Good morning. The City of Boston zoning board of appeal hearing for September 9, 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 this year. The new law allows the board
to continue its practice of holding virtual hearings through June 2027. This hearing of the board is being held remotely via the Zoom webinar event platform and is also being livereamed. 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 agenda which is posted on the not public notices page 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. In order to ensure this hearing Can you go to the next slide? If you wish to comment on an appeal,
please click the raise hand button along the bottom of your screen in the Zoom webinar platform. Click it again and your hand should go down. When the host sees your hand, you'll receive a request to unmute yourself. Select yes and you should be able to talk. If you are connected to the hearing by telephone,
please press star nine to raise and lower your hand. You must press star six to unmute yourself after you receive the request from the host. Those called upon to comment will be asked to state their name and address first and then can provide their comment.
In the interest of time and to ensure that you have enough time to do so, please raise your hand as soon as Mr. Stebridge 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. December. Good morning, Madam Chair. Present. Good morning. Miss Weo. Good morning, Madam Chair. Present. Good morning, Mr. Langum. Good morning, Madam Chair. Present. Good morning, Miss Better Brazo.
Good morning, Madam Chair. Present. Good morning. So, just a note that we are a five member board today. With that, I will turn it over to Mr. Sebridge. Thank you, Madam Chair. We'll begin with the approval of hearing
minutes. These minutes are from August 26, 2025. I'll make a motion that we approve them. There a second. Second. Mr. Sambridge. Yes. Miss Weel?
Yes. Mr. Langum? Yes. M yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Next, we will move on to the extensions scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
The extensions all seem reasonable. Um, so I'll read them all in. And we'll go from there. First, we have case BO8 609 358 with the address of 68 Parson
Street. Next we have case BOA 609 35355 with the address of 10 Parson Street. Next we have case BOA131
9563 with the address of 123 Elwood Street. Next we have case BOA 1471 1767 with the address of 556
East Broadway. Then we have case BOA1295426 with the address of 270 West 2nd Street. And finally for the extensions we have case BOA 1211031 with the address of 134 Terrace Street.
Those are the extensions for today and I will make a motion of approval. Second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss We will. Yes. Mr. Langum. Yes. Miss Brazza.
Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Next, we'll move on to the hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. As Madame Chair mentioned, we're are five member board
today. And next, we will ask if there are any requests for withdrawals orders from the 9:30 a.m. hearing. Hi, Mr. Stebridge 372K Street, please.
So that would be for case BOA 173 26 93 with the address of 372 K Street. Would you go ahead and explain? Attorney Spitz.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Stebridge. Madam Chair, members of the board, attorney Ryan Spitz with Adams and Morancey, business address of 168th Street, first floor South Boston. Uh we're here seeking a administrative deferral um on this matter. We were hoping to get an
expedited uh date um to be heard in front of a seven member board. Please do October 7th or October 28th? October 7th will be perfect. With that, may I have a motion?
A motion to grant the extension to October the 7th. Deferral. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss Weo. Yes.
Mr. Langum. Yes. Miss Bab Brazzo. Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion carries. See you then. Thank you. Are there any further requests for any further requests for withdrawal deferrals for the 9:30
hearings? Yes. Uh, good morning. I have a request for withdrawal on two cases. Okay. Can you give the address first? Uh, good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board. Uh, Luis Santana HS
Construction Consulting Services. Address is 46 and 48 FET Street. Uh, so that so those two are K. The
first is case BOA 1737368 with the address of 46 F Street. Also, we have case BOA 17373 66 with the address of 48 B Street. Would you please explain to the board
what your request? Yes. As indicated in the letter uh that we submitted to the board uh the owner after extensive community outreach uh we decided uh not to continue with the cases and with the addition and we will
only be performing integral renovations to the building in the near future. Okay. And do you still need to uh present to us on the G-COD matter? If the board allows for that uh to grant
relief on the U Gcode which will be administrative will be pursued later anyway due to the renovations. Uh that will be acceptable to us and to the owner. Caroline, can you confirm that's we can do that? Yeah, we can ex um we can move forward
on the hearing just for GOD. Okay. So with that, can I have a motion? So we're we're withdrawing everything but GCOD. Is there a motion? Oh, motion to allow withdrawal of
everything except for the G-cod. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss Weo? Yes. Mr. Langam? Yes. Brazo. Yes.
Chair votes yes. Motion carries. Thank you. So with that, um, if there are no further requests for withdrawals or deferrals, the first case is case BOA
1745517 with the address of 234 Princeton Street. If the applicant andor their representative are present, will they please explain to the board? Good morning, Madame Chair. Again, uh
members of the board, Luis Santana. I'm here on behalf of uh Phil Tamato, which is the owner of this property and who has been the owner for over 30 years. Uh this is an existing three family and we are proposing uh this three family
consist of two one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit. Our proposal is to add the rear addition at the second and third level and the rear of the building and uh also extend the living space into the basement by adding two additional
bedrooms to the first floor unit. the the goal is to maintain the parking at the first floor level and the rear underneath uh that addition. We have uh one uh zoning violation which is the
maximum uh lot coverage uh set at 60% uh in that particular area and that we will be exceeding that by about 20% or 256 square ft. Uh all the other zoning parameters are
in compliance uh including all the setbacks and uh one of the parameters which is the uh max minimum permeable area is uh existing non-conforming and we will be increasing that by removing
uh the existing concrete rear uh yard. Uh those were the existing plans. If it uh you move forward, those are the existing elevations. This this addition in the rear is not visible uh from the public way uh whatsoever. Uh as you can
see the first floor from that elevation uh is uh not affected. We are just doing the second and third. If you can please move over to the floor plans proposed conditions. Uh oh please. So again the first floor unit
uh consist of one uh single bedroom. We will be adding a bedroom at the rear with a bathroom. Uh and the uh third floor has uh uh two bedrooms presently. It will become a threebedroom uh unit. uh the first floor unit which has one
bedroom will become a three-bedroom unit by adding two additional bedrooms in the basement. We will be relocating some utilities and we will comply with all the uh means of egress required uh for the bedrooms on the lower level. Uh with
that I conclude my presentation. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. Thank you. Thank you. Are there questions from the board? Hearing none may have public testimony. Hello, Madam Chairman board. My name is Eva Jones representing the mayor's office of neighborhood services regarding 234 Princeton Street. Our
office defers to the board's judgment on this matter. A community process was conducted including an abutters meeting held on May 12th of this year that was very lightly attended by community members and no feedback or concerns were expressed. The applicant was connected with the Eagle Hill Neighborhood Association and they are in
communication. At this time, the mayor's office of neighborhood services defers with the board's judgment on this matter. Thank you for your time and consideration everyone. Madame chair there are no additional comments. Okay with that. May I have a motion? Motion to approve.
Is there a second? Braza second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Misswell? Yes. Mr. Lang? Yes. Miss Berza? Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries.
Good luck. Thank you. Next we have case BOA with two companion case. Case BOA 173 7368 with the address of 46 F Street.
Along with that we have case BOA 173 7366. And again these cases are We're going to for only only for the G-COD portion only G-COD and any testimony should be
limited to GCOD related comments. Thank you. The applicant and or their representative present. Will they please explain to the board? Yes. Good morning. This is the case
that I previously indicated that we will be withdrawing and the board just uh had a motion to approve the G-code only and uh extract all the other variances from this uh request. Uh I I will I will be
happy to elaborate on both of them. We do have uh the no harm letter and Boston water and sewer approval for the G-code component of this case. Um and so Mr. Simmonelli on can you confirm? Yes, madam chair. Good morning members
of the board. Christian Simmonelli, Boston groundwater trust. We have both um boss want to ensure approval letters and no harm letters for 46 and 48 FET street. Great. Thank you. Thank you. So if there is any public testimony,
please limit it to GCOD. We are only addressing GCOD at this time. Is there is there anyone who'd like to speak? Madame Chair, we have two hands raised. Um, the first one is Chris Godu. Please,
you can proceed. Chris, can you Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Um I am the a butter at for at 50 Fat Street and my question about this G-COD is that um we have a problem with the groundwater infiltration system that
was designed. Um and I had hired an attorney and an arborist to do a discussion about whether or not that was a problem. When they withdrew this appeal, there was no indication this would be an issue that was going to be raised. So, I would ask for a continuence so that um if this something
that my attorney uh thinks is uh improper and is going to harm the tree in our backyard, I'd like to have further discussion about that. Thank you, Sydney. Morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. This is Sydney from Councelor Flynn's office. Councelor Flynn sent a
letter to the board this morning through email and he wants to go in record of opposition at this time. Thank you. Well, opposition not to the G-Cod though. Thank you. Uh I don't know if Mr. Simmonelli, you want to just comment quickly on that first comment?
Yes, Madam Chair. Um so these systems are obviously approved by the Boston Water and Sewer Commission. There's a submission to the commission by the applicant. There's then a comment period. Um the commission reviews the location of the system to ensure that it's properly located certain amount of
feet away from a building. Uh obviously the intention of the uh system is to not cause any harm to uh existing or abuing properties. Um in addition the no harm letter stipulates this is not going to be any harm to groundwater levels on
site or adjacent lots. Um the no harm letter address is not the recharge system but that the work being accomplished is not going to have a negative impact on the groundwater table. Um, I can just say that that in our experiences with systems that have been installed, I haven't heard
anecdotally of any issues that that trees have been affected um or have died or anything like that as far as any negative impact. But um again, I can just go on the letters that I have and again the no harm letter coupled with the water and sewer approval is what we
have to go on at this point and you know I feel comfortable having that having those. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Santana. Really quickly, yes. I I just want to emphasize madame chair that uh this if we don't go
through this approval uh today uh this will be it is required uh to have the infiltration system and it will be triggered because of the interior renovations which means that uh if we are not approved today we will have to go through the administrative uh hearing
for the GC court at a later date and there is no community participation on that uh administrative hearing ex exclusively for the G-cot. Uh the other thing is that uh this is a very shallow uh system and uh we will take uh
the owner has promised to take care or even make adjustments to the location of that infiltration system need be if any of the adjacent trees or the root system of those trees will be affected in any way. So we would be happy to work with
the butter in order to uh make those adjustments if they are necessary. But as Mr. Simonelli indicated, these systems are required in order to protect the adjacent structures. Thank you. With that, may I have a motion? Madam Chair, I'd like to put forward a
motion of approval for Gcodi. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Sp. Yes. Miss Weo, yes. Langum, yes. Raza, yes. Chair votes yes. Motion carries.
Thank you. The next case has been deferred. So that will take us to case BOA 1 170 3901 with the address of 1891 Columbus
Avenue. If the applicant and or their representative are present, would they please explain to the board? Hi, my name is um Eugina Watson. I'm not sure of the protocol. So, good morning, Madame Chair, and all the other dignitaries. Um I had literally about
1891 Columbus app there. Ma'am, we're not on that case right now. Oh, okay. That's why I was confused. Thank you. Oh. Oh, sorry. You're Well, you were not on the comments right now. So, can the is the applicant available?
