Board approves East Boston building with more than twice as many parking spaces as residential units

The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans by City Realty to build a seven-unit residential building with 16 parking spaces on a large lot next to Constitution Beach in East Boston.

The developer's attorney, Richard Lynds, began his presentation to the board by acknowledging "that's a lot of parking," especially in an era when city planners no longer recommend more than one parking space per unit - and often less.

But Lynds said his client agreed to put in so many spaces at 184 Cowper St., a dead end off Byron Street, at the request of neighbors, who said on-street parking is already hard to come by.

Lynds said that the lot the building would sit is huge for the area - some 15,000 square feet - which means that even with the parking, the building will have 5,000 square feet of open space for residents and a significant amount of green buffering for neighbors.

"Parking is very tight down there," Philip Brangiforte, who lives next door to the property, said. He said he appreciated City Realty's willingness to put in enough parking to ensure he and other neighbors don't have a problem finding a space after the building goes in.

A BPDA planner urged the board to reject the proposal as being too big for the neighborhood.

Board member Hansy Better Barraza moved to approve the project only if the amount of parking was reduced to 12 spaces, which would allow for even more open space.

But even though the board then voted 4-3 for her motion, it lost because state law requires 5 votes for any zoning decisions.

Members Sherry Dong, Norm Stembridge and Raheem Shepard voted against her limit, saying they were swayed by arguments from the neighbors about the need for parking and because one thing the street does not lack is open space, due to its location right next to Constitution Beach.

The board then voted 5-2 to approve the proposal without a reduced number of parking spaces.