great good evening the city of Boston Zoning Board of appeal hearing for March 20 2025 is now in session this hearing is being conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of the open meeting law including the updated Provisions enacted by the legislature last year the new law allows the board
to continue its practice of holding virtual hearings until March 2025 this hearing of the board is being held remotely via the zoom webinar event platform this hearing is also being recorded in order to ensure this hearing of the board is open to the public members of the public May access this
hearing through telephone and video conferencing the information for connecting to this hearing is listed on today's hearing agenda which is posted on the Public Notices page of city of the city's website boston.gov members of the public will enter the virtual hearing as attendees which means you
will not see yourself on the screen and you will be muted throughout unless administratively unmuted when asked to comment board members applicants and their attorneys or Representatives will participate in the hearing as panelists and they will appear alongside the presentation materials when speaking panelists are strongly encouraged to
keep video on while presenting to the board as with our inperson meetings comments and support will be followed by comments and opposition the order of comments is as follows elected officials representatives of elected officials and members of the public the chair May limit the number of people called upon
to offer comment and the time for commenting as time constraints require for that reason the board prefers to hear from members of the public who are most impacted by a project that is those individuals who live closest to the project in the interest of time and to ensure that you have enough time to do
so please raise your hand as soon as Mr stri reads the address into the record do not raise your hand before the relevant address is called or the meeting host will not know to call on you at the appropriate time Mr stbridge Good Madam chair pres good
evening Miss weell good evening Madam chair president good evening the floor is yours Mr stbridge thank you m chair again with the hearings scheduled for 5:00 pm first we have case
boa 16848 do you just want to ask quickly about the with withdrawals or deferrals that would be a good idea thank you um if is there anyone here this
evening um who would like to withdraw or have withdraw their um hearing and and or there um haveit I see no no raise hands at the moment thank you thank you J uh so with that go back to case
boa 168 4879 the address is 22b 22 Beacon Street if the applicant and their represent present they please explain to the
board if you're on for that case you should be able to unmute yourself see I sent a request Mr Brent as well want see any raised hands at the moment for that
address okay let's keep keep moving forward next we'll go to case boa 16863 16 with the address of 853 to 855 East 5th Street if the appli they represent
pres will they please explain the case through board uh yes uh good evening um Madame chairman members of the board um just to correct the record it's East First Street 853 855 East First Street in South Boston uh my name is attorney
Fran Adams um I represent the uh owners of the property Ashley Whitehead and Brent Herbert um as you can see from the plans my clients own this property which is on the corner of East F Street in Arcadia Street my clients have a pride to have
an off street parking in the rear of the property via a curb cut from Arcadia Street um the property calls for two two full-size spaces as you can see there's going to be permeable pavers planting strips around the property to add
additional Green Space uh we completed the community process as the board may know off street parking or any parking in South Boston is a serious neighborhood concern uh we had a great about of process we had no not aware of any opposition um for for for clarity
purposes Arcadia Street is a side street there is no parking allowed on Acadia Street on this side of the street so there's only parking on the opposite side of the street so this curb cut is not taking any any spaces off the off the street we're not affecting any on
street parking um I would like to let the board also know that there is almost all of the properties on this side of aavia street five seven in the corner property all have similar curb Cuts some are smaller some are pre-existing but there are numerous curb cuts on this
side of the property um the we are aware of the planning uh Department's recommendation I would like to address some of the concerns some of the inaccuracies in the uh planning Department's Rec recommendation um first there is no parking freeze as it applies to this particular property this
property is in a residential Zone there's no approval needed by the Air Pollution Control Commission which is required for new residential parking in a residential Zone with locations outside of South Boston so that that is not applicable in this particular uh
case second um the uh as far as the the uh planning recommendation suggest that there's no parking driveways on East First Street and we don't disagree with that but the parking in this particular case is going to be accessed on Arcadia Street which is a side street where
there are also many many similar properties on this street that have uh existing curb cuts and have new curb cuts and again there's no parking on this side of a Cadia Street um so that that's a little bit inconsistent um as far as the open space violation we did
receive one violation in the application it's for usable open space but as the board can see this is an existing three family there are decks for all three levels um the space that is being utilized here is just a backyard now it's not any particular uh beautiful
space that's being converted uh the space is going to continue to remain open there'll be permeable pavers and as you can see there'll be planting strips in landscaping all around the property um the code requires 600 square feet of open space the property will still have the two decks above which is 400 square
