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Brookline ZBA approves special permits for 73 Beverly Road; owner agrees to no-blasting provision
Summary
The ZBA granted special permits for an expanded house and accessory pool at 73 Beverly Road with planning-board conditions and a construction-management condition stating the applicant will not use blasting; the building department confirmed the pool complies but requires stamped site plans.
The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved special permits for the project at 73 Beverly Road, granting relief for increased floor-area ratio, minimum lot size exceptions, and a nonconforming rear-yard setback, and it accepted a construction-management condition reflecting the applicant’s agreement not to use blasting for pool construction.
At the hearing, architect Andrew Falkenstein presented corrected and stamped site plans showing that a reduced pool footprint would be 24.5% of the rear yard — under the 25% limit — and that the pool waterline would be 5 feet from the rear lot line with a 4-foot planting buffer. Planning staff and the deputy building commissioner advised the board that the pool and spa comply with the cited zoning sections but that the site plan dated 10/16/2024 must be stamped by a professional land surveyor or civil engineer before permit issuance.
Neighbors had urged the board to prohibit blasting because of local puddingstone outcrops. Neighbor Jack Corrigan asked whether blasting could be prohibited; owner Sankal Segal told the board, “we are not planning to use any blasting methods for the pool construction” and said the contractor expects to test soils by digging an 18- to 30-inch hole and that the likelihood of blasting is less than 0.5 percent. The owner and applicant agreed to language read by staff that the construction management plan “shall specify no blasting and shall address drilling as agreed upon by the applicant.”
Board members deliberated that the project meets special-permit standards under section 905 and concluded that the construction-management plan and building-department oversight would address construction methods; they then voted unanimously to grant the requested special permits subject to the planning-board conditions and the revised condition excluding blasting as an agreed feature of the construction plan.
The board directed that final stamped plans be submitted to the building department and planning staff prior to building-permit issuance.
