The reform process for Article 80 is plodding forward, with city planners taking it slow to ensure residents have ample opportunity to influence how Boston handles real estate development oversight.

Article 80 is the city’s review process for real estate development.

The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) released the findings of its initial public outreach in August, summarizing months of workshops, surveys, meetings with civic organizations and one-on-one conversations with residents.

Despite that extensive outreach, actual data collection from distributed surveys remained relatively small, with less than 200 Bostonians contributing their opinions.

In general, respondents wanted the new committees formed to oversee each development project to be more diverse than existing Community Advisory Committees. Childcare and financial compensation would help busy professionals attend, and public feedback suggests these committees might move away from detailed development financing in the future.

Housing was far and away the top priority of Bostonians when it comes to allocating funding, followed by public space and transportation.

Residents indicated they’d be more interested in influencing what a building is used for and how it will shape public space than where mitigation money is going or the details of its architectural style.

“The next step for the project is the release of what we’re calling the Article 80 modernization action plan. That will have a series of draft recommendations based on our public engagement, as well as the analysis and research that we’ve done to date,” she said.

Even that, however, is likely to leave some unsatisfied. The deciding factor in reforming Article 80 is the details of how exactly the new system is implemented, and the coming action plan isn’t likely to reach that level of specificity. Those wanting to know how committee members will be selected or how childcare will be allocated or what equation will be used to calculate community benefits will have to wait.

“We don’t yet feel confident that we have the right level of buy-in on some of those details. The goal of this document will be to publish a general concept for some of these big changes, give that enough time to percolate within communities, then hear from them where they want us to push it further. You’ll see a commitment to standardizing mitigation. You won’t see a specific dollar per square foot amount,” said Monani.

After the action plan is published, there will be another public comment period lasting 60 days. Once that is complete, the actual details of the plan may be decided. That effort will include surveys, letter submissions, BPDA staff attending community events and several public meetings.

“This isn’t the end of the road. A lot of work remains to be done specifically around those details, and the success of this initiative will be based on how those shape up. We’re excited to work with the community in the months to come,” said Monani.