F feet so this is kind of just a a reduction in the open space not necess necessarily a loss um with respect to um the comment about maneuverability issues that could create a hazard I'd like the board to know that this this application has already been approved by the public
Improvement commission public Improvement commission as this board knows has already done a traffic study and they have approved the application so if there were any particular hazards or maneuverability issues I don't think that the pic would have approved this application uh just for clarity purposes
and also um the application we were not cited for maneuverability by ISD so I don't particularly agree with the planning recommendation that this has a maneuverability issue or has any kind of traffic or pedestrian issues as I said there's an identical property to this at
the top of the street on the same Corner which is on a cadar in East Third East 2 Street 832 has the same exact configuration it's a corner lot and it has a curb cut and parking it's just at the top of um a cader in SE versus aadar
and first um with respect to the uh permission from parks department as as this board knows this property is located within 100 feet of a park so uh we have no issue at all with a Proviso if this board was to support the application that we need to go and seek
uh park parks approval as well M Street park is located to the left and there's a dog park on the other side of East first stre um for all those reasons as I said the homeowners are going to be moving in the property they just had a child the parking would be beneficial um I believe for all the reasons that I
just stated that we would respectfully ask the board to approve the application reasonable use of the property with a Proviso if required to uh seek parks department approval thank you Mr Adams quick question so um just to confirm it
it looks like there's already an existing curb cut there is that correct so you no there is not an existing curve cut there this is just a a across this so on a 80th Street itself there's at least five existing curb Cuts there is not in in this location okay so you'd be
you'd be creating a curb cut there yes yes and pic has already approved that application got it all right thank you questions from the board hearing none can I have public testimony Madame chair and board members sigy Johnson with the office of Neighborhood Services this petitioner completed the community process we
hosted an abutters meeting on January 23rd at which no opposition was raised and the City Point neighborhood association is in non- opposition to this proposal with that background we defer to the Judgment of the board thank you thank you madam chair we have no raised hands at the moment um Madam
chair and members of the board my name is Sydney I'm from councelor Flynn's office um councelor Flynn would like to go on record and support based on a good Community process and feedback from the neighbors he respectfully request the proponent continue to work closely with the community on inequality of Life issues during the construction phase
thank you thank you with that may have a motion Madam chair I'm going to put forward a motion of denial to be consistent with the planning Department's recommendation I also agree
with um Mr deo's analysis about the maneuverability it it just doesn't seem to work with the width of the driveway as well as having double watch parking Mr stbridge uh are I'm
sorry uh I uh second uh no M I'm sorry what did you sorry we're voting now sorry Mr steber what did you vote I voted I voted no okay you V
you're voting against the uh the motion right okay so hold on sorry I just trying to be clear uh you're voting like against the the the the motion of denial correct I'm
voting against and so am I so the motion does not carry uh I also am a no uh is there another motion motion of Deni without price your options are a motion of
approval approval with design you know whatever a motion with H or a motion of denial without prejudice or you know whatever those are your options or deferring it to the board the full board that's the other option I I would I would ask if that's the consideration Madam chairman if we could go in front
of the full board as a deferral I take that option motion to defer until the full board can hear is there a second I'll second okay Mr
stbridge yes Miss weo yes sh votes yes the motion carries we'll see you next week thank you very much so just to clarify that's next Tuesday March 25th the
record thank you thank you next case next we have case vaa 16615 08 with the address of eight Friendship Road if the applicant Endo their representative are present they please
expain to the board anyone on for Aid Friendship Road okay see no raised hands at the moment okay let's keep going he boa 16755
60 with the address of 11 cleave Street if the applicant and the representative president they pleas to the board Street 11 CLI street is anybody on for that Andre and we'll move
on yep to case boa 167 8617 with the address of 62 Patton Street good evening this is Kyle hilberg I'm here as the homeowner for this
property great you uh please feel free to begin sure um so what we're proposing is a just finishing an existing basement um I can quickly go through and describe the project so we have an
existing basement um if you go to the third slide you can see the layout of the house on the property um the left side is the layout of the basement the basement is divided into two halves one for unit one which is my unit and one
for unit two which is the other unit um we're proposing to install flooring and put up a few walls to make this a more usable space for ourselves if you move on to the next
slide um I apologize One More slide um these this is the existing house the next slide is the just showing the existing conditions of the unfinished basement and then the next two slides
are the floor plan so this is the current basement there's just a utility room on one end and otherwise it's a large open space with Lolly columns in the middle um the next slide and think you for going through the slides um
