Cambridge BZA Approves Restaurant Kitchen Expansion, Antenna, and Four Other Variances

CAMBRIDGE -- October 24, 2024, Cambridge's Board of Zoning Appeals cleared six cases at its October 24 remote hearing, granting variances and special permits for a neighborhood restaurant expansion, a tenant entry door, a Dish Wireless rooftop antenna installation, a window addition, a rear home addition, and a new single-family residence. Chair Jim Monteverdi led all five votes to unanimous 5-0 results, with a 4-0 vote on the Garfield Street special permit after a membership mix-up. The most contested item was the restaurant at 148-150 Western Avenue, where six neighbors signed a letter opposing a full kitchen and alcohol service, but the board approved the variance under sections 4.35.F.1 and 8.22.3 of the city's zoning ordinance, citing existing noise and trash controls as sufficient mitigation. At Santa Maria Hospital, 799 Concord Avenue, two Griswold Street residents called in to raise health and property-value concerns about a proposed Dish Wireless antenna array, but members Wendy Leiserson and Virginia Kiesler concurred with Monteverdi that "we are not a board that's competent to hear those particular concerns," citing federal telecommunications law. A seventh case, 316 Pearl Street, was continued to November 7, and a Harvard Street deck application was formally withdrawn at the owner's request after a dispute with her condo board.