Suffolk Superior Court Judge Douglas H. Wilkins has ruled against by members of the Yale Terrace Neighborhood Association in their lawsuit against the Bicon Dental Implant’s property-owning branch, Debbie LLC, and the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), according to the state trial court website.
Bicon, a 501 Arborway company, stirred controversy in the area by demolishing a 19th century house at 21 Yale Terrace for a development. The neighborhood association had tried to stop the company from doing that demolition and started a concerted effort to have the City’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD), which oversees the ZBA, yank Bicons occupancy permit. The neighbors say that Bicon operates a clinic, lab, and professional school without the proper permits.
ISD ruled in 2015 against the Yale Terrace Neighborhood Association in yanking the occupancy permit. The neighborhood association appealed that decision to the ZBA, which held a hearing and referred the matter to the City’s Legal Department. The ZBA then ruled against the association’s appeal. Members of the association–Gerard O’Connor, Elizabeth O’Connor, Curtis Woodcock, Barbara Shaw–filed a lawsuit against Bicon Dental and the ZBA in September 2016.
According to the state trial court website, Wilkins ruled in early July a summary judgment for Bicon Dental against the neighborhood association members with statutory costs and affirmed the ZBA’s decision. Gerard O’Connor filed an appeal in late July.
ISD did not respond to a request for comment. O’Connor and Bicon did not comment when contacted.
Bicon has a history of controversial expansions and operations that have drawn neighborhood complaints, City citations, and City Council hearings.
Berta Berriz, the former owner of 21 Yale Terrace, says that she was “deceived” by a buyer who claimed to be a family-minded local grandmother, into selling the historic house to the neighboring Bicon Dental Implants. Berriz did not want to sell the house to Bicon.
The City ruled last year that Bicon was doing construction work without the proper permits after the Inspectional Services Department did a site service, prompted by a letter from residents in the area complaining about the circumstances.