Is the applicant present? I don't see any a I a auto repair. No, I don't see anyone on behalf. Okay, we're going to keep going then. Norm, you're on mute.
Bill was having some technical difficulties on this. Okay. Um, next we have case BOA 173 53 06 with the address of 147
Harvard Street. If the applicant ended or their representative for this case is present, they please explain to the board. All right. Michael and Jeron, I don't know if you're for this case. Good morning. Sorry about that.
Are you for 147 Harvard Street? Yes, my name is Michael Vanam. Uh, I am an attorney for the applicant. Uh, and uh, I'm here, but I'll I'll um, you know, kind of uh, pass the the torch to uh, Jennifer How, who's the architect as
well on this uh, this application. But I will start out before I hand it over to her. Um, this this is an application uh needed needs to go to the ZBA based on uh some some article 60
section 9 uh issues with the uh the lot area and other things uh front and some setback and and height that are uh stated in your um in in the letter on May 8th. So, I'll turn it over to Miss Ha.
Hello, Madam Chair and the board. Uh, my name is Jennifer Ha, the principal architect at Hugh Architecture located at 53H Harvard Street in Dorchester. I'm actually just down the street from the pro from this project that I'll be presenting tonight, which is 147 Harvard Street. Um, there this is a if you look
at the first page, this is a locust map of the site showing that the project is a 5-minute walk from Fairmont Commuter Rail, Talbat uh station. Um and then the next page can see um here. So basically we have a aerial sketch as well showing
the building massing um that's on the second page but um which is fits um it shows that the massing fits uh in scale compared to the neighboring buildings. There you go. Thank you. Um the site is 3565 ft measuring around 47 ft x 75 ft. It is
a 3F5000 zone. It is a butting a church to the east, a vacant city lot to the west, and a three family to its rear. Um, across the street are some triple deckers and commercial mixeduse buildings. And the
next page, thank you. The proposal is to build a new 4unit dwelling with four ongrade parking spaces. The building is of four stories with large windows and balconies facing Harvard Street. Here is the proposed driveway um coming in with
uh two parking spaces along the side of the building and two in the rear. Um and then this is the next page is a certified plot plan done by the surveyor. We don't anticipate needing to remove any existing trees on the lot for the project. Uh on the next page the variances that we are asking. Um I think
that Michael has uh I can walk through these but let's let's go to the design. Um page nine. Okay. Yes. the the plans. The first floor and the second floor units are identical. Each unit will host three bedrooms and two bathrooms and an open kitchen dining living space. The
third floor and fourth floor will host by level units. One unit will be two-bedroom and one bathroom and the other unit will be three bedrooms and 2 and 1 half bathrooms. There is no proposed basement for the project. The three bed bedroom units range from 1,00
to,200 square ft. The two-bedroom unit size is 914 square ft. The next page, please. Thank you. The facade is a modern design with a combination of dark gray and wood tones. We are specifying wood painted poly sighting along with
great hardy lap siding uh with painted steel balcony railings. Um when we are proposing, we can go to the next slide. Thank you. We are proposing landscaping and plantings in the front and side of the building to buffer the parking. Um, we designed a p private front balconies
for the three of the four units facing Harvard Street. And we think the beautiful large windows facing Harvard Street offers an attractive and desirable neighborhood appeal towards the commercial street. Um, and that is the end of presentation.
Thank you. Are there any questions from the board? Hearing none, may I have public testimony? Madame chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I'm the George community engagement specialist for the office of neighborhood services. The applicant has completed the community process which
consisted of an abuters meeting facilitated on July 8th where one abut voiced concerns regarding the proposed height of the project while others inquiries were addressed. Following the abuters meeting, no further community process was required and to date our office has not received any letters of opposition or support. Thank you for
your time and the mayor's office of neighborhood services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. Thank you madam chair. There are no additional comments. With that, may I have a motion? Madam Chair, I'll put forward a motion
of approval with BPDA design review um to look at the uh site planning. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Sbridge? Yes. Miss Leo? Yes. Mr. Langum?
Yes. Miss Better Brazo? Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, members. Next, we have K Boa 1701232
with the address of 411 to 413 Washington Street. If the applicant andor their representative are present, would they please explain to the board? Uh, Mr. Stebridge. Thank you. Good morning, Madame Chair and members of the board. Timothy Fraser from the law firm
of Dne Torpy, 175 Federal Street in Boston. Uh along with me is Dr. Jacqueline Rivers, who represents the property owner Isuza Christian Community. Uh as well as Shannon Burrington of Studio Troa, the project architect. This appeal involves property
at 411 to 143 Washington Street in Dorchester. It's in the Four Corners neighborhood. The church has owned this building since 1992, uh, which not only operates as a place of worship, but also is the site out of which operates the LJ Baker House.
That's a faith-based organization that works with atrisisk youth in the community on violence reduction and academic programming. Uh, in 2007, a fire did extensive damage to the building. However, the church continued to provide that youth programming on a
reduced basis uh as the conditions allowed in the remaining portion of the building. Uh but now the church is seeking to completely renovate the building into a place of worship and add certain state-of-the-art elements where they'll continue to operate the mission
of the LJ Baker House. Uh in addition to the services provided to date, the new building includes a high-tech music studio and a cutting edge computer center and other modern improvements to attract the youth and to continue the work of this organization for the community. Uh the project does give rise
to four variances. Uh the first is height. Uh we're in a 2F5000 zoning district where the maximum height is 2.5 stories. The existing building is three stories and the project doesn't propose to add any additional stories. Uh but we do require a variance for that
historical code violation. Uh there's also a sideyard setback violation. The sideyard setback is 10 ft. Uh the existing building is already right on the property line, not uncharacteristic for this neighborhood. Um so our project does require a variance for that historical code violation.
Uh with regard to the rear yard setback violation, we're proposing to add, and you can see it right there actually in that picture on the right, a small addition um to uh accommodate an elevator shaft to make the building uh ADA compliant. Current currently, it's
not. Uh and then looking at the shape of the lot, and I think there's a plot plan signed somewhere uh in here. Um you'll see uh that that that slide actually works right there. you'll see that the the shape of the lot um the rear yard violation would be measured actually from that uh closest piece to the to the
rear of the building. Um we have almost 80 feet to the actual rear yard line. Um but because of the shape of this lot, the rear yard is calculated um and we're at 21 ft. We require 30. Um and then the next violation, actually you can stay right on that slide, you'll see that
there are two uh parking spaces to the rear of the building there. 288 compliant parking spaces and then there'll be an additional space for a staff member or or Sunday uh the pastor. Um the that that that rear lot is actually accessed by way of an easement
right on the the next door. So that's what triggers that violation. That easement is deed. Uh it is perpetual. Uh but we do need a variance to approve the continued use of that easement to access those two parking spaces in the rear. And then finally, there's an F violation
again, which is not uncharacteristic uh for a project of this type uh in this neighborhood. Um the applicant conducted a robust community process in conjunction with the mayor's office of neighborhood services to communicate the project to the community and other
stakeholders. Uh specifically, in April 2025, we presented the project to the Greater Chamberlain Chamberlain Neighborhood Association. And I believe there's a support letter on file from Greater Chamberlain. And then in May, we held an abutters meeting as well as met with the United Neighborhood Association
and I believe there's a letter of support on file from uh United Neighborhood Association as well. And the Office of Neighborhood Services then determined that those meetings sufficed as the required community engagement. Um so we're here today before the board to request that the aforementioned
variances be granted. So that concludes my presentation, but I do want to make Shannon Burrington of Studio Troya available to answer any questions about the project design and technical specifications. And as I stated, Dr. Rivers is also uh on the line to answer any questions about the programming or
services provided. Uh so with that, I'll take questions from the board. Thank you. Are there questions from the board? Hearing none, may I have public testimony? Madame chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I am the Doorchester community engagement specialist for the
office of neighborhood services. The applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an abuters meeting facilitated on May 13th with two abutters in attendance. A few inquiries were made regarding the community's ability to use the facility and were addressed during the meeting. No concerns or opposition were raised
during the meeting. Next, the proposal was presented to United Neighbors Association and Greater Chamberlain Neighborhood Association. The proposal was well received by both civics and with no concern or opposition was approved to move forward. To date, two letters of support were mentioned but were not received by our office at this
time to my knowledge although they may have been sent directly to the building board. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office of neighborboard services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. Mr. Bey, quick question. We we we did not just a comment and a question. We did not receive those two letters that uh were mentioned, but we did receive
one from Mount Bodwin Betterment Association and four four corners neighborhood association. Is that an abuter to this project? Uh I am not aware of those two associations
are abunders. I am only aware of the United Neighbors Association and Greater Chamberlain Neighborhood Association. I can take a look and to see if that uh if they do they are the required requested civic. Madam Madam Chair, I have a question for the
question for the applicant. Um so it sounds like no how this this property has not been used for housing recently. That that's correct. Um to my knowledge since 1992 when it was acquired by the current owner Isuza Church, it it has
never been used for housing. Okay. Absolutely. Will not be as part of this. So there will be no loss of housing units. That That's correct, Mr. Stridge. No loss of housing units. Thank you. Further. Okay. Let's return to public testimony.
Uh Dimote Gimmon is your turn. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Uh my name is Timothy Gimman. I am from the office of District 4 city councelor Brian Warell. Uh we'd like to go on record uh in support of this project. Um the
applicant did uh meet with Greater Chamberlain uh Neighborhood Association uh and Una as was uh recorded. Uh and I did receive confirmation from Greater Chamberlain last night that they are again in uh support of this project. They did not mention a letter um but we
do have that email I can send over as well that they are they're in support of this project and with that uh the council appreciates uh the continued effort to keep communication up with the butters and with that he is in support. Thank you very much. Thank you
uh Mr. Bry. Uh yes ma'am. I have confirmed that the Greater Four Corners Association uh and the Cognable Association are within the voting area of that uh proposal. Thank you. Thank you. Any other raised hands?
No, we don't have any additional comments. Okay. Any other questions from the board? Hearing none. Is there a motion? Put forward a motion of approval.
Is there a second? Second. Are you on mute, Mr. Snippers? Uh, no. Oh. Okay. I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Miss Weel. Yes.
