ZBA discusses new state policy that will make variances easier to get

Following new changes to statewide legislation, the Zoning Board of Appeals is starting to consider its cases under a more permissive lens.

The ZBA discussed these changes at its Tuesday meeting. Under the new regulations, petitioners requesting a variance from a local zoning code no longer have to rely on the shape, topography or soil of their property to make their case or prove that building without the variance would create a “substantial hardship.”

Instead, ZBAs can consider a wider range of factors, such as financial hardship, the feasibility of alternative designs, and whether the project will contribute to local needs such as housing before it balances “practical difficulties” that the variances could fix against potential harms to the neighborhood. 

These changes were championed by the Real Estate Bar Association to expand housing production across the state. In July, Governor Maura Healey signed them into law as a part of the 2027 state budget package.

Williams Street townhouses return to the ZBA

Last September, the board voted 4–1 to approve zoning variances so property owner Robert Kaitz could build four townhouses at 20 Williams St. Kaitz has not yet visited the City Council to get a special permit for the project. 

On Tuesday, Kaitz requested the ZBA modify its previous ruling to accommodate a change in how the Building Department has been enforcing zoning regulations.

Waltham’s zoning code requires a minimum amount of “living area” on the first floor of residential buildings, which clashes with the developer’s plan to put parking garages on the first floor of the buildings. Kaitz’s attorney claimed the Building Department has not historically enforced this part of the code.

According to Kaitz’s team, the department has begun denying other building permits for violations of this ground-floor living area code, so Kaitz requested the board grant an additional variance to exempt the townhouses from the rule.

The board voted unanimously to grant the variances.

Additionally, the ZBA:

• Approved variances for private homeowners on Gregory Street who plan to renovate their deck and outdoor pool in a way that will encroach into zoning-mandated setbacks, as a result of the unusual shape and significant slope of their lots.
• Granted variances to a landscaping business at 110 Felton St., so it could encroach into a side yard setback to build a roof over an existing loading deck in order to protect its materials from the weather.
• Signed off on a change of use for a building at 102 Clematis Avenue. Its owners plan to turn it from an indoor hockey training facility into a badminton and pickleball court.