Boston City Hall

The pending blanket elimination of minimum parking requirements is expected to remove hurdles to affordable housing production in Boston.

Developers of projects that include at least 60 percent income-restricted units will no longer be required to provide on-site parking, under a zoning change backed Thursday by the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The benefits of the policy are two-fold, according to supporters: They reduce development costs associated with providing on-site parking, while eliminating a source of legal challenges to approved projects. Many developments require variances from the zoning board of appeals if they don’t comply with minimum on-site parking thresholds, giving opponents an opportunity to overturn the decision.

City Councilors Kenzie Bok and Matthew O’Malley filed the zoning amendment last spring after lawsuits challenged a pair of projects in Jamaica Plain.

“Eliminating parking minimums for affordable housing developments in Boston is a major step towards expediting much needed transit-oriented housing and moving forward on our climate and sustainability goals,” BPDA Director Brian Golden said in a statement.

The zoning amendment applies to developments that reserve at least 60 percent of units for households earning a maximum 100 percent of area median income. The changes will take effect following approval by the Boston zoning commission, which is scheduled to take up the issue Dec. 8.

In October, former Mayor Kim Janey announced a reduction in parking requirements affecting all developments over 50,000 square feet citywide. Developers will be given incentives to encourage transit use by residents, while calculating parking ratios on every parcel in the city by taking into account factors such as walkability and access to transit and services.