shows what we're proposing so we're proposing to install a couple walls to create a half bath in a laundry area um and then enclosing a space for an office shown in the middle and a workshop on
the shown on the right hand side um and this would just be installing um stud walls drywall um drywall on the ceiling um insulating the outside and installing a wall and then installing flooring
throughout the reason that we were denied or refused by the ISD um permitting office review was for excessive floor area ratio um if you go to the next slide um
the existing um lot size is 4,400 Square fet the existing livable area is 2870 which creates a f of 65 um the allowable by zoning is 6 so it already exceeds the allowable um zoning
adding this 500 square ft of finished space in the basement as proposed would increase the floor area ratio to uh 767 um but again I'd like to reiterate that this does not change anything to the exterior of the um building and is
just finishing the existing basement space um we went through the community process and did not receive any um concerns from the community um and we do have a letter of support from our neighbors who are in unit two in the
same shared building okay great any questions from the board hearing none can I have public uh testimony is on on I think I apologize uh Madam chair
and members of the board for the record my name is Jeremy bmy my apologies my m was muted I am the Jamaica plane Community engagement specialist for the office of Neighborhood Services the applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an AB buters meeting held on January 21st with only one in attendance uh no feedback was
provided uh next they presented to jpnc the Jamaica plan neighborhood Council on February 5th where they voted to approve the proposal now we have not received any letters of uh support or opposition at this time thank you for your time in the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services would like to defer to the
board for their judgment thank you thank you and okay Madam chair I have no raised hands at the moment thank you thank you with that may I have a motion I'll put forward a motion of approval I think all the work is
internal so it it doesn't take anything away from the existing structure I have a second Sir Mr stbridge yes as we will yes here votes yes the motion carries good luck sir
thank you all very much have a great evening next we have case boa 167 8617 with the address of 62 patent Street if the applicant and where they representative pres they please PL for
the board that was the it's a uh 26 Whitmore Street I got so case boa 168
2689 the address is 26 excuse that's my uh my colleague George Mory he should be logged on I'm here Ryan okay great thank you Mr stbridge thank you Ryan um good uh good afternoon
Madam chair members of the board this is George morans I'm an attorney with the business address of 350 West Broadway in South Boston I represent the owners of this property attorney Ted Silva and his wife uh Jen um this I will go out in a limb this may be the least impactful and
most dominous in terms of zoning relief requested project that certainly I've ever handled um my clients are renovating their home uh they're currently performing Renovations under uh zoning compliant issued alt project uh this application
which resulted in the refusal letter was an amendment to that alt and it was for a small extension um of of living space of F into the basement which consists of converting an existing utility room um
into um into a bath this is a single family home uh the bathroom would contain a SAA uh it results in an F violation of 0.1 maximum F here is.3 the resultant f is
31 um there probably could have been an architectural change that would have eliminated a few square feet to reduce the size but my client being an attorney did not want anyone to feel as though there was any slight of hand here that he was trying to avoid um you know
review and scrutiny by istd and the board so he instructed his architect and and me to carry on uh because there is also a seconds sited violation which is just about as minimal in nature um the silvas are reconstructing their front
porch they're making it a little bit larger uh primarily wider but it will extend maybe a foot maybe 2 feet a little closer to the front lot line the existing porch is non-conforming with respect to the front yard setback not
the building uh just that front porch and in the Reconstruction of that porch uh they are being cited for that essentially existing front yard setback violation so that's the relief that is requested two variances for uh an almost
microscopic F violation and then for this very small um um extension of the porch not the not the horizontal um extension uh the width of the of it but just because it approaches
about by maybe a foot or a foot and a half closer to the front lot line and the only other thing I would add uh as the board considers this is I do see that the planning recommendation includes a Proviso of design review um I wouldn't presume
to um you know uh try to convince the board uh how how to how to or a member how to make a motion on this but I I I suspect strongly that that even Jeff Hampton uh would agree that design riew was probably not necessary so I just
make that as a friendly suggestion but with that I'll pause and take any question thank you any questions from the board hearing none may have public testimony Madame chair and board memb sigy Johnson with the office of Neighborhood Services uh this petitioner
completed the community process informational flyering regarding the proposal was conducted to a Butters in a 300t radius and this flyering solicited two letters of support and no other comments to our office and the proponents presented to the West rockbury neighborhood Council which is in support of this application that
background we defer to the Judgment of the board thank you you okay and uh looks like we have no additional raise hands at the moment thank you with that may I have a motion I'll put forward a motion to approve and
