Cambridge Planning Board Unanimously Approves Two-Home Thingvalla Avenue Special Permit

CAMBRIDGE -- October 1, 2024, Cambridge Planning Board approves two-home Thingvalla Avenue project 7-0 after year-long title delay. The board, with Vice Chair Tom Cinevich presiding in the absence of the Chair, unanimously granted a special permit Tuesday to developer Greg Matyoshin and architect Robert Lin of Moscow Land Architects to build two detached single-family homes at 8 Thingvalla Avenue, replacing a deteriorating ranch house. The permit was required under Section 5.53 of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance because the proposed rear structure sits more than 75 feet from the street. The front house measures 1,502 square feet above grade and the rear house 1,450 square feet above grade; each has roughly 700 square feet of basement. The original application was withdrawn without prejudice in 2023 to resolve an ownership certificate issue. Associate members Dan Anderson and Joy Jackson were appointed to vote after regular members Mary Lidecker and Mary Flynn were both absent. One neighbor, Sean Delaney of 11 Thingvalla Avenue, spoke in support, saying he had "no objections at all to this project."