Cambridge Zoning Board Grants All Eight Permits at April Session

CAMBRIDGE -- April 25, 2024, Cambridge's Board of Zoning Appeal approved all eight relief requests heard at its April 25 session, voting unanimously on every item that reached a final vote. Board Chair Jim Monteverde and members Virginia Kessler, Bill Beam, and Carol Agate granted special permits for an accessory apartment at 202 Elm Street North, an emergency egress door at 2830 Shea Road, an educational-use expansion at 90 Hamilton Street, and variances for residential renovations at 72 and 72.5 Inman Street, 17 Copley Street, and 10 Hazel Street, the last of which had seen a prior 2022 variance lapse after a high water table forced a full redesign. Harvard University won a variance to build a 90-square-foot stroller canopy at its Botanic Garden Children's Center at 26 Robinson Street. One variance request, to enclose a rear deck as a garden shed at 29 Ash Street, was withdrawn after members Beam and Monteverde raised concerns that the structure would leave only a foot and a half of clearance for emergency responders along the rear property line.