I agree with uh Mr Mory the changes are di Minimus and I don't see a need for design review we have a second second Mr stbridge yes Miss weo
yes chair votes yes the motion carries thank you have a good evening you too so we return to the other cases that we have n from before we go to Red discussion Madam chair or should we just go to Red discussion uh we can give one more
chance to the the folks who have not shown up yet okay then we'll return to case boa 168 4879 with the address is 22b to 22
Beacon Street if the applicant Ando their representative present they please through board uh thank you Madame chair board members Daniel Brennan here my apologies uh I was having some issues with the
link um this uh case here before you is a former Dunkin Donut space across the street from the state house um looking to have a u new coffee shop take over the space it's a conditional
use um there is a Proviso in on the Duncan Donuts uh approval so it required us to go back before the board um we did complete the community process um no
objections uh I did notice in the old decision our hours are slightly different I think there might have been a typo in the original decision they said it's 6: am to uh 8 AM um our requested hours are 5:00 a.m. to 11:
p.m. likely to be reduced uh in the evening hours uh by traffic but um for now we're we're hoping for 5:00 a.m. to 11 pm for the coffee shop understood and at this time uh the
Proviso is the only issue that you're not doing any exterior work um we are doing h a sign and Awning we actually have a Beacon Hill landmarks meeting happening right now as we speak great
thank you questions from the board hearing none may have public testimony Madam chair and board members sigy Johnson with the office of Neighborhood Services this petitioner completed the community process an informational flyer was distributed to a 300 foot radius around this address and
that flyering solicited no comments to our office with that background we defer to the Judgment of the board thank you and O Sydney yes thank you madam chair members of the board my name is Sydney I'm from councelor Flynn's office councelor Flynn would like to go on record and support based on a good Community process and feedback from
Neighbors he respectfully requests the proponent to continue to work closely with the community on Anye quality of life issues during the construction phase thank you we have no additional raise hands at the moment oh Sor I'm sorry no that was Dan's hand sorry uh I ra I raised my
hand on purpose I just wanted to clarify that um Beacon Hill Coffee Shop LLC is going to be the operating entity um but the name of it is going to be Bon b o n uh I didn't know if that factors in the decision but I did want to put that on
record as well thank you uh with that may I have a motion I'll put forward a motion um I just have a question for um the legal team do we need the Proviso updating the
hours or can we just approve as is I don't have any concerns about the houris I'm I mean it's it's up to you if you want to approve it as is you can if you want to approve it with a Proviso you can um but it's up to I think her
question is whether that affects them like whether the fact that his hours are actually different than posted like if we approve it without reiterating his hours is that an issue for him right like I just don't want to have the old hours carry for having to come back because the hours are wrong yeah yeah oh
understand so maybe Katie just just just to be on the safe side just rest restate his hours then yeah okay so I will make a motion for approval with the Proviso um with hours to update the hours
allowed from 5 AM to 11 pm did I have that right okay yes is there a second Mr stbridge yes Miss we will yes chair votes yes the motion carries good luck sir thank you
very much next we'll return to case boa 1661 158 with the address of 8 Friendship Road if the applicant and the representative were
present please to the board hi this is Anthony Watford can everyone hear me uh yes sir okay yeah um I to go back to the zoning board I had make changes to my original plan um I can share with you I
believe um so you aren't able to share screen but if you just let Madame Ambassador know what scr too right that page right there all right originally this part right here wasn't gonna be
there but according to my contractor to get the stairs to the attic area I had extend and further up I'm not going higher than the roof line I'm just going up to the roof line okay are there questions
from it's pretty straightforward um may I have public testimony yesing me nope I'm asking if there's public testimony Mr B is Mr B on or if from or anyone else sorry give me one second I'm not sure if Jeremy jumped
off thank you there it's uh eight Friendship Road is on yes yes sorry that was me speaking to my le is on he'll be on in one second okay thank you is there any other raised hands besides
ow us yeah looks like we have no raised hands at the moment I'm gonna say Mr Newman this is not controversial so if your gentleman or if your person is unable to get on in a minute I can proceed with a vote Yes
sorry madam CH let me just uh yes I am here here we go my apologies for the delay uh for eight Friendship Road Madame chair and members of the board for the record my name is Jeremy bbery I serve as the community engagement specialist for Mt pan uh the applicant
has completed the community process which consisted of an abuts meeting held on November 5th with only one in attendance no feedback was provided next the proponent presented to bnell family neighborhood association on October 19th of 2023 uh with no vote that remain neutral
thank you for your time in the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services would like to defer to the board for their judgment at this time thank you may I have a mo may I have a motion motion to approve there a second second Mr
stbridge yes M we will yes chair votes yes the motion carries I thank you thank you good luck and going back again to case boa 16755
