Cambridge Zoning Board Approves Seven Relief Requests, Continues Commercial Case to October

CAMBRIDGE -- September 5, 2024, Cambridge zoning board clears seven residential and commercial cases, pushes contested Cambridge Street project to October. The Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals, chaired by James Monteverde, moved through eight agenda items at its September 5 meeting, granting special permits and a variance extension in unanimous or near-unanimous votes. The only divided vote was 4-1 on a rear addition and underground garage at 38 Hubbard Avenue, with Monteverde dissenting over what he called an out-of-character parking feature on a 25-foot-wide lot. A smoothie chain, SOBOL, received a fast-order food special permit to open at 5 JFK Street in Harvard Square's Abbott Building, following a favorable review from the Harvard Square Advisory Committee. A two-story rear addition at 10 Howland Street passed 5-0 over live and written objections from two neighbors at 12 Howland and 80 Wendell, with board members citing the unchanged building height and compliant floor area as dispositive. The board's sole variance of the night, a gross floor area increase from 75 to 85 percent for 12 Kennard Street, also passed unanimously. The commercial proposal at 723-731 Cambridge Street was continued to October 10 without any hearing on the merits, after Monteverde cited "significant issues" in written objections from both the Cambridge Planning Board and the East Cambridge Planning Team.