Mr. Langum. Yes. Miss Better Barza? Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you members of the board. Next we have case BOA
sorry uh BOA 169 8254 with the address of 26 North Street if the applicants andor their representative present they please. Um good morning members of the board. My
name is Michelle Bulier. I am here representing Chris Petiti, homeowner of 26 Norton Street, Hide Park. Mr. Petiti is here with me. Um, Chris purchased his home and pre-existing sheds at 26 Norton in October of 2022. The two sheds on his
property appear on his home inspection report. After buying the property, he found that the sheds were built too close to his property line. He has been working with ISD and now seeks consideration from this board. The two sheds are small and are in keeping with his neighborhood. There is no opposition
to his request that we are aware. Mr. Petiti asks that the board issue a variance with respect to the setback requirements and allow his sheds to stand nearer than 4 feet to his lot line. He is further asking that the board wave the requirement for a certified plot plan and accept the
certified New England land survey uh plan and the revised plan provided which contain his shed. his sheds and allow ISD to use these drawings to have the sheds plotted or added to its property. Should the board allow this request, we
will recommend that the civil action filed against him concerning the two sheds in the Boston Housing Court be dismissed and we will follow through with with ISD um following this hearing with the board's decision. Thank you for your consideration.
Okay. Are there questions from the board? I would just ask why why they have not engaged a surveyor or to um so the the the mortgage inspection plan
was certified and the the sheds were easily drawn to the plan and it would be a financial burden on the homeowner to um to have another survey and we would argue unnecessary. It it it was the
cheapest um way around it was a $3,500 survey, which could have um been a little bit more than that. So, it it was looking around $5,000 to have that accomplished. So, we were trying to avoid that. Okay. It's just unclear to me whether we
have the authority to wave required documents um to allow the landscape plan. I believe we were told at ISD that the um even ISD has that if the board
doesn't have the authority ISD has the authority they provided us with a memo giving granting um them that authority uh to wave that part of it. So I don't think we need that from the board. what they um were unable to wave in their
planning department was the setback technically I think. Okay. Right. Okay. I thought I just heard you say we needed you needed authority from us to I did ask that so I shouldn't have because I think already comfortable with that.
Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? I have public testimony. Madame chair and members of the board. For the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I am the Hide Park community engagement specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has completed the community process. Due to
the nature and simplicity of the proposal, a full community process was not required, and an Office of Neighborhood Services notification flyer was sent out to a Buddhist to notify them of the proponent's intent, but with no community feedback received, the proposal was allowed to move forward. Next, the proposal was presented to Reedville Neighborhood Watch Group on
June 19th, where they voted to approve the proposal. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office of neighborhood services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Chair. There are no additional comments. Okay. With that, may I have a motion?
Madam Chair, I'll put for a motion uh to approve the relief um as noted for accessory buildings inside and reards. There a second. Second, Mr. Sbridge. Yes. Miss Wo, yes.
Mr. Langham, yes. Miss Better Barza, yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you so much. So, I'm I'm guessing from this there are some technical issues. Would the would a
res would a um break be useful to resolve this or Caroline? Um, let's see. Could we give it just like two minutes? I'm guessing um the internet maybe is
unstable because I know um Norman and I have had similar issues. Hi, this is Jean. I'm sorry. We're having a bit of te technical difficulties and if you could just give us like two minutes, we should be able to get that back on again. Okay. Okay. So, why don't we take a five
minute break so people can do what they may need and we'll be right back. How's that? Thank you. Thank you. Recording stopped. All right, let me share my screen. Patience recording in progress.
I do have a quick question, Jean. I have something popped up on my box that says Tanium patch notification. The city of Boston endpoint team has applied patches. Da da da. Do I need to? It says restart or postpone.
Um, can let me ask Cameron. I'm not really sure what that message is. Hold on just one second and let me ask. Otherwise, I'm just going to close it and pray it doesn't shut me down. Okay. Yeah, close it and see what happens. Sher, hope. Okay. Well, if we shut down uh unexpectedly, that that could be why.
Yeah, this has been a day for sure. Thank you so much. I appreciate your patience, everyone. Thank you. All right, so let's uh resume a quick roll call. Mr. Steambridge present. Madam J. Miss Weell present.
Mr. Langam present. Better Braza present. Okay. A reminder that we are a five member board. Mr. Sbridge. Yes madam chair. So we will
we'll start off with case BOA 169 91 03 with the address of 61 Ponet Street. If the applicants and or their representative are present, they please
explain if you support. Are you hereent? Yes, I'm here to present. Okay. Um um good morning board. My name is Henry Imoin. I'm the owner of um Six Map Ponet Street. I bought the property
back in September 15th, 2024. Um it was sold to me as a two family. um when I um tried to go get a permit um to renovate it because the property was extensively deabilitated,
but I noticed like the attic was finished like an apartment and so was the basement. So when I went to get a permit um to fix it, I found out that it was actually a T family. It was um approved for a T family back on 15th,
1946. Even if it was sold to me as a two family, I discovered that it was a three family and I, you know, I uh decided to get a a permit um to fix it up to make it legal to make it into a legal for
family. The basement was also partially finished and uh when I applied for the permit um they said I because of the setbacks um to make it to a four family um it was denied that I have to go um in front of the zoning board. I have
completed a a um site survey um Boston um survey did the survey there's a huge garage behind the building that I'm going to be bringing down to create more room for parking. So, all the apartments are going to have parking in the backyard and on the side of the
building. So, that's why I'm here. I already submitted um the uh documents from the architect um that redesign um the interior. So, I'm just hoping that you guys um approve it for me so I can um start my renovation.
Thank you. So, just to confirm, your uh renovations are interior only. You're not adding to the footprint. No, I'm not adding to the foot the footprint. But in the exterior, the house is extensively deopilitated. I'm
going to put uh the deck has to be redone um in all floors and then vinyl siding and the roofing all has to be done. Thank you. Questions from the board? Hearing none. May I have public testimony?
Madam Chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. and the Hide Park community engagement specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has completed the community process which consisted of a well- attended abundance meeting held on May 12th with congestion and parking concerns voiced multiple
times. A buddy congested neighborhood would be overwhelmed with the additional units and requested they provide off streetet parking instead. Other concerns were for the upkeep of the property and whether it would become a rooming house. uh when a voter did suggest uh state
that he would like to not see it become a rooming house in the future. Following the aboters's meeting on June 11th, a proposal was presented to Edgewater Neighborhood Association where the vote where they voted neutral on the proposal and approved to move forward. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office of neighborhood services would like to
defer to the board for their judgment. Thank you, Madam Chair. There are no additional comments. Okay, any other questions from the board? Hearing none. May I have a motion? Madam Chair, I'd like to put forward a
motion of approval. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Sambridge. Yes. Miss We Mr. Langum. Mr. Langum. Uh, he he appears to be frozen.
He's frozen. Mr. Langam, I don't if you can hear me, you might want to turn off your video. Okay, Mr. Langum, we need a vote from you. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Stebridge. I mean, sorry, Miss Better Barza. Yes.
Votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you so much. Next we have case BO872 9779 with the address of 59 Wells Hill
Street. If the applicant and andor their representative are present, would you please explain to the board? Yes, Mr. Stembridge. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. Thank you for granting us the time to be heard regarding this appeal for 59 Weld Hill
Street. My name is Justin Burns. I'm an attorney with Pulini and Norton business address 10 Forbes Road, Brainree, Massachusetts. I'm here on behalf of the project proponent, Anthony Chaitton, and also with me today is David Frerieded, the project architect. Uh the proposal before you today is to construct a
three-story, three family apartment building at 59 Weld Hill Street, which is currently which currently houses a pair of garage structures. Uh each of the three units in this new construction would be a three bed, twob unit with an average unit size of 1,2 just under
1,200 square ft. Two parking spaces would be provided in the rear of the lot for residents. And I also want to add that this would be an owner occupied building as Mr. Chaitton intends to reside in one of the units. Uh the proponent sees this as an opportunity to bring additional housing to the area by
utilizing an underused and rather uh overgrown lot. Uh the three family use is not only zoning compliant but well within the context of this area as over 70% of the structures on the street are three family unit uh three family dwellings. Our small lot size which we
see as the root cause for most of our violations is also within context in the surrounding neighborhood. Uh though the required lot area for a three family in the subd district would be 7,000. Uh most of the lots on Weld Hill barely even have half of that amount of u lot space. Uh, in fact, per our research,
all but one of the properties on Weld Hill Street would have an F violation if they were to built be built as new constructions under the current code. So, we feel that despite the number of violations incurred, our proposal is perfectly in line with what exists in the neighborhood. And I would also note that the uh the BPDA recommendation
feels the same. Um, a quick note on our community process. This underwent a full robust community process within a Butters meeting and a meeting with the JPNC who I believe filed a letter of support with the board. Uh and with that I will turn it over to David Freed to quickly run through the plans and I'm happy to answer any questions
afterwards. Thank you. Well, thank you very much Justin. Um Madame Chair and members of the board, my name is David Frerieded and I'm an architect at Chu & Company. The address of One Billings Road, Quincy, Massachusetts 02171.
Um, if you could go back to the um, uh, two pages to the front elevation, please. Um, I'm sorry, just go back to the plans to the first floor plan and second floor plan, A11. Thank you so much. Um,
Justin already elaborated about um, the setbacks and our zoning violations. I'll just quickly take you through the plans. Um, we have a um, an owner occupied three family that's three bedrooms, two baths. Uh we organized uh the living
space so that that front did the street and the corner and we set the bedrooms in the back. Um if we go to the next plan please. Um when we go to the second and third floors the units get uh a little larger at 1,200 ft each. And if you could please move up to sheet
A21. One more sheet please. A21. Thank you. Um we raised the building to um so that our first floor was in line with the the um abunding buildings so that we had a um the same relationship and um to
facilitate um um uh handicap access to the um first floor unit as it's a group one unit. We have a lift that is um incorporated into the first four deck. Um, next slide, please.
Um, because this is buil a building that's on a corner, we tried to um address the uh the other front on on on what as a front rather than as a side. And we also um conceived of this as a as
a three family with a flat roof. So, so as to bookend Wuset on each end as there's an existing three family on the opposite side of of Wuset. Um, next next page please. Uh, this is a side elevation as seen
from the budding house number 57 and we have a small rear yard. We'll have a couple parking spaces. Next slide, please. And that may be the end of the presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Are there questions from the board?
I have I have one question. Um Oops. I don't know why my camera went off. I have one question regarding I on the Google images. I see this really beautiful um like large oak tree. Um but I'm not seeing that on your survey plot
plan. Uh is that oak tree on your property? Uh yes, the oak tree. Sorry. Uh David, if you want to speak. I was just going to ask them to call up the plot plan. I think it is shown on the plot plan. Yeah, I believe so as well.
Yeah, you can go back to see. Yeah. Yeah. But yes, on your property. Yeah. And um can you zoom in on that? Showing me where where it is. Okay. But it's showing it as if it's um
it's built into the garage. It's growing growing out of the garage and the retaining wall. Okay. Um it it looks like a very large healthy tree from the image. Are you you're going to be removing that tree?
Um so that so that was the is the initial plan. Um and the community raised similar concerns about the oak tree. Many members of the on Well, Weld Hill Street um you know they have a great appre appreciation for the tree and as does the uh the proponent. Um, so we are more than happy to uh work with
BPDA design review should we be approved to look for solutions to be able to maintain the tree. As David said, it's currently growing into one of those garage structures in the rear. Its roots have grown through the wall and it's sort of leaning on it for support. Um, but we're more than happy to explore options through design review to try to
keep it because we have heard uh extensively the community's uh you know wanting to preserve the tree. So we definitely are open to any uh any solutions to try to keep it on. Okay, that sounds good. Just because these trees around this these neighborhoods are over 100 years old, so sounds good.
