Boston ZBA Approves Dorchester Housing, Denies East Boston Variance at December Hearing

BOSTON — December 3, 2024 — Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal approved a 14-unit condominium project in Dorchester's Lower Mills neighborhood and a Dish Wireless rooftop antenna installation in South Boston over neighborhood opposition at its December 3 hearing. The board voted 6-0 to approve the mixed-use project at 1159-1161 Washington Street, proposed by longtime property owners Stavros and Theodora Retzos, which will include 14 for-sale condo units and a ground-floor restaurant space of approximately 1,300 square feet, with six parking spaces; the vote carried provisos requiring a housing affordability agreement and planning design review. The antenna case at 125 B Street passed 5-1, with board member Betta-Braza dissenting, despite opposition from Councilor Flynn's office, the St. Vincent's Lower End Neighborhood Association, and nearby residents citing health concerns over radio frequency exposure near young families. The board voted unanimously to deny a variance for 106 Webster Street in East Boston, where Braum Development sought relief for a building whose floor-area ratio had increased from an approved 1.93 to 2.06 after prior owners made unauthorized changes before foreclosure; Boston Planning Department representative Jeff Hampton told the board, "you are bound by those plans that we've already stamped." A rehearing for a three-family project at 548 East 3rd Street — before the board since 2022 — was deferred to January 14 after the planning department again recommended denial without prejudice, citing a proposed open space of roughly 60 square feet against a 600-square-foot zoning requirement.