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Board conditions foundation/retaining‑wall permit at 454 Head St. after neighbor safety concerns
Summary
Following neighbor appeals that excavation at 454 Head Street undermined an adjacent foundation, the Board of Appeals upheld the permit 5–0 but required the permit holder to work immediately with DBI to revise retaining‑wall details, prepare shoring/support plans for the adjacent foundation and produce an accelerated construction schedule.
Neighbors of 454 Head Street appealed work that they said undermined the adjacent foundation and posed safety risks. After reviewing photos and testimony from an affected neighbor and the permit holder’s contractor, the board heard from Department of Building Inspection staff that the site conditions in photographs did not match assumptions in the submitted structural detail.
Contractor Emilio Moran and the permit holder presented revised engineered details and said work would proceed in five‑foot sections under engineer supervision. DBI Chief Building Inspector Lawrence Kornfield said the engineer should refine the design and sequencing immediately because rainy weather and exposed soils raised safety concerns.
To address the neighbor’s safety concern, the board voted 5–0 to uphold the permit conditioned on three requirements: (1) the permit holder must confer immediately with DBI to modify the retaining‑wall detail to match site conditions; (2) the permit holder must submit a shoring/support plan for the adjacent foundation; and (3) the permit holder must provide an accelerated, DBI‑coordinated construction schedule. Commissioners emphasized accelerated engineering review to reduce risk to the adjoining property and to ensure inspections and sequencing would protect the neighbor’s foundation.
DBI agreed to work with the permit holder to expedite resolution of engineering details and sequencing; the board directed staff to incorporate the conditions into the final decision.
