Cambridge Planning Board Backs BZA Dormer Petition 7-0, With Conditions

CAMBRIDGE — October 8, 2024 — Cambridge Planning Board unanimously backs BZA petition to allow dormers as of right on nonconforming homes. The board voted 7-0 at its October 8 meeting to recommend adoption of a petition filed by Board of Zoning Appeal Chair Jim Monteverde and former BZA member Bill Beam, which would amend Section 8.22.1 of the zoning ordinance to let homeowners in nonconforming one- and two-family structures add qualifying dormers with only a building permit rather than BZA relief. The BZA logged 63 dormer-related applications — 28 special permits and 35 variances — since 2020, with most driven by properties already exceeding the floor area ratio limit. The board conditioned its recommendation on three language fixes: requiring a continuous eave separating the dormer face from the building wall below, capping the combined total length of all dormers at half the roof length rather than applying the limit per dormer, and prohibiting windows on dormer side walls. Member Tom Snevich called the petition "a tremendous step forward" and said the fix recognized "the reality" of what the BZA had been approving for years.