James’s Gate parking lot project still in redesign phase

The developer for the proposed project at the former James’s Gate parking lot at 14-16 McBride St. is still redesigning the plan after pulling the proposal from the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council’s Zoning Committee because of community and committee concerns, according to John Moran, attorney for the developer.

“We are still in the redesign stage,” Moran said in an email. “Once the concept is finalized in a zoning plan by the architect, we will do a zoning review to determine if the new plan alters the needed zoning relief.”

He added, “If the plans appears to change the relief, we would then make due inquiry to determine if we must resubmit the new plan to Inspectional Services Department for zoning review before requesting to be placed on the agenda of the Zoning Committee.”

James’s Gate, a local favorite Irish bar that closed last year, and the parking lot across the street were purchased by developer Stephen Ballas this spring for $1.95 million. Ballas proposed a six-unit project that needed several variances for the parking lot, but withdrew the plan from a Zoning Committee review last month after encountering concerns from community members and members of the Zoning Committee who said that since they were not sure what the future was for James’s Gate, they felt uncomfortable supporting the project proposal as it stood.

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