 1 Family Detached or Semi-Attached or 2 Family Detached	MFR — 1 or 2 Family Detached Dwelling or Semi-Attached Dwelling
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	0.4	0.3	0.8	1.0
Max. height	35 ft	35 ft	35 ft	35 ft
Max. height (stories)	2-½ stories	2-½ stories	2-½ stories	3 stories
Min. lot area (sq ft)	6,000	8,000	6,000 for 1 or 2 units	3,000 per bldg. of 1 or 2 units
Add'l lot area per dwelling unit (sq ft)	N/A	N/A	N/A	3,000 per bldg. of 1 or 2 units
Min. lot width (ft)	60	70	50	50
Min. lot frontage (ft)	60	70	45	50
Min. usable open space per dwelling unit (sq ft)	1,800	2,000	750 for 1 unit plus 500 for each addit'l unit	600 for 1 unit plus 200 for each addit'l unit
Min. front yard (ft)	20	25	20	20
Min. side yard (ft)	10	12	10	10⁽⁶⁾
Min. rear yard (ft)	30	40	30	20⁽⁶⁾
Max. rear yard occupancy (%)	25	25	25	25

Table E — Conservation Protection Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	Conservation Protection Subdistrict
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	0.3
Max. height	35 ft⁽²⁾
Min. lot area (sq ft)	1 acre⁽³⁾Residential use; other uses: none
Min. lot width (ft)	none
Min. lot frontage (ft)	none
Min. front yard (ft)	50⁽⁵⁾
Min. side yard (ft)	50⁽⁵⁾
Min. rear yard (ft)	50⁽⁵⁾

Table F — Neighborhood Business Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	CC	NS
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	2.0	2.0
Max. height	45 ft	35 ft
Min. lot area (sq ft)	none	none
Add'l lot area per dwelling unit (sq ft)	N/A	N/A
Min. lot width (ft)	none	none
Min. lot frontage (ft)	none	none
Min. usable open space per dwelling unit (sq ft)	N/A	50
Min. front yard (ft)	—	none⁽³⁾
Min. side yard (ft)	none⁽⁶⁾	none⁽⁶⁾
Min. rear yard (ft)	40⁽⁶⁾	40⁽⁶⁾

Table G — Local Industrial Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	Local Industrial Subdistrict
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	2.0
Max. height	35 ft
Min. lot area (sq ft)	none
Add'l lot area per dwelling unit (sq ft)	none
Min. lot width (ft)	none
Min. lot frontage (ft)	none
Min. usable open space per dwelling unit (sq ft)	50
Min. front yard (ft)	none⁽¹⁾
Min. side yard (ft)	none⁽¹⁾
Min. rear yard (ft)	20⁽¹⁾

Table H — Neighborhood Institutional and Community Facilities Subdistricts Dimensional Regulations

Requirement	Community Facilities Subdistricts Catholic Memorial High School	Neighborhood Institutional Subdistrict	Roxbury Latin School	West Roxbury High School
Max. floor area ratio (FAR)	0.5	1.0	0.5	1.0
Max. height	35 ft	40 ft	45 ft⁽²⁾	40 ft
Min. lot area (sq ft)	none	none	none	none
Min. lot width (ft)	none	none	none	none
Min. lot frontage (ft)	none	none	none	none
Min. front yard (ft)	25	20	25	25
Min. side yard (ft)	20	10	20	20
Min. rear yard (ft)	40	20	30	40

Table I — Off-Street Parking Requirements

Use	Ratio
Banking and Postal Uses	1.0
Community Uses	1.0
Elementary or Secondary School	0.7
Health Care Uses	1.0
Industrial Uses	0.5
Kindergarten	0.7
Office Uses	2.0
Other Educational Uses	1.0
Funerary Uses — All other funerary uses	none
Funerary Uses — Funeral home	0.1
Funerary Uses — Mortuary chapel	0.1
Open Space Uses — Other Open Space Uses	0.2
Open Space Uses — Stadium	0.2
All other Public Service Uses	0
Cultural Uses	0.2
Entertainment Uses	0.3
Fire Station	1.0
Police Station	1.0
Research and Development Uses	0.5
Retail Uses	2.0
Service and Trade Uses	2.0
Storage Uses, Major	0.5
Transportation Uses	0.25
Vehicular Uses	0.5
Wholesale Uses	0.25
Restaurant Uses — Other Restaurant Uses	0.15
Restaurant Uses — Restaurant	0.3

Ratios as listed in Table I. The unit each ratio applies to (dwelling units or floor area) is set out in the Code table.

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 56.

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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.