Thank you. Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments from the board? I have public testimony. Madam Chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I'm the Jamaica Plan community engagement specialist of the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has
completed the community process which consisted of an abuters meeting facilitated on June 23rd with many of his votes and concern for maintaining the trees on the property and affordability. Abut has agreed they would like to see the large tree on the property remain as well as an affordable unit to adjust affordability as the city
is in need of affordable housing. An inquiry on the properties with smaller violations was also with excuse me with similar violations was also addressed during the meeting on July 16th. The proposal was presented to Jamaica Plane Neighborhood Council Zoning Committee where they voted to approve and support
the proposal under the condition of a design review. To date, our office has been informed of a support letter but has not been received at this time. It may have been sent to the zoning board directly. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office of neighborhood services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. Thank you.
Um, Madame Chair, there are no additional comments. Okay. With that, is there a motion? Madam Chair, I'd like to put forward a propo um a motion of approval with a provisal that the project undergoes BPD
design review paying special attention to the preservation of that uh large tree at the rear and also um site planning review to address some of the concerns and the recommendation as it relates to uh sideyard on wood and um
the open space uh to replace the park the proposed parking. Is there a second? Second. Second. Mr. Sbury. Yes. Miss Weo? Yes.
Mr. Langum? Yes. Brazo? Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Thank you. Next we have case BOA 173754 with the address of 3815 Washington
Street. If the applicant and their representative are present, would they please explain to the board? Hi there. Um my name is uh Scott Given. Uh madam chair and members of the board, thank you for having um us here today. Um I am the founder and executive
director of the Croft School. Um we are a small independent private school located at uh 3815 Washington Street in Jamaica Plane. Um we opened our school in 2020, September 2020. Um we have
grown quickly over the last 5 years. We have about 240 students today uh primarily from the city of Boston. About 40% of our students are students of color. About 60% of our students receive financial support to be able to access our school. We're currently a preschool
through grade five school. We'll be adding grade six this coming school year. Um we are here today because um our building um the way it's zoned um has a uh school is a conditional use
above the first floor. Um and if you on the slides want to go to um yeah page seven is probably would make sense. Um um I I think I can talk over this and if there's specific questions about the
design um we can go to those but um schools conditional use above the ground floor back in 2001 uh uh 21 uh we sought to change um the use on the second floor of the building um into allow a school
to operate there and that um effort through this same process was successful. ful. Um, so we've continued to expand our student population over the last several years. Um, and now, um, we are we've worked out an agreement
with the building owner, um, to lease, uh, space on the third floor of the building as well. Um, where we would put three additional classrooms. Um, that will allow us to complete kind of the full enrollment of the school in this
one building. Um but uh we need uh zoning approval to do so and I believe the the technical term would be we need an extension of uh of non-conforming use um from my understanding. Um just a couple of quick things. Um teacher in
terms of parking and traffic flow, our teachers use off-site parking. Um we have a really broad range of arrival time and dismissal time um and very closely managed um traffic flows. Um and
there's kind of been uh minimal to zero kind of interruption of traffic in the area even as we've grown into a 240 student school today. Um and I would say that the school is really beloved by our families um and and by the neighborhoods
that we we serve as well. Um, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be here and thank you. Thank you. Are there questions from the board? Hearing none, may I have public testimony? Madame chair and members of the board. For the record, my name is Jeremy
Benbury. I'm the Jamaica Plane community engagement specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an ABUS meeting facilitated on June 23rd with many ABUS voicing concern for maintaining the Excuse me, I do apologize.
Uh the community process was consisted of a butters meeting facilitated on June 26th with one of butter in attendance who spoke very highly of the proposal. The proponent and the school with how helpful and loved they are in the neighborhood. On July 16th uh the Jamaican plane neighborhood council
zoning committee voted to approve this project as well. To date, our office has not received any letters of opposition or support. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office neighborhood services would like to defer to the board for their judgment. Minor. Uh, thank you. Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board. This is
Minina Perez, executive director for the carpenter and labor management program. Uh, first we want to say kudos to the proponent for the great mission, great work being done with this organization. Uh, it is greatly appreciated by our
hundreds of members that live and work in the city of Boston. And simply we want to remind them about the importance of hiring uh responsible contractors to perform any work. Thank you so much. We're in favor of it. Okay. Thank you.
Madame Chair, with that we don't have additional the hands raised at the moment. Okay. I have a motion. Madam Chair, can I ask a question? I'm sorry I didn't bring this up. Um what's the what's the the parking situation for the school currently? like how many
parking spaces do you have? Yeah, this used to be a grocery store. Um, so there's a large parking lot adjacent to the school. Um, if I had to estimate how many on-site parking spots there would be, it would be about 30 to 35. Um,
and that is that used for the school? It's used for the school. It's used, it's not used by our teachers. It's just used by families for drop off and pickup. And we have a process where for older students it's kind of a drop and go. So, it's really just used by
preschool and prek families um for So, I would just I would just advocate as um as you grow because you're you know that it's growing that you you're right next to the Forest Hills T-top
like walking distance and if there's a way that you can um also look istically like what is the impact along that corridor and what you can do as as a school to promote um using transportation walkable
uh modes that would relieve a lot of impact in the neighborhood as you grow. Just because you're expanding internally doesn't mean that you don't have an impact outside of outside of the building. So I I would just encourage you to look at
that um uh as a plan. Thanks. We'll have further questions. Thank you. With that, is there a motion? I'd like to perform a motion of approval. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge?
Yes. Miss Weo? Yes. Mr. Langum? Yes. Miss Bzazzo? Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you. Next we have case BOA
172 99941 with the address of 34 Atlanta Street. If the applicant and or the representative are present, would they please explain to the board? Good morning, Madam Chair, members of
the board. My name is Ivan Hernandez. Um the uh proposed project is uh consist of expanding uh an existing single family uh house um small singlestory. Uh we're
adding uh this here shows the existing floor plans of the house. It's uh basically consists of a basement area with a small first floor footprint and then a uh halfstory attic space above
that's uh currently finished. Um if you go on to the next page, you'll see the existing elevations of the house um and what it currently looks like. On the upper left side, you have the front or right side on the right and then um rear
elevation on the lower left and then the left elevation on the uh bottom right. Um if you go on to the next page, you'll see the proposed floor plans. Um the um as I said, the house um and is going is
being expanded uh upwards. So there is no change in the uh footprint of the basement with the exception of that we are expanding or extending uh the foyer entry space forward by 4 ft. Um
so the uh the first plant on the left is the uh basement plan. Uh we are also doing a minor um expansion of the existing garage. The second floor plan is um shows the proposed uh second level and then uh upper level. This here shows
you the front elevation of the u the house uh from the street view what the proposed house would look like. Uh the side elevations and the uh rear elevations. There are very similar properties on on the street and um and the area there that are are very similar
to this the house. Um that's you pretty much the scope of work in the upper post works. Thank you. Other questions from the board. Hearing none. May I have public testimony? Good morning, Madam Chair and board members. Sigy Johnson with the mayor's
office of neighborhood services. This petitioner completed the ONS community process. Our office hosted an abutters meeting on June 25th at which no concerns were raised. The petitioner presented to the West Roxbury Neighborhood Council which voted to support the application. With that background, our office defers to the
judgment of the board. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. There are no additional comments. Okay, with that, may I have a motion? I'd like to make a motion to approve. There a second. Second,
Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss Wow. Yes. Mr. Langum. Yes. Miss Better Brazo. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next we have case BOA
172 9343 with the address of 82 Oakland Street. The applicant andor their representative present. Is there please to the board? Yes. Good morning madam chair and members of the board. My name is Thomas
McMahon. I'm here with my mother, Vera McMahon, who is the property owner at 82 Oakland Street. Thank you very much for providing us the opportunity to put on our appeal. Um, we are proposing we are proposing a change of occupancy from single family to a two family
residence with a new 26x 42 ft rear edition to serve as the second unit as permitted as the submitted plans. The modest conversion would allow me to return to Brighton where I have a deep family roots and long-standing connection to the Brighton community. My
goal is to establish a multi-generational living arrangement. I would reside in one unit with my family and my mother would reside in the other unit. This would allow me to care for her and to continue to support one another while staying engaged in and
contributing to the neighborhood. I grew up in Brighton and I continue to work at a local university and I provide volunteer services in Brighton community with veterans. The proposed changes will not alter the overall footprint or scale of the existing structure. I'm committed
to preserving the architectural character of the home and ensuring the design remains consistent with nearby properties. I believe this proposal supports the city goals of increasing housing flexibility and keeping families together in Boston. I have also
proactively um communicated and reached out to my neighbors um around the project and gracefully received their support. While I understand this request use is not currently allowed as of right, I respectfully ask the board to consider granting us the necessary
variance. The proposed use in keeping with the residential neighbor uh nature of the neighborhood and is consistent with similar multifamily homes in the vicinity. Um so if we want to review the floor plan here, uh this looks this is the basement
here. So that's going to be the 26x 42 foot basement uh which is basically going to be for HVAC and mechanical purposes. So we're looking at the new proposed addition there. Um this is basically the
top down floor plan. Uh to the right is the existing structure and to the left would be the proposed addition the 26x 42 ft addition that would be connected by a 10- ftx 12t breezeway. Um
on the first uh I think yeah that's still the basement on the left. Can we go to the next slide please? Uh okay so this would be the south view elevation. um looking from the backyard down into
the property and then on the right hand side this is the cutout view. So we're proposing uh basement first floor and second floor which is stays within the same footprint as the existing property.
If we go to the next slide, okay, this would be the westside elevation here of the home. Um you can see the existing structure is on the left. Um it would be connected to the new structure by the by the breezeway. And then at the very tail end
of the property, we're proposing to put on a deck on the first floor and um on the second floor. Go to the next slide. This would be the the east side elevation here. So on the
right hand side is the existing property. the existing structure. Um, as you walk in again into the backyard, so there is a driveway in front of that existing structure there. As you walk in, you could see the 10 x 12t
breezeway. Um, the door on the right would be to to the existing unit. The door on the left would be um to the new unit. And then this would be our front entryway here. Next slide. Okay, here. This looks like Yep. This
looks like the first floor elevation. Let me just zoom in a little bit. So, first floor typical Oh, no. This looks like the second floor. So on the second floor proposing two bedrooms and two bathrooms and on the first floor here proposing um
kitchen, living room and a bedroom with a bathroom. So I think overall we're looking at uh three bedrooms and three bathrooms for this particular unit. So I think the variances here the two
article 51 section 8 um was because the area is zoned as a single family. Um so we're although to the right of us is a two family and to the left of us is a two family and immediately on our left
hand side um our footprint would be equivalent to the existing property right next door to us. Uh the other article was sideyard insufficient. So, we're looking at anywhere from 7 feet 7 in of clearance
um on the west side and we have uh almost 10 ft of clearance on the right side. And that finishes my my overview. Thank you, sir. Are there questions from the board?
