Cambridge BZA Grants Five Special Permits in Single November Session

CAMBRIDGE — November 21, 2024 — Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals grants five special permits, including telecom upgrades and residential additions, at its November 21 session. Chair Jim Monteverdi led all five members — Carol Agate, Daniel Hidalgo, Wendy Leiserson, and Virginia Kiesler — through a full agenda, with every case decided 5-0. Attorneys Michael Fenton and Michael Dolan won approval for antenna modifications at Harvard's Smith Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, for Verizon Wireless and AT&T respectively; conditions from the Cambridge Planning Board were incorporated in both permits, including requirements to minimize visual impact from the public realm. A contested rear addition at 94 Fairweather Street was approved only after the board imposed a condition that the second floor not project further toward the rear lot line than the existing porch, following opposition from neighbor Martine Voire of 11 Granville Road, who said the structure would "close in on our backyard." An expired apartment-conversion permit for 11-15 Dover Street was re-granted for the Chin family after a year's lapse, with the sole change being an exterior egress balcony replaced by a building-wide sprinkler system.