Mayor Marty Walsh says change is coming to the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal.

Walsh did not offer details, saying he will wait until he reviews the findings of an ongoing review of the board, commissioned by the mayor and being conducted by an outside law firm.

"There are probably going to be some changes, and I think they're probably going to be more than tweaks," Walsh told WGBH News at an unrelated press event Wednesday. "When the shadow of conflict of interest has been spread across the board, we have to look at it and take action."

Walsh's comments come after a different independent audit of the ZBA, commissioned after a city employee pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme aimed at influencing a ZBA vote, found no evidence of improper conduct by current ZBA members. But the audit also revealed an ongoing federal investigation involving a former board member's real estate company.

In September, longtime City Hall employee John Lynch pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe from a developer who was trying to influence an unnamed ZBA member.

The charges against Lynch, brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of Massachusetts, did not say that the unnamed ZBA member or any board members were aware of the bribery scheme or that any board members were unduly influenced by Lynch.

That city-commissioned investigation, conducted by the law firm Nixon Peabody, found no evidence that any "current" members of the ZBA acted improperly, but also noted that two former ZBA members — Craig Galvin and Anthony Pisani — declined to cooperate with the audit. It also found that the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing documents pertaining to properties linked to Galvin’s real estate company, the Galvin Group.

WGBH News previously reported that Galvin was a listed real estate broker for multiple properties that had received zoning variances from the ZBA during his tenure and with his vote. Galvin has not been accused of acting improperly. But, several public officials have since said that even the appearance of conflict of interest is problematic.

Read more: Ex-Boston Zoning Board Member Galvin Approved Relief For Properties He Later Helped Sell

Walsh said he was satisfied with the audit's findings — the mayor did not comment on the apparent lack of cooperation by the two former ZBA members — and said that he is waiting for the findings of the second technical review of the ZBA's processes before announcing a plan of action.

Walsh reiterated his desire to eliminate the potential for, or the appearance of, conflict of interest within the board.

"I want to make sure the community feels comfortable with the ZBA," Walsh said. "The ZBA is there to protect the community. A lot of times, people want to overdevelop in their neighborhood and the ZBA is the one to stop that. So we'll see, as we move forward."

The Zoning Board of Appeal often plays on outsized role in Boston development, thanks in part to zoning regulations that have seen little by way of updates for decades. Many development projects, even small modifications, require zoning variances granted by the ZBA — and those variances can be worth millions of dollars in Boston's white-hot real estate market.

Walsh's remarks come amid growing criticism of the ZBA and the Boston Planning and Development Agency, or BPDA, which oversees planning and zoning policy.

Read more: Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu Calls For Abolition Of Agency Charged With Zoning And Development

Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards recently filed a home rule petition that would re-shape how the ZBA is appointed and would require new measures aimed at transparency and preventing conflict of interest.

Edwards said the city audit released Friday has not changed her position.

"The [audit] report was necessary to at least calm down some public suspicion and concern about whether there's ongoing corruption in the ZBA and some other city departments," Edwards told WGBH News. "But it doesn't impact my decision or my true belief that we need to overhaul the entire thing."

Although the ZBA's members are appointed by the mayor, state law dictates that certain seats on the board be nominated by specific interest groups — including a Boston real estate industry group.

That structure, Edwards said, "sets us up for conflict of interest."