Boston ZBA Denies Bay Village Rowhouse Expansion After 3-3 Vote Fails

BOSTON — August 26, 2025 — Boston ZBA denies Bay Village rowhouse expansion after split vote, unanimous reversal. The Boston Zoning Board of Appeal voted unanimously to deny without prejudice a proposal by owner Alexander Jimanov to expand his 20 Shawmut Street rowhouse with a rear addition and three roof decks, after a prior 3-3 motion to approve failed to carry. Attorney Luis Santana argued the 850-square-foot lot's extreme narrowness and surrounding development — including a 24-story adjacent tower — constituted unique hardship justifying an FAR increase from 3.5 to 3.9 in a 2.0-maximum district. Sarah, co-chair of planning for the Bay Village Neighborhood Association, told the board the project "meets none of the criteria" for a variance and warned of litigation: "There is absolutely no way that they satisfy the criteria for a variance." Representatives from two city councilors' offices, Councilor Lusley and Councilor Aaron Murphy, also went on record in opposition. Elsewhere, the board approved nine other residential cases, including new two-families in Hyde Park, Dorchester, and Roslindale, and deferred a Jamaica Plain commercial-to-residential conversion to October 7 after the applicant failed to appear.