The Revere Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday, September 27 in City Councillor Joseph A. DelGrosso City Council Chamber at Revere City Hall. On hand for the session were chairman Michael G. Tucker and fellow members James O’Brien, Aklog Limeneh, John Lopes, and Arthur Pelton.
The board took up a light agenda consisting of three applications for small projects, all of which the members approved.
The first matter came from Robert Mahoney, 2 Paul Street, who requested a variance of Revere Revised Ordinance (RRO) Section 17.28.110 with respect to the maximum grade requirement of 8% for unenclosed parking areas, to enable him to exceed an 8% as-built slope of a completed driveway in connection with the construction of a single-family dwelling at 121 Walnut Street.
The owner of 121 Walnut St., who said he purchased the home three weeks ago, told the commissioners that the slope “has been working perfectly” during the recent heavy rainfalls to drain water away from his property and that he feared that reducing the slope would cause flooding on his property.
There were no opponents and the commissioners unanimously approved granting the variance.
Next up was an application from RLS Realty Investment, LLC c/o Jeffrey B. Moll, (50 Salem Street, Bldg. A, Suite 108, Lynnfield) requesting a variance of RRO Section 17.28.020 (minimum parking requirements) to enable him to convert a single-family dwelling to a two-family dwelling at 95 Centennial Avenue.
The attorney for the applicant presented the application to the commission. He explained that the structure on the property now is a single-family, three bedroom building and that the developer is seeking to convert it into two, one-bedroom apartments. However, there is no available off-street parking, though the property is located just 500 feet from public transportation.
Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky, who lives around the corner from the building, spoke in favor of the variance. “I have no problem with it being established as a two-family house,” said Novoselsky. “It’s so close to the T and we’ve been giving variances for these sorts of properties in the neighborhood.”
The commissioners approved the application 4-1, with Limeneh opposed, but with the stipulation (in addition to the usual conditions) that both units shall be limited to one-bedroom apartments.
The final request came from Eric Gonzalez, 23 Blake Street, who requested a special permit in accordance with RRO Section 17.40.040 to enable him to alter and extend the pre-existing, non-conforming, two-family structure, which was damaged by a recent fire, at 23 Blake Street. Robert Cordes, the contractor for the project, presented the application to the commission.
Novoselsky spoke in favor of the application. “I know this property very well, but under the new rules, he needs to raise the building because it is in a floodplain. I think we should grant him some latitude to make this property useful,” said Novoselsky.
Tucker said he spoke to the Site Plan Review Committee members, who said that they required the owner to remove the basement so he can provide on-site parking underneath. However, Tucker raised a question about the height of the proposed structure and when the architect pointed out that a new plan with a roof deck, which had not been presented with the original application, increased the height slightly, Tucker said that the applicant either could stick with the plan that was submitted with the present application or file a new application with the new plan.
The applicant chose the former and the commission unanimously granted the special permit.
The commission then adjourned until its next meeting in October.
