By Journal Staff
The Revere Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) held its regular monthly meeting last Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the City Councillor Joseph A. DelGrosso City Council Chamber.
On hand for the session were chair Michael Tucker and fellow members Aklog Limeneh, John Lopes, James O’Brien, Arthur Pelton, and alternate member Peggy Pratt.
The first matter was an application from Edward Davis, who was requesting variances to enable him to construct a 3-car garage at his home at 225 Endicott Ave.
Mr. Davis presented the application on his own behalf. He noted that his home is surrounded by “homes with garages and curb cuts and I’m just looking for what the other homes in my neighborhood have,” he said.
He also noted that his proposed garage and wider curb cut will remove three of his cars from on-street parking, while eliminating only one on-street space (because of the wider curb cut), thereby increasing on-street parking in the neighborhood by a net of two vehicles.
Mr. Davis also noted that his in-laws often come to the house to watch his two children and parking on the street can be difficult.
A neighbor on Bellingham Ave., Nick Daher, spoke in favor of the proposal. “They are tremendous neighbors and I’ve seen them start a family of their own and have seen the difficulty they have with parking on their street,” Daher said.
Jeremy Cosgrove, another Bellingham Ave. neighbor, also supported the application. “I see them shuffling cars all the time,” said Cosgrove.
However, Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna spoke against the application. “When I first looked at the proposal, I told the Davises that I saw no problem and that they had plenty of room to put in a driveway,” said McKenna. “But then I spoke to the neighbors and it was brought to my attention that Mr. Davis is running an illegal Airbnb on the third floor of his home. He wants the parking for his Airbnb guests and he supposedly has been issued a cease-and-desist order by the city.
“We have to follow the rules in Revere,…you have to follow the rules by registering it (the Airbnb) and having adequate parking,” added McKenna, who wrote the city ordinance governing Airbnb units.
Vinny Massone, a resident of 251 Endicott for 31 years, spoke against the proposal.
“I sympathize with their parking problem, which is something we all have to deal with,” he said. “But he is running an Airbnb and inviting people into the neighborhood, whereas the rest of us are all just looking for some place to park.”
Another resident, Loraine Rossi, of 221 Endicott Ave., also spoke against the proposal. “Everyone here has parking issues,” she said. “I feel for them because they have little kids.” However, Rossi stated that the prior renovation project to the Davises’ home created runoff issues on her property and she feared that the addition of a garage will add to the problem.
“My mother lives at 221 Endicott and I fear this will create an igloo for her in the winter,” said Rossi.
A resident of 247 Endicott Ave. spoke against the application. “I moved to Revere in 2016 and I love our little neighborhood, but it seems like more and more of the green spaces are disappearing, as well as the trees,” she said. “I completely empathize with them because of the parking, but I would like to see as much green space preserved as we possibly can.”
Maribeth DiBlasi, the owner of 237 Endicott Ave. who lives on Bellingham Ave. said, “I understand the struggle with parking. I like Ed and I understand that he wants to improve his property, but he is operating a business that profits from short-term rentals and without that, I would be sympathetic to his request. To me, this does not represent a hardship for a family in need of fixing, but caters to a commercial interest that places the burden on our streets and our sense of community. He is a ‘super host’ who advertises throughout No. America and Canada and hosts up to four guests for a minimum of four days. We’re already feeling the strain of increased traffic congestion. I like Ed and his family and his cat. We don’t want to lose green space and a sense of community to support his business. Zoning laws were established to protect our neighborhoods and we ask the board not to reward vice and punish virtue.”
After the opponents had spoken, Davis requested that he be allowed to withdraw his application “without prejudice” to enable him to speak to the neighbors and modify his request, and the board voted to do so.
Patricia Romano, 41 Stevens Street, came before the ZBA requesting variances to enable the construction of a duplex-style, two-family dwelling on three vacant lots at 617-619 Keayne Street consisting of 6563 sq. ft. in a Residential Business (RB) district.
Atty. Joseph V. Catoggio Jr. presented the application.
“The lots need a variance for depth. These lots, and the others along the street, were created in 1918. They are irregular lots that now create a hardship given the revised zoning ordinances that have been updated since that time,” said Catoggio. “The new home will enhance the immediate neighborhood with the removal of a vacant lot that has been a bit of an eyesore.”
Nick Romano of 41 Stevens St., a lifelong resident, said he will be living in one of the new units. He said that with the lack of housing in Revere, as well as the high cost of housing, the proposal will be a positive development for the city.
Tucker said he had spoken to the ward councillor, who had no objections. There were no opponents and the board unanimously voted in favor of the application.
The next application pertained to 105 Eustis St., in which the homeowner came before the board requesting a variance of Revere Revised Ordinances (RRO) Section 17.24.010 with respect to the minimum rear-yard setback requirement of 20 feet within the RB District to enable her to construct a 15.7’ x 16.7’ single story addition.
Ms. Cindy Molina, the homeowner, presented the application. Molina noted that she and her husband are requesting the variance in order to add more living space for their family. The board had no questions. There were no opponents and the board unanimously approved the application.
The final matter of the evening was a request from Michael Trapula, 87 Jones Rd., for variances from the minimum front-yard and side-yard setbacks to enable him to construct a carport at 87 Jones Rd.
Mr. Trapula presented the application and two neighbors voiced their support for Trapula.
Ward 1 Councillor McKenna said she had spoken to a neighbor who had told her that the project initially had created run-off onto her property, but Mr. Trapula has taken care of that issue.
There were no opponents. However, the board members raised the issue that this was an after-the-fact request because the carport already has been constructed and the Building Department has issued a cease-and-desist order.
Trapula said that he constructed the carport to protect his expensive motor vehicles and apologized for not having followed the proper procedure with the Building Dept. and the ZBA.
However, the ZBA had not received the structural documents from Trapula’s engineer in time for the meeting. The members voted to continue the matter until its meeting next month to allow Trapula to submit the documents.
The ZBA’s next meeting is set for June 25.