Hearing none. May I have public testimony? Madame chair and board members C. Johnson with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. This petitioner completed the ONS community process. Our office hosted an abutters meeting on June 18th at which multiple abutters were supportive of the proposal. The applicant presented to the Brighton
Alustin improvement association which voted to support the application. With that background, our office defers judgment to the board. Thank you. Thank you. Um, there was one person, Annabella. I'm not sure if you're gonna speak.
Yeah, Madam Chair, Annabelle Gomes from the Brighton Alson Improvement Association. We'd like to go on record in support of this project. We feel this project is great. It is great being able to support uh multi-generations of families staying in the neighborhood. Thank you. Thank you.
Okay. Without there are no additional comments. With that, may I have a motion? We'll make a motion of approval. I think um the shape of the lot sort of lends itself to the sideyard setback relief as
the um additional unit of housing is contextual with the neighborhood. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss Lewell. Yes. Mr. Langum.
Yes. Miss Bad Barza. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck, sir. Thank you very much, board. Before we move on to the 11:00 a.m. hearings, we'll call again for
case BOA 1709 01. the address of 1891 Columbus Avenue. If the if the if the applicant andor the
representative are present, would they please explain? I think there is one person, Presley, you are in the attended section and I just sent to you an invitation. Please make sure to accept it. Presley.
All right. Is the applicant Is the applicant for IAO auto repair on? All right. I don't think that was He told me he was on as a as a call. Oh, there he goes. Yes. Hi, good morning. Sorry about the
technical challenges here. Can Can you everyone hear me? Yes. Please state your name and address for the record and proceed. Yes. Good morning. My name is Presley Nelson and the address is uh 1891 Columbus A. Uh I'm here to respectfully
request approval to sell vehicles in the parking lot of 1891 Columbus Avenue in uh in Wuberry which currently operates as a car repair shop. This proposal involves no construction, no structural changes and no impact on the
existing building. The sales will be limited to vehicle display in the existing parking lot area, ensuring the property remains orderly, safe, and compliant with zoning requirements. My goal is to enhance the business
services, create additional economic activities, and provide the community with a convenient local option for quality used vehicles. Uh, I appreciate your time and consideration and I respectfully ask for your approval.
Uh, can you go ahead? I'm sorry. And to uh I purchased uh the place on last in July 2024 and uh we've become operational in April 2014. uh we I own a
school bus transportation company and uh not the yellow school but the uh small minivans. So I purchased the uh I purchased uh the com uh the location mainly with the uh with the objective in
mind to actually uh repair and maintain my own vehicles and also provide additional services for neighborhoods who are looking to have their cars repaired. uh as uh since I'm in the business of uh of cars. So uh we thought
about getting a license. I believe uh there was a license that had been granted already. So we can actually go to auctions, purchase vehicles and uh when the vehicles after 5 years we don't use them again, we can sell them. So as stated there will not be any changes on
the structure of the building, no additional construction. This will be a very limited uh 10 to 15 cars uh Apple uh parking sites that we are looking uh to have license uh to sell vehicles and
purchase. With that any questions I welcome them. Yeah. So can you confirm? So, you just mentioned 10 to 15 cars for sale, but you also mentioned uh like mini I mini
vans or school buses that are also going to be located on the site. So is that does the 10 to 15 include those or how many spaces are are utilized? The drivers the drivers keep their vehicles with with them uh because uh
those are mini events like uh Toyota Siennas and uh some of those drivers they have to leave early so they keep their vehicles with them at all times even over the summer because we want some. So you're not parking them on the site. That's what I heard you saying. Very few
very few we that we park on the side. Okay. And can you just clarify where do you exit and enter? Where are your Yeah. Uh we exit right in the front here as you can see to bottom bottom right hand corner. That's where we will actually
exit. And uh there is additional gates there but we have not used the gates because the city has just uh put uh the bus stop there. So it makes it very tight. So we we enter and exit right at the very bottom where the cut is.
Other questions from the board? Yeah. Um the the applicant mentioned 10 to 15 uh vehicles but in your site plan you have 20 20 spaces,
right? Uh to be honest with you uh when it was given I had asked for about 15 vehicles but it it's they showed 20 20 if we get 20 great 15 that's totally fine.
And is your current um so is your use um what's your current use right now? Right now we use the shop to repair and maintain our own fleet and uh there has been customers walking in where we
provide uh car repair services for them as well. I guess what I'm asking is what's your current zoning use? I'm I'm trying to see if I can look it up. I'm not sure. You're asking for variance or forbidden outdoor sales of news and used motor
vehicles. What's your current use right now? And maybe um Hampton can can support answering this. Uh colleagues, if I'm not seeing it in
front of me. Yeah, right now. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the board. Jeff Hampton, City of Boston Planning Department. Uh currently it's zoned MFR, which is why it's a forbidden use. Um
and I know they want to add uh it is currently an automotive use where they do repairs. So um from an expansion of the permit to allow auto sales is uh in our mind uh consistent uh which is why
we are on the record in support of this. I'm not sure who dictates the number of spaces they are allowed or how many vehicles they are allowed to sell. I don't know if that's licensing or uh if there's another department that would weigh in on how many vehicles they
actually get to store and sell there. Um but we are uh on record in support of this because it's just a continuation of an already uh automotive use. Okay, great. Thank you. And I believe um
when you were in order we had um can you mention if you have any issues with any abutters? No. There was one time uh with uh one of the members in the first committee meeting had raised some concern about uh
the lightning that we had and uh that that no longer works anymore. We shut it down and we have technical challenges and uh it has not been operational in in a couple of months now. Okay. Okay. Great. Thanks. I don't have any further questions.
Any other questions from the board? Hearing none. May I have public testimony? Madame chair and members of the board. For the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. 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 abot
meeting facilitated on May 1st with three ABS in attendance. One ABU voiced a concern for keeping vehicles only on the property and another voiced opposition stating the bright flashing LED light was an offense to the neighborhood. The proponent did inquire if removal of the light would gain that abut support which the butter applied in
the affirmative. On June 2nd, the proposal was presented to the JP Jamaica plane neighborhood council zoning committee where a vote for approval was reached. To date, our office has received one letter of opposition with a number of concerns such as automobile trash, car mats, and batteries on the property, as well as a fence encroaching
on their abundance property. Other concerns were also referenced, although I will not uh read the letter in full as the letter has been sent to the zoning board of appeals for review. Thank you for your time and the mayor's office of neighborhood services would like to defer to the board for their judgment.
Okay. Uh Watts, you can speak now. Miss Watts, we do have your letter, but if you want to briefly uh share with us your opposition or support. Uh yes, thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the people who are here. Um currently, if you just do a Google
Zoom or whoever, I'm not really as technical as you young people are, but you will see right now that there's over 20 vehicles on that site back to back to back. um they are stored there every
day. I I would um disagree with the person the owner who says that they take their vehicles with them because it is packed as you can see from Google right now car to car to car. There are commercialsiz
vehicles that fit 30 plus people in them. those extended vehicles that hold 15 people, not including over several of the 15 passenger vans,
not including minivans. So, um um I would strongly disagree with the owner. As the owner knows, he just re recently finished adding an addition
to the building that he said he has made none literally cuz I took pictures of them as they were actually building it. And I don't even think it's completed, but it was allegedly we could say it was completed in the last two weeks. So
there are more than 20 vehicles, not just 15 passenger vans, not just the minivans that hold about 10 people, but commercialsiz vehicles.
I am concerned. I literally am behind them. Literally antireeze bottles thrown over the fence. Urine bottles thrown over the fence. into my yard which I have to clean up. Trash that accumulates
so conveniently slips through the gate into my yard. So I have left the debris so people can see it until we have this meeting and then I'm going to clean up the debris that I experience from AIO
whoever XYZ repair. There has not been one, and I don't know for sure, but I'm 99.5% one car repaired by somebody in this community because the vehicles, the
commercial vehicles for PNN transportation block the bays. There's three bays. The bays are physically blocked by his PNN vehicles. So for you to grant that he's already using this as
a storage facility for his PNN vehicles, for you then to on top of that grant him 15 more parking spaces that don't exist already for car sales. What are we doing to our environment?
That is a small I'm sorry, Madam Chair. I didn't know if you would interrupting me. That's a small Just wrap up, ma'am. I'm wrapped. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Without there no additional comments, Madam Chair. Can the applicant please address the
concerns that were raised? Yes. Yes. I'd like to and thank you Mrs. words for your comments and uh uh although regarding the uh construction you said that was been that had been added that is not correct because there
was already a license issued by the city of for the construction all we did is repair this thing did not look good if anything you could say it looks much better we did not add not even one square ft to the actual location of the
property we do have uh uh as far as the trash, we do have uh a dumpster and we use the dumpster for all the trash. So now I'm not saying like there has not been time where there may be trash in
our yard, but we have we do have a huge dumpster. As a matter of fact, it is being serviced every week, every Monday morning. And as far as uh the service, you're welcome to use it. I can show I can show you my book. We are providing
the service. It's not it's not 90% of of we don't have 90% of customers walking in. But if you bring your car there to have your engine or or or brake service, that will be done right away. So if uh the neighbors have not chosen to use our
services, uh that's unfortunate. But we are here to service uh the neighbor the neighborhood. I'm sorry, Jesus. There was one more hand that raised. Is that new person asking to speak on behalf of this project? We've heard from Mrs. Watts already.
Can you please proceed? Oh, he's okay. He says no. All right. Any other questions from the board? I have just one last question. What are your hours of operation? It's 8 to uh it's 7 to three as far as
the mechanic shop but we do also provide uh athletic services for number of schools. So typically in the afternoon for instance studing at 1:00 p.m. all the drivers will take the Ford transit and they will go pick up the kids uh to
go to soccer practice and they will bring them back. Usually they come back by 6:00 7. As far as the car repair service, that is complete shut down at 3 p.m. We only have one mechanic at this moment. He leaves at 3 at 3 p.m. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome.
So, Madam Chair, um, yes, my question would be that the vehicles that are currently on the lot will all will no longer be on the lot. That is correct. as our main goal here.
Uh the business we've purchased a pl a lot in uh Bton on 509 North Montello uh Montello Street in Bton. That's where we will be parking the vehicles. I just uh put a fence around it last week. So in
the next couple of weeks, the additional vehicles will be parked there to enable our service uh for more space for the uh for customers to actually come in and have their vehicle services. Thank you. You're welcome.
