Board grants variances for 32‑unit Revere Street building with conditions to protect neighbors and funeral home parking

The Revere Board of Appeals voted to grant variances to Bonfiglio Family LLC that allow construction of a five‑story, 32‑unit apartment building on the Bonfiglio family’s parcels along Revere Street, subject to several conditions aimed at limiting neighborhood impacts.

Attorney Nancy O’Neil, representing Bonfiglio Family LLC, described the revised proposal as a five‑story, 32‑unit building containing 28 one‑bedroom units and four two‑bedroom units with 54 ground‑level parking spaces. She told the board the plans set aside 22 spaces for the adjacent Bonfiglio funeral home and provide one parking space per apartment. “This proposal meets those goals,” O’Neil said, describing the design changes made after city input and neighborhood meetings.

Attorney Jerry D’Ambrosio, speaking in support, emphasized the funeral home’s long presence in Revere: “The Bonifilio family has been operating that funeral home for goodness, 60 or 70 years now. It is an essential service in the city of Revere.” The applicants and their attorneys told the board the project originally could have been built by right but was voluntarily reduced in density and adjusted to preserve parking and reduce neighborhood impacts.

Several neighbors spoke in opposition or with concerns. Isabelle Morgan said, “My privacy is gone,” and raised issues about noise, traffic and construction impacts. Other opponents expressed concerns about building height, traffic flow, emergency‑vehicle access, and the potential conversion of den spaces into bedrooms. The ward councilor, Angela Garrino Soia, described months of negotiation and said the developer had reduced unit sizes and bedroom counts in response to city requests and neighbor concerns.

The board attached specific conditions to the variances: the closet door in the den of one‑bedroom units that might create the appearance of a second bedroom must be relocated to the living‑room wall or to a location determined appropriate by the building inspector; the variance must be recorded at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds and recording numbers supplied to the city clerk and building inspector; site‑plan review approval is required prior to applying for a building permit; the rights granted lapse in one year unless exercised; and the property shall not be eligible for Revere’s residential and visitor on‑street permit parking program.

After the conditions were read, the board voted unanimously to grant the relief. The variances will not be effective until recording and site‑plan approvals are completed.