Sect. 2. Any person owning land on or within forty-two feet of Bowdoin street, between Allston street and Beacon street, or on or within ninety-five feet of Beacon street between the Claflin building, so-called, and Park street, whose property is damaged more than it is benefited by the improvement of the State House, consisting of the limitation of the height of buildings on said land, the laying out and grading of said streets, the removal of buildings between Hancock street and Bowdoin street, the reconstruction and extension at the State House and the construction of the park between Bowdoin street and the State House, may, within two years after the passage of this act, and not afterward, file in the office 0f the clerk of the superior court for the county of Suffolk, his petition for a jury to determine such damage, and a jury of said court shall thereupon determine the question, under the rules of law, so far as they are applicable, under which damages for the laying out of highways under the Revised Laws are determined. If the jury find that the petitioner is damaged more than he is benefited by said improvement they shall determine the amount of the difference, and the Commonwealth shall pay the same; and if the jury shall not so find, judgment shall be entered for the Commonwealth, costs taxed and execution issued therefor against the petitioner as in civil cases. The city of Boston shall repay to the Commonwealth all damages which the state shall be required to pay for the change of grade of Bowdoin street made under authority of the governor and council, and for all expenses incurred in making such change.

Sect. 3. Section two of chapter three hundred and eighty-two of the acts of the year nineteen hundred, as amended by section one of chapter five hundred and twenty-five of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and one, is hereby further amended by striking out all of said section two after the word "Commonwealth," in the seventeenth line, so as to read as follows: Section 2. The governor and council may lay out said land for use as a park, with driveways, walks, grass plots, curbing and railing; may close Mount Vernon street from Beacon street to the state house arch; may construct a new approach to the state house from Bowdoin street and from Beacon street; may build retaining walls and fences; may change the grade of Mount Vernon street from Joy street to the state house as they shall deem to be most advantageous for an approach to the state house; may change the grade of Bowdoin street from Beacon street to Ashburton place so that the street will be substantially level in that part, and may widen Bowdoin street at any part to a width not exceeding fifty feet; may grade and construct said streets and relay the sewers, pipes, tubes, conduits and wires therein wherever necessary, and may provide for the proper storage of coal for the use of the Commonwealth.

Sect. 4. Section three of said chapter five hundred and twenty-five is hereby repealed. Sect. 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

[Approved June 28, 1902.]

Chapter 333, Acts of 1904. An Act Relative to the Height of Buildings in the City of Boston

Be it enacted, etc., as follows:

Section 1. The city of Boston shall be divided into districts of two classes, to be designated districts A and B. The boundaries of the said districts, established as hereinafter provided, shall continue for a period of fifteen years, and shall be determined in such manner that those parts of the city in which all or the greater part of the buildings situate therein are at the time of such determination used for business or commercial purposes shall be included in the district or districts designated A and those parts of the city in which all or the greater part of the buildings situate therein are at the said time used for residential purposes or for other purposes not business or commercial shall be in the district of districts designated B.

Sect. 2. Upon the passage of this act the mayor of the city shall appoint a commission of three members to be called "Commission on Height of Buildings in the City of Boston." The commission shall immediately upon its appointment give notice and public hearings, and shall make an order establishing the boundaries of the districts aforesaid, and, within one month after its appointment, shall cause the same to be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county of Suffolk. The boundaries so established shall continue for a period of fifteen years from the date of said recording. Any person who is aggrieved by the said order may, within thirty days after the recording thereof, appeal to the commission for a revision; and the commission may, within six months after its appointment, revise such order, and the revision shall be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county of Suffolk, and shall date back to the original date of recording. The members of the commission shall serve until the districts have been established as aforesaid; and any vacancy in the commission caused by resignation, death or inability to act shall be filled by the mayor, on written application by the remaining members of the commission or of ten inhabitants of the city. The members of the commission shall receive such compensation as the mayor shall determine.

Height Limit in District A and District B, Exceptions

Sect. 3. In the city of Boston no building shall be erected to a height of more than one hundred and twenty-five feet above the grade of the street in any district designated A, and no building shall be erected to a height of more than eighty feet above the grade of the street in any district designated B. These restrictions shall not apply to grain or coal elevators or sugar refineries in any district designated A, nor to steeples, domes, towers or cupolas erected for strictly ornamental purposes, of fireproof material, on buildings of the above height or less in any district. The supreme judicial court and the superior courts shall each have jurisdiction in equity to enforce the provisions of this act, and to restrain the violation thereof.