Any other questions from the board? May I have a motion? Madame Chair, I'd like to perform a motion of approval with a proviso that the project undergoes um BPDA design review, paying special attention to the site planning,
particular um a buffer, a landscape form of buffer, and to look at um potentially closing some of the curb cuts because currently there's three of them. uh and to work with BPDA staff to determine the adequate amount of parking um spaces for
those vehicles uh and to provide adequate screening uh since it is in a uh multif family neighborhood. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Stebridge.
Yes, we will. Yes, Mr. Langum. Yes, Miss Brazza. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries.
Thank you. Next, we'll move on to the hearing schedule for 11:00 a.m. Again, we'll remind folks that we are a five member board today. And I'll also ask if there are any
requests for withdrawals or deferrals from the 11:00 a.m. Yes, Mr. Stembridge, 208 Street, please. So that would be for case BOA 173
0151 with the address of 208H Street. Would you please explain? Attorney Spitz. Yes. Great. Thank you, Mr. Stebridge. Madam Chair, members of the board, Attorney Ryan Spitz with Adams and Morancey, business address of 1688
Street, first floor, South Boston. Uh we're here requesting an administrative deferral. Again, uh seeking a short deferral um to be heard in front of a full seven member board, please. We could do October 7th or October 28th.
I think we're going to we'll we'll take the 28th um because we're trying to also rectify a small issue in the refusal letter. There was a sideyard setback violation that was missing. Uh, so again, we're going to have to try to have that add it back in. So I believe this will have to be readvertised as
well. So the 28th will work, please. May I have a motion? Motion to defer till October the 28th. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Stebridge.
Yeah, Mr. Lang. Yes, Mr. Fabraza. Yes. Chair votes. Yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Are there any more requests for withdrawals or deferrals from 11:00?
Hearing none, move on to case BOA171 832 with the address of 164 Dorchester Street. If the applicant andor their representative are present, would they please explain to the board?
Okay, one second. I think there is one person on the attendee section. Mike, I sent to you an invitation. Please make sure to accept it. Okay, now you can proceed, mic. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes.
Okay, very good. Sorry about the confusion on the electronics. So, this is a um was a two family home in South Boston for many years. Uh owned by the same family for a long time. It was an eight-bedroom single family and uh at
one time and then it was converted by the family to a two family but they did not have u proper permit so it was never recorded properly as a two family and what we'd like to do is legalize it as a two family uh and that's why we're
before you today. Um we don't really have too many issues other than the parking issue ratio. Uh, we are surrounded by multifamilies in this project. Um, and I believe that I can't
unfortunately I can't scroll through everything. I had to close my other window to get this open. Sorry. Uh, you bear with me for one minute. sir. Yes. Hi. Sorry. I was I'm trying to open the other the other um window because it
locked me out when when I had to click over to panelists. So, we have this um existing building that we're not increasing the square footage of the existing building. We believe we're making it safer than it was for egress because it had two treacherous rear
staircases that uh were very narrow and very steep and now we're making them more compliant um for egress. So we had an eightbedroom single family and now we're going to have eight bedroomedroom two family is what we're proposing and
again we have to get relief from the parking situation. uh F wise we meet the lot size that's required for two family other than the new zoning uh from not when this property was built but original zoning
uh allowed for the two family the new one requires an additional I think it's 480 ft um of zoning for the additional unit can I answer any questions about the plans are there questions from the board
hearing none may Public testimony. Madame chair and board members. Siggy Johnson with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. This petitioner completed the ONS community process. Our office hosted an abuters meeting on June 26 at which no concerns were raised. The Dorchester Heights Neighborhood Association is aware of the proposal and
chose to take no position. With that background, our office defers judgment to the board. Thank you. Okay. Uh we have somebody from Ed office. Hi, thank you. This is Sydney from Councelor Flynn's office. Um, councelor Flynn would like to go on record in
support. Thank you. Thank you. Without there are no additional comments. And with that, may I have a motion? Is there a motion? Motion to approve. There a second. Second,
Mr. Stridge. Yes. as we will. Yes, Mr. Langum. Yes, Miss Bter Brazzo. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you.
The next case is deferred. So, we'll move on to case BOA 172 8774 with the address of 17 Harvard Avenue.
If the applicant and or the representative are present, would they please explain to the board? Okay. Good morning, Madame Chair, members of the board. I'm Don Whis with the law
firm of Dane Torpy. We're at 175 Federal Street in downtown Boston. And with me this morning are the three principles of the Great Scott Project. Um that's Carl Lavin, uh who's been with Great Scott for over two decades, Paul Armstrong, uh
who's very involved in the music business and music promotion across Boston, uh and amateur musician real estate guy Jordan Warshaw. I'm going to give you a brief procedural overview on the project and then pass the presentation over to Carl Lavin. Um,
I'll start by uh explaining for context. And by the way, if you don't mind, if we could just move back to the first picture. Um, I'll let my uh my co-presenter go through the slideshow. Thank you very much. Um, so for context, this is a project that's been five years
in the making. The goal has been to bring back the legendary great Scott uh music performance space. Spaces like this have been closing around the city and across the country. This one uh shut down during COVID um and uh it's now coming back. This project is a mixeduse
one. It will have two performance spaces on the ground floor. The 300 seat Great Scott project, a smaller 75 seat O'Brien's Pub, live entertainment venue. There'll be food and beverage, maybe some retail on the ground floor. And then to um spread the costs and make
this a financially viable project, there'll be 139 small compact efficient residential units above. The project was approved by the BPA board on April 10th of this year. Uh it had a uh overwhelming community support. We
received approximately 358 support letters versus five in opposition. Since that time, by our count, we've got in 1584 support letters for this project as it's headed into today's hearing.
With that said, let me pass the presentation over to Carl Lavin. Hi, and thanks for uh having us today. I'm Carl Adam and I've been involved with Chris Scott since 2003. Starting it as a first Leapley and eventually taking
talking to the owner into becoming a full-time venue in 2004. Uh soon the venue became more than a bar with a stage. It evolved into one of the most respected live venues in North America and numerous bands that have played stadiums, festivals, and arenas.
I've played a great Scott along the way. As we all know, the c the co shutdown in 2020 uh in in 2020 uh came along and great Scott never reopened because we didn't control the space and display 25,000 signatures on a petition and tens of
thousands of dollars raised by hundreds of supporters to bridge the gap until it could reopen. The landlords want something else and so now it's a Taco Bell. Those experiences along with that overwhelming support is what inspired our group that this isn't just a
construction project. It's the hub of a community and we're beholden to it. It's been nearly five and a half years since this quest began and I've learned that arts projects are hard to finance in addition in addition to being hard to sustain. And the only way forward was to replace landlords with ourselves in the
equation so that great and tiecot to a mixeduse project and take the destiny into our own hands. make sure the great Scott Cuden in fact reopen and can thrive. And with that, I hand it to Jordan Warshaw. Thank you, Carl. Um, my name is Jordan
Warshaw. I'm with the Noanit Group, a small Bostonbased real estate and development firm. Um, I'm in real estate as my day job and a passionate music fan as, um, as sort of my my passion in
life. I go to 50 or 75 concerts a year. My projects always try to have a music focus to them, which is how I met Paul Armstrong, who connected Carl and myself. Paul is the um promoter of the Boston Music Awards and many other things in the Boston music ecosystem.
And as Carl brought Paul in to try and figure out the best way to bring Great Scott back in a sustainable way, Paul and I had gotten together doing the music for another project. and Paul said, "Why don't we bring in Jordan from the real estate side to figure out how to make this work?" And what we decided
was with these venues closing in Boston and around the country, people that have been around for a while know how many small music venues Boston used to have. And what a small fraction are left. The problem is they're dependent on landlords and landlords would rather
have credit tenants. No offense to Taco Bell. I like Taco Bell. Everybody does. but they're a big national company that is a credit tenency and they're better for landlords. So, we said, "Let's be our own landlord. Let's find a spot as close to the original Great Scott as
possible. If we could go down one slide, please." Um, so the original Great Scott is at the bottom of this slide at the corner of Harvard A and Comm. and we were able to put together a collection of parcels
at the corner of Harvard A and Cambridge Street just two long blocks away. So maintaining in the heart of Austin, which is many of you will know is really been the heart of the Boston ecosystem. And the plan is to bring Great Scott back and be the landlord and the tenant.
And even better, Great Scott's sister venue for many years was O'Brien's Pub, which is on this site. So, not only are we bringing Great Scott back, but we're preserving O'Brien's, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year for the long-term future as well.
Um, we've been asked the question, why couldn't you just put Great Scott and and O'Brien's on a one-story building and just be done with it? And I think you all know the answer, which is you can't do that with Boston real estate prices. We've got to make this thing
work. We've got to make it viable. Boston obviously needs housing as much as it needs anything. And so we came up with the idea of building a project with housing on top, of course, acoustically isolated and so on to spread the fixed
cost, the land, the permitting. Um Don, who we love, but who isn't cheap, and everything else over a full building rather than just over the venue. And so we've designed a building, as Don said, with small residential units to attempt to keep the price um reasonably small a
affordable for the portion of the units that are not capital A affordable, which by the way is 20%. Um, and the idea is to have a building that helps cement Alustin as the real home of new music. We've got the new 3500 seat Roadrunner a
couple of blocks in one direction. We've got Paradise and Brighton Music Hall in another direction. Got other small venues like VIL just around the corner. This is a hub of small music for Boston. And by bringing Great Scott back and preserving O'Brien's, we're going to
keep it that way for many decades. Next slide. I'm just showing the corner. This is looking to the southwest at the current site which has a one uh several one-story buildings and a two-story
house on it today. Next, um we could go into this for an hour if people were interested. We know you don't have that, but our architects, one thing we will not do is put up a building that looks like every other building in Boston. We're working with an architect, Cambridge 7, who really is great at making unique looking
buildings. And they designed the rhythm of the windows and the paneling in the building to align with syncupation. I don't know if people are familiar with it, but it's sort of a drumming pattern where you get an unexpected beat in the middle of a regular 44 kind of beat. So,
you see at the top that you see how the beat sort of varies throughout that pattern. And I won't bore you with the whole story, but that's how the building rhythm was designed. Next slide. Um, these are some inspiration images. We are at a prominent corner. When you
come off the the pike from either direction and you come down Cambridge Street into Alustin, you cross over the pike and then you come to this corner. And in talking with the planners at the planning department, they encouraged us to create a signature taller building at
the corner than the building surrounding it. Like these other City of Boston precedent images. Also, what building taller enabled us to do is to pull the building back from the adjacent properties. We've got an already existing new building on the Cambridge
Street side of our property and a soon-to-be built new building on the Harvard A side. And so, we pull back from those buildings with a little courtyard on the west by having the extra height to avoid having to completely fill the block. Next slide.