60 or with the address of 11 C C Street if someone's present to represent this case I am my name is Mark Arseno great please uh state your name
and address for the record and proceed absolutely uh my name is Mark Arseno I live at 10 conry Crescent in Jamaica plane and I'm the project manager the volunteer project manager for the 11 C Street uh renovation
project okay please indicate please proceed absolutely do do you have the plans yeah thank you so much um perfect so we did um we did go through the community
process um over The Late in the fall basically what we're doing here is we are making accommodations for ma Rosen bomb and her son Z who grew up in this house um to move back home um and live
in the attic space so we're trying to convert the attic space into a living space it's currently a partially finished attic and we want to finish the other half the Dormer request required a variance because the setback from the
property line uh was less than allowed currently there is a dormer on the north side of the house if you see the existing conditions I'm not sure if they're shown on here or not yes uh sorry back up right there these are the
existing conditions that Dormer is currently in place what we're doing is we're building essentially a mirror image of that Dormer and joining the two with um with a uh elevated space that would allow us to put a bathroom with a
shower and a larger closet in the living space up there for Ma and her son we're not extending uh any higher than the roof line and we are actually keeping period appropriate architectural detail to the house they have other
dormers on the south side of the house and also the cly Street facing side of the house that are the same design I actually not clear on what that roof line is called I think it might be called an N Tucket Dormer um but we're matching that um so we now have that on
three of the four sides of the house great are there questions from the board hearing none may have public testimony Madame chair and members of the board for the record my name is Jeremy bbery I am the JAMA plane Community engagement specialist for the
office of Neighborhood Services the applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an abuts meeting held on January 14th where three AB his voice support and two voiced concerns regarding construction equipment and debris affecting neighborhood properties both of which were addressed during the meeting but
the abuts remained uh concerned the project then presented to Jamaica Plain neighborhood Council zoning who voted to approve the proposal we have never received any letters of opposition or support at this time thank you for your time on the mayor's office of Neighborhood Services would like to defer to the board for their
judgment thank you thank you have no additional raised hands at the moment okay with that may I have a motion motion approve is there a second second Mr
stbridge yes Miss we will yes shair votes yes the motion carries good luck great thank you so much for your help thank you for your time appreciate it with that we move on to the red discussion case scheduled for 5:00
pm this is case boa 1685 231 with the address of 36 368 to 372 West Broadway it's the applicant and or the
representable Pres please explain to the board yes thank you Mr stbridge Madame chair members of the board attorney Ryan Spitz with Adams and Mory business address of 1688 Street first floor South Boston uh joining me today is one of the applicants Jamie Moss of the Clover
Clubhouse uh by by way their background Clover Clubhouse was founded by three board members of the South Boston mums Club this proposal will be a space for families in the community to play socialize and build a thriving village within small space City living they
intend to have daily classes open Play space for birthday parties as well as Works Space classes and community events for parents to build and maintain the support they need to raise a family in the city the goal will be to serve as a go to family community spot that supports both phys physical and mental
health within walking distance for most Healy families in this subdistrict it is an MFR LS the uses considered a community use which requires a conditional use permit further the portion of this space was also non-conforming which triggers relief for
a non-conforming use change lastly we were cited for insufficient parking as the minimum parking ratio for Community Center is one space per 1,000 square ft and the site does not offer any parking however the site is well serviced by the public transit and is a mere 150 ft away
from multiple bus stops and approximately about6 miles away from Broadway Station it also aesthetically is is very similar to the neighboring business as well of not being able to provide parking um at this point in time Madam chair I'm going to turn it over to you for any questions or comments thank
you are there questions from the board hearing none may I have public testimony Madam chair and board memb sigy Johnson with the office of Neighborhood Services uh this petitioner completed the ons Community process our office hosted an abds meeting on January
29th at which there were um numerous speakers in support five speakers in support no concerns were raised the St Vincent's lower end neighborhood association is the active Civic group in this area and they are in non- opposition to The Proposal with that background we defer to the Judgment of
the board thank you thank you Cindy thank you madam chair members of the board my name is is Sydney and from councelor Flynn's office councelor Flynn would like to go on record and support based on on a good Community process and feedback from Neighbors he respectfully requested the proponent continue to work closely with the community on any
quality of life issues during the construction phase thank you we have no additional raised hands okay with that may I have a motion motion to approve I have a second second Mr
stbridge yes Miss weell yes shair votes yes the motion carries great thank you all right have a good evening everyone thank you thanks folks