Zoning Board tables two proposals for expanding residential units

By Neil Zolot

Two projects being reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) could have significant impacts on their neighborhoods. At 10 Woodlawn Ave., using the company name NDC Real Estate, owner Nicholas Cristiano wants to convert a portion of the building occupied by a ground-floor bar and restaurant, The Line Steak & Brew, to residential units and add a story on top for additional units. A hair salon on the other side of the building, facing Elm Street, would remain. At 16 Liberty St., petitioner Alyssa DeSantis wants to expand from two units to a nine-unit building.

The 10 Woodlawn petition reads, “The applicant would like to replace the bar/restaurant use with three first-floor residential units and add three additional units on the second floor by extending the second floor over the existing one-story portion of the structure. The existing hair salon is proposed to stay.”

The 16 Liberty petition is a proposal “to raze a two-family dwelling and construct a three story nine-unit residential building with parking on half of the bottom floor.”

Both cases were continued at the ZBA meeting on Monday, October 21 because only four of the five members were present, with Jean Thermitus absent. Given that approval requires four votes, it was felt all members should be present to eliminate the need for unanimous approval. The next meeting is November 18. The delay will also give ZBA members time to familiarize themselves with the particulars, and applicants time to continue to formulate plans, although Chairwoman Rebecca Edmondson-Korom warned that further continuances are possible.

Representing Cristiano, local attorney Anthony Rossi argued alterations may be “by right” if the footprint of the building is shrunk by a foot. “It would add a floor, but not expand the footprint,” he said. “If you build within setback and height restrictions, it’s by right. It’s a commercial lot in a business district. At worst it would require a Special Permit.”

Parking could be an issue, but Rossi thinks occupants of the single bedrooms units planned might not have cars. “They’re economical units for people who may not have cars and are on a bus line,” he said, invoking possible use of state Transportation or Travel Demand Management (TDM) policies.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council defines TDM as “a package of policies and programs designed to reduce drive-alone trips and enable the transportation system to function more effectively and efficiently through measures that shift passengers from single-occupancy vehicle travel. These measures underlie transit-oriented development, as well as livability and sustainability initiatives and can be applied in support of a variety of development patterns.”

Owners and operators of the adjacent Woodlawn Memorials, owned by the DeFilippo family since 1947, which provides cemetery gravestones, are less worried about long-term parking than how renovations to the building would affect their use of a driveway for deliveries. “We’ll have to redesign the lot and fence it off,” Debra DeFilippo said. “They’ll be doing construction during our busy season in April,” a reference to gravestones being needed in warmer weather because graveyards often can’t do burials in winter months in frozen ground. She also said the family was informed of the plan through public channels, not by Cristiano.

During an informal discussion before the meeting, she and Rossi planned a walk-through of the area.

Residents near 16 Liberty Ave. want to know how much taller and deeper a new building will be. They are also worried about parking on the narrow street, which is narrower than most in Everett. “I have off-street parking, but a lot of my neighbors don’t,” resident and condo owner Kevin Minnick said. “Too many cars there will spill onto the street. I was told there might be parking under the building at ground level, but my concern is there won’t be enough.” He’d wanted to know the number of units and felt there should be at least one off-street parking space per unit.

In another matter, City Clerk Sergio Cornelio was granted a six-month extension to add a room to his home on Elsie Street.

The meeting was held in the City Council Chambers in City Hall due to early voting in the Keverian Room where the ZBA usually meets.