Cambridge Zoning Board Approves Five Permits, Stalls Harvey Street Conversion

CAMBRIDGE -- February 1, 2024, Cambridge zoning board approves five residential permits and continues a contested Harvey Street conversion case. The Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously five to zero on eight separate actions at its February 1 meeting, granting variances and special permits for renovations at 61-65 Bristol Street, 15 Hazel Street, 11-13 Palermo Street, 82 Avon Hill Street, 33 Hurlbut Street, 12 Linnean Street, and 1436 Cambridge Street. The lone contested matter involved a developer seeking to convert a four-family building at 55 Harvey Street to a single-family home, a project that would push the floor area ratio from a non-conforming 1.83 to 2.42, nearly five times the ordinance limit of 0.5. All five board members, including Chair Jim Monteverde, said they could not find the hardship required to support the variance, with member Daniel Nidalgo stating there was "nothing specific about this property" to suggest unusual hardship, and member Carol Agate questioning why zoning rules should allow a near-doubling of an already non-conforming structure. The case was continued to March 28, 2024, with attorney Richard Lenz requesting time to confer with his client, ARM Developers, on a possible revised approach.