Zoning board meets privately to discuss ongoing lawsuit

The Zoning Board of Appeals met in executive session this week with legal counsel to discuss an ongoing case opened against the board earlier this winter.

The case centers on the board’s decision to uphold a series of cease-and-desist letters from Building Inspector Brian Bower, which classified nine houses that property owner David Schwartz rented to groups of students as “lodging houses,” defined in the city’s zoning code as “rooms… rented to four or more persons not within the second degree of kindred to the owner.”

In January, the city’s and Schwartz’s legal teams agreed to abide by a consent order which would allow the buildings’ current tenants to continue living at the properties until their leases expire. If the Land Court has not yet ruled on the case at that point, the order would then require the units to be rented out following the city’s interpretation of its own guidelines until the court makes its decision.

In February, in order to comply with a request from the court, Schwartz’s team agreed for procedural reasons to withdraw a part of its complaint challenging the validity of the ordinance.

The case is set to complete discovery by the end of May.

Additionally, the ZBA:

• Granted a homeowner on Pelham Road permission to create a garage extension requiring an existing side setback variance and a greater-than-permitted lot coverage, to create a single-story physically accessible living space for a family member with a disability. The applicant’s father said they decided to apply for variances through the ZBA instead of seeking a reasonable accommodation for disability, in order to avoid a longer process that might involve going to the City Council.
• Granted an extension of time for the construction of a lab space project at 460 Totten Pond Road to which the ZBA granted a variance in 2022.