By Michael Coughlin Jr.
In its first meeting of 2024 on January 17th, the Community Alliance of Mission Hill (CAMH) heard about and discussed the first presentation for a project at 8 Burney Street, which involves demolishing an existing building.
The plans for the project, which were presented by Luis Santana, a consultant, alongside the property owner, Dermot Doyne, are to demolish the existing three-story building at the site and build a new five-story building with nine units.
It should be noted that, as of now, a demolition application has not been filed, according to Santana.
“That is premature; we need to go through the community process and the Zoning Board of Appeal before we collect all the information required for a demo permit, which is quite extensive,” he said.
In terms of the unit mix for the proposed building, there are slated to be three studios, four one-bedrooms, one two-bedroom, and one three-bedroom.
Additionally, there are no parking spaces, and there are plans for two roof decks as part of the proposal.
As part of the presentation, Santana walked through different views of the site and outlined the anticipated zoning relief needed for the project.
Specifically, the refusal letter from the Inspectional Services Department showcased during the presentation indicated the project would need relief from the Zoning Board of Appeal for use, off-street parking, lot area, open space, rear yard, side yard and height.
Moreover, Santana continued the presentation by going through the floor plans, the elevations for the proposed building, and a height study that looked at the topography of different areas, such as Delle Avenue and Tremont Street, compared to Burney Street.
Following Santana’s presentation, there were a number of questions and comments from those in attendance.
For example, Doyne was asked whether he would rent to undergraduate students, to which he said, “Absolutely not,” and whether the building would be all-electric, to which he, in part, said, “It’d be great if it was,” later adding, “We haven’t really got to the mechanics.”
The abutters’ meeting for the project was also discussed. “It was very positive. I actually felt that it was positive, and it was great,” said Doyne. He also discussed how he has spoken with abutters about the project and received support.
An attendee also spoke about their experience at the abutters’ meeting, saying, “The meeting was pretty straight ahead with a good presentation and a few questions and answers, and in general, the non-abutters who attended liked the meeting — liked the development.”
“As Dermot [Doyne] said, it was a very friendly meeting,” they added.
Other topics, such as the use of the basement, the roof space, and more, were brought up before the project discussion came to a close.
Following the discussion, Martin Beinborn, CAMH’s President, reiterated the process for projects. Since this was the first presentation, the proposal will need to be presented again at a future CAMH meeting, where it will then go to a vote.