By Gazette Staff
The Zoning Committee of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) held the first of its two meetings this month on Wednesday, May 7. Chair David Baron and fellow members Willie Mitchell, Peg Treble, Kevin Leary, Bernie Doherty, David Seldin, Andrea Howley, and Kevin Moloney were on hand for the session, as was Caroline Peters, who is the representative to JP from Mayor Wu’s office,
The first item on the agenda was a continuance of a matter from April for the proposed project at 10 Westerly Rd. Nicholas Best, the owner and developer of the property, presented the application to the committee.
Best said is seeking to convert the present 2-and-1/2 story building, which has a peaked-roof, into a full, three-story structure with a flat roof in order to make the third-floor unit “more functional and more livable.” Best said he intends to make the property a condo-conversion.
The property is next door to the rear of the old St. Norbert High School building which fronts on Sunnyside St. There were no opponents and the committee unanimously voted to approve the application.
Next up was the application for a proposal for a new, 12-unit, four-story residential building at 561-579 Centre St. which will include a ground-floor commercial space with six parking spaces. The present structure on the site, a former gas station, will be demolished and the site will be cleaned up. The site has been vacant for about 10 years.
Atty. Richard Lynds presented the application on behalf of the Stamatos family, the owners of the property. He explained that the apartment mix will consist of nine two-bedroom units and three one-bedroom units, of which two-units will be affordable per the city’s inclusionary development policy.
Lynds explained that the project falls within the Jamaica Plain multi-family residential zoning district and thus is a permitted use. The property lies between Lakeville and Goodrich Rds.
The project requires six variances, chief among them being for excessive height (the proposed building will be four stories and 40 feet high vs. the three-stories and 35-foot height allowed per the zoning ordinance); the commercial space (which is a forbidden use in the district); a lack of open space (1700 sq. ft. vs. the required 2700 sq. ft.); and the lack of parking (19 spaces are required per the zoning ordinance).
Lynds noted that the original plan had called for a height of 45 feet, but the developer dropped the height to 40 feet at the request of the neighbors. However, he pointed out that the area includes a number of multi-family buildings of similar height, including the condo buildings directly behind the proposed building.
The facade will consist of brick and limestone with a modified mansard roof. In addition, windows were added on the Lakeville Rd. side of the building at the request of the neighbors. There also will be spaces for bicycle parking.
The project initially came before the Zoning Committee on February 5 at which time the neighbors expressed a number of objections and the committee members suggested that the developer work with the neighbors to resolve those issues. Lynds noted that the developer agreed to some of the neighbors’ requests pertaining to the height, green space behind the building, and monitoring of the foundation of the condo building behind the project during construction.
Gordon Upton, a resident of Goodrich Rd. for 26 years, spoke against the proposal. “This project is not feasible because of the density and the canyonization of the project,” Upton said. “This should be turned into green space as a pocket park.”
Kevin McNulty of the condo building at 8 Lakeville Rd. also spoke against the project. “I just don’t think this project is right. Apart from the parking issues, it simply is too large,” he said, suggesting instead that a building of three stories and nine units would be more appropriate. “This is a monolith to slap down on Centre St.”
A representative from the Lakeville Rd. Condominium Association also spoke against the project. “Their proposed driveway behind the building is just feet from ours. We support more housing, but not more commercial space and not to this scale. We want to see more discussion with the neighbors.”
Another resident, who rents at 14 Lakeville Rd., expressed frustration with the “lack of dialogue” between the neighbors and the developer.
Fran Price of 11 Lakeville Rd. raised legal issues relating to the statutory criteria for requesting a zoning variance. “This building is attractive and a three-story building with eight or nine units would be appropriate,” Price said.
Lynds responded that there have been six meetings regarding the project and that some of the neighbors’ concerns have been addressed.
Zoning Comm. member Kevin Leary said he is opposing the project primarily because of the commercial space and because nine units would be more appropriate.
Member Kevin Moloney noted the developer could make this project smaller by eliminating the commercial space and reducing the number of units from 12 to nine, as well as eliminating the driveway behind the building.
The committee unanimously voted against the proposal.
The next application pertained to 15 Conry Crescent and was presented by Kyle Smith of Essex Engineering and Survey, who was accompanied by William O’Dowd, the owner and builder of the proposed project. Smith said that the existing building is not structurally sound and needs to be razed. It will be replaced by a 2-and-1/2 floor structure that will be built primarily on the existing footprint, though with a slight-expansion for a new, two-car garage. The lot size is 6009 sq. ft. The most significant non-conformity with the zoning ordinances is that the height of the new building will be 34 feet compared to the present 31-foot structure.
Smith said that the developer had reached a Memorandum of Understanding with a neighbor (who was on hand to voice her support for the application) pertaining to drainage, a retaining wall, fencing, and the planting of new trees for privacy.
“This development team went above and beyond what they needed to do with regard to the neighbor,” noted Zoning Comm. member Andrea Howley.
The committee members voted unanimously in favor of the application.
The Zoning Committee now will present its recommendations to the full JPNC, which then will take a vote on the matters. The applicants then must go before the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to obtain their variances. Rejected applicants also have an opportunity to go before the ZBA to obtain their variance requests.
In the last piece of business, the committee members unanimously voted in favor of adding long-time JP resident Alcurtis Clark to fill a vacancy for a community member on the committee.
The Zoning Committee’s next meeting is set for Wednesday, May 21, which will include the application for a five-story, mixed-use building consisting of 36 residential units with a ground-floor retail space at 3458 Washington St.