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Quincy zoning board approves variance for townhouse at 41 Wall Street after plan revision
Summary
The Zoning Board approved a floor-area-ratio variance after the applicant revised a planned three‑story, two‑unit townhouse to a two‑story design that removed the ground-level garage; neighbors had raised concerns about height and massing.
Quincy City Zoning Board of Appeals on April 8 approved a variance to allow a new two‑unit townhouse at 41 Wall Street after the applicant revised an earlier three‑story design.
The applicant’s architect, Jim China, told the board the team returned with new drawings that eliminated the original ground‑level garage and reduced the building to two stories to address concerns about overall height and neighborhood fit. China said the only variance being requested after the revision was for floor‑area ratio (FAR): the site’s maximum FAR is 40 percent (29.62 allowed under one measure), and the revised plan was 37.24 percent — “in excess of approximately 760 square feet,” he said.
The change followed local feedback. Richard Ash, identified in an emailed letter as Quincy City Councilor for Ward 2, wrote that a community meeting had been held and that the revised plan “would fit much better in the neighborhood” by reducing the apparent mass of the building. The board read Ash’s letter into the record.
Board members confirmed the revised plan retained the original building footprint but removed the garage level and proposed three parking spaces accessed from side curb cuts; the architect said the team would address a front‑deck encroachment if directed. No speakers objected during the hearing on the revised submission.
On a voice vote the board moved to allow the application; the clerk recorded the motion as carried. The file in the record contains the applicant’s new site plan and the councilor’s letter from March 2025.
The approved variance was limited to the FAR as described; the applicant said other dimensional setbacks met zoning requirements or would be adjusted (for example, by removing part of the front deck) to comply.
The board’s approval concludes the public hearing on this application. The record includes the applicant’s drawings and the March 2025 community correspondence.