Um here is a aerial view of the building with the existing building on Cambridge Street and future building on Harvard A shown in gray next to it. Next slide. Another view from ground level. Um, you
will note, as you'll see on the next slide, that for those of you that remember the iconic green awning that Great Scott have had at the corner of Harvard and Comm, we're bringing it back, but in a more modern way. The Green Awning sort
of is Great Scott. The Great Scott merch is green. Um, people remember it as green, so we brought it back. We also um one fun thing that we're doing is at the great Scott entry, we're going to have a public art competition and invite local
artists to submit proposals for the art that will be painted onto the walls of the building surrounding the entry. Next slide. Um view looking up Harvard A. Next slide. U view looking down Cambridge Street.
And that's the new entrance of O'Brien's by the way on that side of the street. And by the way, all the posters you've seen on these slides are artists that played at Great Scott and then went on to bigger and better things. Next slide. Um the layout, I won't spend much time
on it, but during Q&A can um bring can go through it. You'll notice we do not have an underground garage, both in an effort to actually make this financially feasible. So that unlike the thousands of units in Boston that aren't getting built, we can actually afford to build it. Great transit location. We've got
the green line, we've got the commuter rail, we've got buses, and we think it's a great time to do this type of project. Great Scott at the corner you see in blue, O'Brien's in pink at the top, and um retail spaces and the residential
entry to the south. Next slide. Um this is just showing um the some new landscaping we're going to be adding on the site. Next slide. Um showing the layout of the building upstairs. You see how is mentioned we pull it back. We set it back from the
building next door. We have a courtyard opening up to the building next door. So we're not right on top of it. We step back to the west on the upper floors and we step back to the south on all floors. continue
and just to wrap up with the old great Scott awning and the new great Scott awning. Okay, there questions from the board hearing none. I'll open it up to public testimony. Hi,
hello Madame Chair, members of the board. My name is Jennifer Roberts, Alustin Brighton liaison representing the mayor's office of neighborhood services regarding one Harvard a in support of this proposal. Great Scott is a famed alstead institution which
promotes local bands and upandcoming music talent. The revival of this venue in addition to sorely needed new housing stock will help to invigorate the Austin brighten arts community. A community process was conducted including two impact advisory groups on January 24th
and February 10th and a public meeting on February 24th. The proponents also presented to the Alustin Civic Association on March 19th. As previously stated, this project initially initially received 360 letters of support from the community, but there has been thousands
since the since then. At this time, the mayor's office of neighborhood services supports this proposal. Thank you for your time and consideration. Okay, Madame Chair, uh we have Moira, you can proceed.
Hi, my name is Mo. I'm a member of city council Braden's office. Council Raen would like to express her strong support for this project. She seems this is a great mixeduse um project that will bring back uh the great Scott venue retain O'Brien's and also add additional
new housing to Austin Village. Um our office has received over 1,500 emails in support of this project. Um and again, she just wants to express her support and the fact this project will ensure that two vital music venues will remain
in Austin. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have minor Perez. Uh thank you Jesus, Madame Chair, members of the board. This is Mina Perez speaking. Uh executive director for the
carpenter labors management program. I am here in to support the project on behalf of hundreds of union carpenters that live and work throughout the city of Boston and dozens of contractors who operate throughout the city of Boston in
Massachusetts who comply with the state and federal law requirements and uh we will simply remind the developer uh the importance of seeing our tax revenues go back into the system in the city of Boston. Therefore, uh we greatly
appreciate holding up the labor standards. Thank you. Thank you. Uh next we have user. I'm not sure if you can say your name and address, please. Sorry about that. Uh my name is Ralph
Jacedine and uh I live in Medford right now and I work in Boston. I I've been doing real estate in Boston for many years. uh in and then I started a record label with the Newberry Comics folks and a music management company. So for about
35 years I've been managing artists full-time. I run something called the Boston Managers Group which is about 150 industry music industry folks. Thank you. Please continue. Okay. I teach at Berkeley College of
Music. I know how important live music is and small venues are. There's two big players in the music business. They're big corporations. They're the Taco Bells of the world. We need independent places for my artists to play, for my managers to manage, my
social media people to work on. It's going to be very wonderful for fun and entertainment and keep the city alive, but for businesses and careers that I spend all day long figuring out how it's going to help my students. Thank you.
Okay, next we have Yep. Go ahead. Sorry. Hi. Um, I'm Cullen Die. I live at 199 North Harvard Street and I just wanted to express my strong support for this project. Uh, I love that it would anchor
the art of the neighborhood. I love that it would bring to life a section that's been kind of underutilized for too long. And I also love that you're encouraging uh transit use and car share with the development as well. So, I look forward to attending concerts here hopefully uh sooner than later. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay. Uh, next we have Wendy. Sorry about that technical difficulty. Uh, hi everyone. My name is Wendy Schiller and I've been an Alustin resident for eight years. I've been a Boston resident for over 12 years. Um, I want to keep this simple because I think
a lot of these points have already been said, but I would like to voice my overwhelming support for this project. I believe that the future of touring and local bands in this city rely on these 300 cap rooms. I think in order for it to be financially viable, we need these housing units on top. Um, and I I fully
support the entirety of the project. Since this project was announced, we have lost other important venues in Alustin, including the sound museum, a critical rehearsal space for artists. Uh, and so a project where an owner like Carl, who truly cares about the music,
as well as the other owners involved, can actually be in the driver's seat, will make a huge difference in this community. And I cannot overstate that enough. If we zoom all the way back six years when Great Scott was first forced to close in 2020, there was such an incredible public outcry. Um, I didn't realize that my petition to save the
club with 7 7500 signatures would make such a difference. But we gathered over 25,000 and we're still in counting in a number of days since it closed. Um, and I really think that the fate of this club has been hanging in the air for 5 years. But it is also true that we've
been worried about O'Brien's Club, too. Uh, the block that it sits on has been for sale since 2019. And we were worried because its future all seemed but guaranteed to go to just another like Taco Bell wannabe landlord who wants to put in, you know, more things for that
don't work for the working artists in this community. Um, I've seen this process firsthand as a member of the ACA since 2020. The artists and musicians here have been feeling squeezed. So, I just again want to raise support for this project. Thank you. We have a lot of raised
hands. Please just say whether you're in support or opposition. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Next, we have iPhone number three. You can yourself name and address, please. Um, hi. Uh, name is Rose Connley.
Address is Boulevard Terrace in Alustin. I am a long-standing member of the Alustin neighborhood. Um, and have been to Great Scott since, uh, 2010s. Uh, my mom was someone who would often visit the club before me as she was the lottery lady here. Uh I'm voicing full
support um for this project as we are truly missing a huge piece of the neighborhood since this venue closed and in full support of protecting O'Brien's as well. Um this is such a meaningful project. Thank you so much.
Next we have Ricky Man. Hi everyone. My name is Ricky Mikey. I'm the creator and founder of the Rat City Arts Festival, a festival for artists that started due to the closure of The Great Scott and many other spaces for local artists. As someone who's been an advocate for local art, I could be in
full support of this project and for the redbut of The Great Scott in the neighborhood. So, thank you everyone for your full support. This will drastically continue to change our neighborhood to continue to be a home for artists and ensure that artists remain in Austin. Thank you.
Okay, next we have Anthony. Uh, good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. Uh, Tony Dizaduro, uh, representing the Alustin Civic Association. Uh, first of all, I want to say as a frequent patron of the old Great Scots and occasional patron of
O'Brien's in the past, uh, who wouldn't be supportive of bringing, uh, Great Scott back and revitalizing O'Brien? So, uh, we start there and we, uh, uh, we're supportive of, uh, the fact that they're coming back. Uh, we
are going to defer judgment to the board. Proponents came to us on March 19th with the proposal. Uh uh and the reason we're deferring judgment is there was no clear consensus on the membership vote, but I feel obligated to at least
mention a couple of concerns uh for those that either voted for it but expressed concerns of those that opposed it. And um the concerns raised was obviously uh density concerns uh no
parking uh pickup and drop off for residents, workers, patrons and musical acts was never clearly articulated by the proponents. Uh lack of streetscape and open space and construction mitigation in a very busy and strategic
uh intersection. Uh we feel those that did have concerns feel that the lack of on street parking in the area will be fur further compromised uh with the development of all the properties taking place in that area including madam chair there's been a new
proposal for to construct the 96 room hotel that we're all excited about but guess what that is also another proposal with no parking whatsoever. So given it's a key access point, a very strategic intersection to the Mass Pike
and what have you, uh there's just simply concerns that congestion and delay in the area uh will be normalized. And then just one quick editorial point, uh we are not opposed in general to projects with no parking given that if
they're in transportation corridors, uh we can see the offset there and everything. We would appreciate though uh some guarantees uh from the city whether it's through the lease agreements or whether it's the issuing of resident parking uh to further ensure
that people who rent in these no parking uh developments uh uh are indeed committed to not owning a car because if they uh rent in these buildings and they do own a car, of course, the only option they have is to put it on the street.
And like I say, we have a very serious problem with on street parking, especially in this part of Austin. So again, we're going to defer judgment to the board and again express our uh strong approval of having great spot come back to our community and the
revitalization of Oprah House. Thank you. So for those remaining, please just state your name, address, and whether you're in support or opposition so we can get through everyone. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So next we have Siri. Please name and address and new position.
Hi there. I am a resident of Boston, have been for six years. I will say my piece, but I'll do it quickly. Um, as somebody who has faced the closures of the different uh musical areas, whether it's rehearsal spaces or venues itself, as a musician, as a drummer, we need
those spaces. I moved to Austin to because of the music and I've made a commitment to stay despite the lack of affordability. So I think it's time for the city to make a commitment to us as the residents who live there as the patrons who go there to bring back great Scott and I am in full support.
Thank you. I'm going to ask folks to start putting your uh position in the chat and take two more. Okay, sounds good. Okay, so next we have Tim Brawl. if you can unmute yourself,
please. Hi. Uh, yes, my name is Tim Bald. I'm actually a former resident of the area, now live out in Western Mass. And in addition to the uh points that have already been raised, I just wanted to mention um that I still travel to uh to
O'Brien's um on a fairly regular basis. It's about an hour and a half drive because the venues are needed that badly. Um, and uh, in addition to the benefits that have already been mentioned, just wanted to point out again that uh, there's going to be significant additional tax revenue for
the city generated uh, by uh, people coming in to attend uh, shows at Grace Scott and O'Brien's uh, and just voice my strong support for the project. Thank you. Thank you. And the last one if is that okay? Next one is Treble.
