Just as maddening to residents of our neighborhood is the lack of support by our city government – in this case, the Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA), district Councillor Frank Baker, and At-large Council members Michael Flaherty, Erin Murphy, Julia Mejia, and Ruthzee Louijeune – in a matter involving a ZBA hearing held to consider the request of a developer to excuse eight zoning violations on his proposal to build a three-family building at No. 17 Longfellow St. This is a property zoned as an abutter’s lot, that is, a lot too small to build on.

The city had sold many of these too-small lots to abutters several decades ago – No. 17 was sold to the owners of No. 19, for example. Abutter’s lots were intended for building additions to existing houses on a contiguous lot; for added off-street parking; or for additional yard space for lawns, gardens, etc.

The developer held two zoom meetings with residents of Longfellow Street and the residents held a separate meeting among themselves to consider the proposed development. The clear consensus of the residents was that a three-family house was too large for the lot (as confirmed by the zoning board violations: too little room on the sides, too little space in front and back, too tall in relation to other houses, etc.) And it was zoned for no new building!

The residents as a group were willing to support a one- or two-family house but not a three-family dwelling.

Before the April 12 hearing, the residents conducted a letter writing and phone calling campaign aimed at the city councillors mentioned above. In addition, the Greater Bowdoin/Geneva Neighborhood Association (GBGNA) voted to support the residents and wrote a letter opposing the approval of the variances. The point of these communications was to seek the support of the councillors in opposing the zoning variances sought by the developer.

It is common for councillors or their staffers to speak at ZBA hearings or to write letters in support of or in opposition to requests for variances.

Along with two Longfellow residents, three city councillors— Baker, Flaherty, and Murphy— attended the hearing. None of them spoke on the variances, and the representative of the developer wrongfully claimed that the GBGNA supported the request for variances. One member of the board completely missed the point in dismissing the appeals of the residents, saying, “There are other three-deckers on Longfellow Street already.”

Once again, we are left in the lurch. None of the city councillors returned calls or emails other than form-letter responses, saying “we received your email.” None showed up to support the residents of Longfellow Street or give a reason for their absence.

One councillor even called one of the residents who attended the ZBA hearing asking for a contribution to her campaign. I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I sent the same message to the ZBA and the five councillors.