Boston ZBA Hears Contested South End Rear Addition With 38 Letters of Opposition

BOSTON — January 13, 2026 — Boston's Zoning Board of Appeal opened 2026 with a contested South End rear-addition case that drew 38 letters of opposition and formal resistance from the mayor's office. Attorney Mark LaCasse, representing the homeowners at 170 West Canton Street, sought two conditional use permits — one under Article 32 for a groundwater recharge system and one under Article 64, Section 9 for a three-story, 155-square-foot rear bump-out — and a building-code variance allowing hatch access to an approved roof deck. Architect Zach Malay told the board the original five-story rear addition was cut by 40 percent to three floors following community pushback. Eva Jones of the mayor's office of neighborhood services testified in formal opposition, reading the Pilot Block Neighborhood Association's letter arguing the project "far exceeds the ZBA's long-standing six-foot rear yard extension standard by introducing a nine-foot multi-level addition." Connor Finn, testifying for State Representative John Moran of the Ninth Suffolk District, urged the board to deny the proposal, citing departures from long-standing zoning standards in a densely developed neighborhood. The board voted unanimously earlier in the session to approve a separate case at 95 Bussell Street, where a foundation replacement had converted an alteration permit to an erection permit and triggered a front-yard setback issue resolved by a modal setback alignment study.