Board that rejected expansion of two-family house in South Boston into five units approves expansion of two-family house in Brighton into five units

Location, location, location: A couple hours after rejecting plans by one property owner to turn a two-family home on East 5th Street in South Boston into a five-unit condo building after nearby residents and the district city councilor strongly objected, the Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday approved plans by another property owner for a similar conversion on Bigelow Street in Brighton that was supported by the district city councilor.

The Boustris family, which bought 77 Bigelow St. in 2020, won approval for rear and side extensions to create a five-apartment building with five parking spaces on a 14,000-square-foot lot in a hearing that went as smoothly and as quickly as the earlier hearing on the South Boston proposal did not.

Among its supporters was City Councilor Liz Breadon, who, through an aide, said she particularly appreciated how the Boustris plan retained the original house, built in the 1800s and added onto that rather than razing it.

One Bigelow Street resident did oppose the proposal, saying it would add to parking issues on the street, and detract from neighbors' quality of life through extra noise and lack of privacy - in large part through all the proposed windows on the building and mean decreased light. She also expressed concern about the fate of a mature tree near the proposed driveway. A resident around the corner on Hardwick Street added the new units would mean extra traffic on the narrow Bigelow Street and would contribute to "a lack of green spaces places for some of the wild animasl now running around our neighborhood to take refuge."

The board then voted unanimously to grant the project the variances needed for being taller and having less parking than required by the lots zoning.

Watch the hearing: