The Zoning Board of Appeals continued the case for the rehabilitation of 165 Hawthorne St. at its meeting on Tuesday night.
The petitioner requested the continuance until the September meeting, since the applicant’s representative was unable to make Tuesday night’s meeting.
Currently, the building has 18 single-room occupancy units on the top floors with communal bathroom and kitchen spaces, and a retail produce shop occupies the front space.
Developer Rick Costa is seeking to renovate the 18 single room occupancies and lowering the number of those units to 12 by adding private bathrooms and small kitchen areas. He is also seeking to replace the retail area on the first floor and add six small apartment units.
At a Planning Board meeting last month, Costa said that the current management of the building is currently less than ideal, with rooms rented daily or by the week and a transient population. He said he will make sure the rooms are of a higher caliber, and that there would be improved maintenance and management of the units.
The Planning Board recommended approval of the special permit and variances needed to move forward with the project at its July meeting.
In other business, the ZBA determined that a request by La Colaborativa for a modification to its plans at its new building on Arlington Street constituted a major change and will have to go through the public hearing process.
That case is also scheduled to be heard at the ZBA’s September meeting.
La Colaborativa is seeking to change the planned teaching kitchen into a community development kitchen, add two new non-commercial kitchens for staff use, and replace an existing garage with an open-concept gazebo.
Last month, the Planning Board ruled that the gazebo did not constitute a major change to the project’s site plan, but the proposed changes to the kitchens fell outside that board’s purview.