Hi. Uh, my name is Trevor Mcweeny. manage uh I'm the director of operations for Studio 52 Boston. We uh provide 230 rehearsal studios to to Alustin between our two buildings. Um and I will keep this short. I know that we are um short on time, but I just wanted to voice my
overwhelming support for this project. Um when Great Scott first closed down, I watched a lot of musicians actually move out of the city and visual artists as well. Um when the sound museum closed down and people, this was when we were only operating one building and people had no place to go. We have since opened
a second building and um we're we're trying to support artists in that way. But we can't do it all. Um we need the city to support people like Carl um who want to keep this city the way it's always been which is well this part of the city a hub for artists um new music
visual artists and um without that this city will be boring. It'll be like we've all said it'll be nothing but Taco Bells and and nobody wants that. Thank you. Thank you so much and thank you for everyone who submitted written comment as well as comments on the chat. Uh are there any questions other questions from
the board? If not, I think we're ready for a motion. Uh madame chair, I'll put forward a motion of approval. I think the variances are appropriate for this site. This is a prominent corner at Cambridge Street and Harvard AB. So I think the
design in the building um massing is appropriate. Um it provides 139 housing units with 20% affordability. Two smallcale music venues which are both both of those are very sorely needed. And you know I think this does place people over parking. So I'm happy
to support this. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge. Yes. Miss We will. Yes. Mr. Langham. Yes.
Miss Better Braza. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. We'll jump ahead to the reading discussion scheduled for 11:30
and ask if there are any requests for withdrawals or deferrals from the time frame. Yes, Mr. Benbridge. Um, good morning. It's Richard Lind. Um, basically the entire 11:30 list with the exception of the last hearing.
Can you state address by address so we can read them into the record? Thank you. Sure. Apologies. Um, so starting with 89 Condor Street. Okay. Okay. So that would be for case BOA
172 9459 with the address of 89 Cond Street. Thank you, Mr. Ste. Again, uh good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board. for the record, Richard Lynn's business address of 245 Summer Street on
behalf of the petitioner requesting administrative deferral uh preferably to the earliest date possible that we anticipate at least a six member board uh if that's possible. Caroline, we could do October 7.
Perfect. Okay, with that, may I have a motion? Motion to defer to October the 7th. Is there a second? Second, Mr. Stebridge. Yes, Miss Weell.
Yes, Mr. Langum. Yes, Miss Bter Brazza. Yes. Chair votes. Yes. The motion carries. Thank you. Next are companion cases 390 Meridian Street and 355 Street.
So that would be for those two would be case BOA 1671558 with the address of 390 Meridian Street along with case BOA1671561 with the address of 355 Border Street.
Again, uh thank you for the record, Richard Lind. 245 Summer Street, East Boston on behalf of petitioner. Once again, requested an administrative deferral um to a future date with at least hopefully a six member board minimum. Okay, Caroline,
October 7th. Excellent. Okay. May I have a motion? Motion to defer to October 7th. Is there a second? Second. Okay, Mr. Stumbridge.
Yes. Miss Weo, yes. Mr. Langham, yes. Miss Ber Brazzo, yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. 87 Morris Street companion cases. I believe one's building code, one is
zoning. So lab request would be for case BOA 148 2368 with the address of 87 Mar Street along
with case BOA1482374 which also has an address of 87 Mar Street. Thank you again for the record. Richard Lynch, 245 Summer Street, East Boston, on behalf of the petitioner requesting administrator deferral. Um October 7th
would be ideal as well. Yep, that's available. Okay. May I have a motion? Motion to defer it to October the 7th. May I have a second? Second.
Mr. Stebridge. Yes. We will. Yes. Mr. Langum, yes. Mr. Bzo, yes. Chair votes yes. Motion carries.
Last but not least, 81 Lexington Street, which is case BO8575584 with the address of 81 Lexington Street. Thank you once again, Mr. Stebridge. Richard Linds, 245 Summer Street on behalf of the petitioner requesting administrative deferral if October 7th
is still available. That would be ideal. Thank you. Yes, it is. Okay. May I have a motion? Motion to defer to October 7th. Is there a second? Second.
Mr. Sambridge. Yes. Misswell? Yes. Mr. Langham? Yes, better brazo. Yes. Votes. Yes. Motion carries. We'll see you then.
Thank you very much. Have a great day. With that, we will return to the last hearing for 11:00 a.m. which is case BOA 174679 with the address of 66 64- 66 Donny Book
Road. If the applicant and or the representative present, we'll get to explain to the board. Hello. Um, we're uh Jim and Doris Prince are Yep.
Yep. Jim and Doris Prince. And uh we uh live at known uh 6466. Um, it's a Philadelphia style two family home um that four generations of my family uh have lived in since 1925.
Um, Harris and I live upstairs at 64 Donnybrook, which is a three-bedroom apartment. Uh, our daughter Samantha and her husband Joe live uh they rent from us and live downstairs at 66. It's one
bedroom uh and also an office for Joe. Uh Samantha and Joe very much like to continue to live in Boston. They explored single family homes in Brighton, but they're priced uh beyond their reach.
So, our renovation um would extend an existing third story dormer um by 18 1/2 ft. Um if yeah that's a that's a good slide. Um it's on the far
right it's labeled existing but it's really uh the proposed um so there's an existing woman that's 13 ft and this would extend by 18 1/2 ft to the back end of uh the house. Um,
this would allow us um Samantha and Joe to switch apartments with us and they'd have additional bedrooms and storage space that they need for their expanding family. Samantha's expecting her first child. Um, as well as the home office
that Joe is require required for for his job. Um Darus and I have always planned eventually to move downstairs um to the first floor as we're both seniors um with increasing mobility
issues. Um if if this appeal is granted, Darus and I will sell 50% ownership of the house uh to Samantha and Joe and uh maintaining o owner occupancy for another generation.
Uh in preparation for this appeal hearing, Doris and I posted uh requiredformational flyers to 94 abudding neighbors. Um we had no opposition and got letters of support which we presented to Brighton Austin
Improvement Association meeting in July 17th um and re received their support. Um, so we ask for your consideration of this and we've submitted five letters of support and very willing to answer any
questions that you might have. Thank you. Thanks so much. Are there any questions from the board? Hearing none, may I have public testimony? Madame Chair and board members, Siggy Johnson with the mayor's office of neighborhood services. This petitioner completed the ONS community process. Our
office oversaw distribution of anformational flyer to all abutters within 300 ft which solicited one letter expressing concern about potential construction noise to our office and no other comments. The Brighton Alustin Improvement Association voted to support this application. With that background,
our office defers judgment to the board. Thank you. Next, uh we have Moira. Good afternoon members of the board. This is more of a prayer from councelor Breen's office. The council would like to go on record in support of this project. This project would help this family adapt their home to their needs.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. There are no additional comments. With that, may I have a motion? Motion to approve. Have a second. Second. Mr. Stumbr.
Yes. Miss Weo. Yes. Mr. Langum. Yes. Miss Better Braza. Yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to the red discussions
or red discussion scheduled for 11:30 a.m. And with that, we'll go straight to case BOA 1697496 with the address of 12 R Union Avenue.
I believe this is the turning length. Do we have anyone for 12 union A? I don't see anyone. Shane O'Brien, is he in there? Hello. Okay, here you go. are you presenting for this? Yes, my name is Shane O'Brien. I'm the
owner of 12 Union ad. Um, so yeah, the first basically um I live in a two family house that's in the front of the lot. Um, that little square in the front. Um, my partner and I live in the second floor. Um, this the first
side's probably the most helpful for the beginning of this. Um, this is a plot plan and I'm proposing to build what I'm calling a pool house, which is essentially an ADU in the rear of my lot. Um, it's about 20 by 20 footprint in the rear of my lot. Um,
which I think is pretty modest. Um, it's two floors. The first floor is mostly storage. In the upper left there, there's a storage area. There's a open area. The second floor is a studio apartment. Um, most likely for rent. Um
but it will be connected to my house. I'm not switching to a three family or converting to a three-unit property. Um this would remain part of my unit um as extra space or rental unit. Um variances. So the basically I think I
have six variances. Um three of which I expected. Um sideyard. Um, is it supposed to go back to first slide or is that keep the very first one this the Google image kind of shows everything I think which is kind of
helpful. Um, so sideyard is that so that orange box is proposed ADU. It's not 100% to scale but that's where it's going to approximate size. Um, south of that is a parking lot. Um, so I'm five feet away from that fence that separates
my lot and the my neighbor's lot, which is an eight car parking lot. Um, so that's one variance. The other variance is rear yard. Um, so I am only four feet from the rear yard. Um, but the building behind me is right on the property line. It's essentially a 20 foot cinder block
warehouse building. That white roof is that building. um a lot which is not developed yet but is in the process of getting developed is a five-story lot building 20 ft from the rear lot line. Um my other variance was height. Um so
my building is 20 feet one inch high. Um ADU is 15 feet so five feet one inch over the height. Um the other variances which I learned about last time are um insufficient parking. Um, I'm not
offering additional parking more than what I already have is a threecar tandem parking driveway, which I do share with renters. Um, I'm not offering anymore. I just don't have the ability to offer any more parking. There is on street parking right in front of my house. Um, up and down Union and out. Um, the other
variance was two structures on a lot. Um, my lot's pretty big. I thought I was trying to be as modest and responsible as possible about the location, the size of it. Um, it's a 5,000 square foot lot, 5600 actually. Um,
so I don't I there's no way to mitigate that obviously. And then the lot area insufficient. Um, my F with this new structure is 043. Um, which again seems responsible and low given the size of my yard, which is looking at this one of the biggest yards in the in the area.
Um, so yeah, I I guess I'm just trying to do something modest, sort of add a little extra space for me. Um, I know the definition of an ADU sort of was that question last time and I'm not sure how to answer that, but um, yeah. So, that's my Thank you.
and Oh, go ahead, Miss Better Brazo. I think it um I just want to say uh thank you for um the applicant for submitting additional material. Um, I know we've heard this case in the past and I was the one that was asking a lot
of question, but I think the way that you presented your material is very clear. Um I the in the last presentation um I just kind of raised the issue whether this was a three family whether it was really two plus ADU but that the
um that there was a zoning violation that I believe that was missing and not cited which was that you know to build um an additional unit um you know at the rear of a house which is uh forbidden uh per zoning. So I think now that you have
all the variances in place, um I do agree with you with you. It's it's a it's a it's a reasonable request. So thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from the board? May I have public testimony?
Madam Chair and members of the board, for the record, my name is Jeremy Benbury. I'm the Jamaica Plane community engagement specialist for the Office of Neighborhood Services. The applicant has completed the community process which consisted of an abuters meeting facilitated on April 17th with two abutters in attendance. One voiced concerns over the lot size and setbacks
and suggested they adjust plans to the requirements while the others voiced support for the proposal stating how it would not affect an adjacent property. Next, the proposal was presented to Jamaica Plane Neighborhood Council Zoning Committee who voted to approve the proposal. To date, our office has received one letter of support which
speaks on the minimal impact the proposal would have on the neighborhood and was sent to the zoning board of appeals for review. Thank you for your time and the office of neighbor services like to defer to the Thank you. Okay, madam chair. There are no
additional comments. Okay, with that, may I have a motion? Madam Chair, I'd like to put forth a motion of approval. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Stebridge, yes.
Miss Weel, yes. Mr. Langum, yes. Miss Better Braza, yes. Chair votes yes. The motion carries. Good luck, sir. Thank you. And thank you everyone.
Until next time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.