Board approves total of seven new housing units in East Boston, rejects six

The Zoning Board of Appeal yesterday approved a total of seven new residential units in East Boston while rejecting six.

The board approved a six-unit, four-story building on East Eagle Street that will replace an existing triple decker.

The board also unanimously approved plans for a four-unit, three-story building at 124 Leyden St. that will have four parking spaces. The building needed board approval because the zoning on the lot called for no more than 2 1/2 stories, the rear yard was not long enough and the lot was too small. Board members agreed that the building would fit in on a block of mostly triple deckers, that the total height of 31'6" was lower than the allowed 35 feet and that the rear-yard length was OK because the lot runs all the way through from Leyden to Breed Street, up a steep hill. The proposal was also one parking space short of the requirement, but board members said four spaces was adequate in part due to the lot's proximity to the Orient Heights Blue Line stop.

Rejected: A three-unit, four-story building on Coppersmith Way and another three-unit, four-story building on Paris Street. The Coppersmith Way proposal was rejected as too dense for its lot; the Paris Street one as being too large for the context of Paris Street, where most of the other buildings are two or three-stories.

Both buildings were denied without prejudice, which means developer Joseph Trichilo can try again within a year - with smaller proposals.

Technically, the board also approved the expansion of a three-family house at 169 Maverick St. to four units. However, that vote was simply to re-affirm approval granted in November; the extra vote was needed because the public notice for the November hearing left out one of the reasons the project needed zoning relief.