Zoning board upholds long-established nonconforming six-family apartment building

The Zoning Board of Appeals ruled this week that the multifamily apartment building formerly owned by Lorraine and Raymond DeMeo should be allowed to continue its use as a six-family residence.

The DeMeos lived in one of the property’s apartments until their deaths, and their children are now trying to sell the building. Although its six apartments have been in use since the early 1980s, when the DeMeos converted extra existing rooms on the second floor into separate apartments, the building is only permitted for four units.

Attorney Philip McCourt, representing the DeMeos, said city building inspector Brian Bower saw no issue with the apartments, which McCourt reported are well maintained and which passed city inspection as recently as 2021. Still, Bower didn’t feel empowered to sign off on a usage that the building’s permit didn’t allow without going through the ZBA, according to McCourt.

ZBA associate member Sarah Hankins questioned, however, why the case came before them at all given that the apartments have been in use for more than ten years and apparently had Bower’s unofficial blessing.

All four members present voted to uphold the building’s current usage, although board Chair John Sergi asked for additional documentation that the building has been occupied as a six-family residence for at least 10 years, saying that regulation around multifamily housing was a “hot-button issue right now in the city.”

Additionally, at its Aug. 12 and 14 meetings, the ZBA

• voted to extend the public hearing for the proposed Chapter 40B housing development The Residences on Winter, at 455 Totten Pond Road until Oct. 31. The case was supposed to be heard on Aug. 14, but because of absences on the board, its next appearance has been postponed to Sept. 30. A representative for the development reported that the developer had held a neighborhood meeting with abutters about the project on Aug. 12.
• approved a variance to allow property owner Gus Coutard to build a covered staircase to a deck on his roof at 599 Main St. for private residential use.
• signed off on an edit to plans the board approved in 2022 for an apartment building on 61 Hall St. at the site of the former St. Charles Borromeo Church, allowing an easement so a neighbor could access their own parking through a fenced-off part of the building’s parking area.