APPT-2024-17 : Appointment of Christopher Coughlin, 27 Summer Street, to the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the unexpired term of Katherine Moore; said term to expire on the last day of February 2028.

Transcript (~14 min @ 29:20)

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▶ 29:20 Maya Jamaleddine: the rules is now suspended.

▶ 29:24 Maya Jamaleddine: If anyone, um, I would call the mayor.

▶ 29:30 Speaker 6: Good evening. Wonderful.

▶ 29:36 Speaker 9: Yes.

▶ 29:41 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, before I'll, uh, give you the floor, I'm just gonna read the first order, and we have appointment 2024 dash 17 appointment of Christopher Coughlin 27th Summer Street to the zoning board of appeals to fill the unexpired term of Catherine Moore. Set term to expire on the last day of February, 2028. And the floor is yours.

▶ 30:05 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you, Madam Chair and thank you members of the committee. Um, I'm here tonight, um, to present Christopher Coughlin to serve on the zoning board of appeals. And I'm grateful for his willingness to do so. Um, I'll certainly let him speak more about his experience, but he is an attorney and holds a real estate license and brings a wealth of knowledge about development and zoning, and also has a real passion for our community and helping to shape the future of it. I think as you all are well aware, the zoning board of appeals is another group of volunteers who spend a lot of time working on behalf of the city. So we really think thoughtfully and diligently about the appointments to this. And Mr. Coughlin has been in conversations with both the previous mayor and myself, um, going back almost a year about his willingness to serve in this capacity, which, as I think you all know, is incredibly time consuming. Um, so I'm really grateful for his service and I'm excited to have him here tonight.

▶ 30:58 Speaker 1: Thank you. As far is yours.

▶ 30:59 Speaker 8: I appreciate the opportunity. Um, just elaborating a little bit on some of my background and experience. I am a lawyer, how, although, uh, land use zoning real estate isn't my practice area, which I think is actually beneficial here. There'd be no conflicts. Um, I did, as every law student is required to take property law. So I have a core fundamental understanding of, of some of the issues here. But more importantly, um, since my wife and I bought our first condo 15 years ago, uh, real estate's been kind of an obsession of mine. Um, so I am actively engaged in, uh, monitoring the, i I look at all the listings. Um, we've bought and sold a couple properties within the city over the last, uh, 10 years. Um, I have a vested interest in, uh, what happens, what occurs in the community. We have owned a two family at one point, so I've been a landlord and appreciate how difficult the rental market can be here and the need for additional housing. Um, one of the toughest parts of owning that two family was, uh, receiving dozens of inquiries and people asking to rent the unit when it was vacant and having to say no to literally dozens of families, um, who were just dying for an opportunity to, to find reasonable housing. Um, I am aware and monitor, follow the, the, some of the issues that present with the m btas, um, new initiatives. Uh, I just read today that there's another city that is in the process of attempting to challenge that rent them has added their name to the list. Um, so I do try and actively monitor and keep myself, uh, uh, educated about the issues that present. Um, I'm far from an expert, but I hope to be a quick study. Um, so I would welcome the opportunity and any questions that you might have for me.

▶ 32:50 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, Mr. Coughlin. Any, uh, one from my colleague would like to ask a question.

▶ 32:57 Speaker 9: Um, counselor Chedi, thank

▶ 32:59 Manjula Karamcheti: You. Thank you so much for being here and for offering your wealth of knowledge and experience to the zoning board of appeals. I'm a city counselor in Ward one, which happens to be, um, a neighborhood where there are a lot of proposed, um, sites for building, um, some general development, some 40 b um, proposals. And so one of the things that has come up is sort of the interaction between the zoning board of appeals and the community, or in this case, they're separate and yet there's public comment. So I guess just my question is, in terms of process, do you just have any thoughts on ways to have the community be involved in terms of hearing voices as you're making decisions on the zoning board?

▶ 33:57 Speaker 8: So, candidly, as a community member, um, I would love to see more, uh, educational material about, um, the process. I didn't learn about the M BTAS community initiative until a few months ago. Um, and it was through indirect channels and was very intrigued by it because it obviously applies to not only our community, but the house that we live in. Mm-Hmm. Um, so in theory, our, the house that we live in would be eligible to be converted to a multifamily to satisfy the, the, uh, zoning initiatives there. Um, so, but I, again, also candidly am unaware of what the zoning board's role would be in, uh, moving to educate the community about it. Um, I think that if more community members had a little bit more information up front before a project was proposed in their neighborhood and might be helpful, um, because I think we all fight once we're in our own environment, um, there's a little resistance there to change. And if they were a little bit more aware of the initiative and the benefits that it potentially provides, um, that it might head off some of the, I don't wanna say conflict, but, um, emphatic discussions that occur. Um, obviously I, I do, I try to avoid social media when I can, but it can be a useful tool for, to take the pulse of what's occurring. And you do see the back and forth online. People feel very strongly about like the, um, the project over by, uh, Greenwood Street, I think, or, or, uh, and there are emphatic parties on both sides. And I think some of that could be head off with a bit more education and a bit more discourse about it. Um, as things have moved online, it's a bit more difficult to do that. Obviously people don't tend to, don't seem to attend these types of meetings, even though they exist. Uh, but I don't, uh, suggest I have all the answers either. I I think it's just something that needs to be, um, considered, uh, as things change and evolve and, and consider ways to best kind of head those issues off before they build ahead of steam.

▶ 36:14 Manjula Karamcheti: Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that. My only other question is just, you know, on the zoning board of appeals, a lot of the work is to decide whether to permit something that generally isn't an, uh, an ordinance or an issue that we generally approve. Right? So it's sort of going through that process of whether things should be waived. And I'm just curious, big picture, sort of how, what your approach is to making those kinds of difficult decisions.

▶ 36:41 Speaker 8: Anytime you're asking for an exception to what the rules are, um, there's gonna be resistance to it. And I think it's just, uh, you have to weigh the, what the circumstance is that's being proposed and kind of weigh the harms and decide based on the, the merits and the challenges that are put forth. So I don't think there's any, um, default answer to the question. I think you have to consider the positions of the party moving for the variance or, um, the exception to the rule. And those that don't want it to happen. And not everyone's gonna be happy all of the time, but you just strive to achieve the best possible outcome, uh, in after considering all the circumstances.

▶ 37:29 Manjula Karamcheti: Absolutely. Thank you so much. And I also recognize that the zoning board of appeals is a volunteer position that is intense and takes a lot of time. And so really appreciate you, uh, putting your hat in the ring for this position. Thank you. Very grateful. Thank you.

▶ 37:49 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, um, counselor, um, Vandiver, I thank you for,

▶ 37:52 Kimberly Vandiver: um, ed as counselor Karm Chetty said for stepping in up for this, um, big role, um, in the community. Um, my questions about the, um, recent housing production plan in Melrose, um, have, have, are you familiar with the entire plan?

▶ 38:10 Speaker 8: I reviewed it. I wouldn't say that I memorized it, uh, but I did get a chance to review it prior to conversation with the mayor a week or two ago. Yes.

▶ 38:18 Kimberly Vandiver: Um, and having, having reviewed it, um, how do you feel about the, the overall vision laid out there and, and that direction?

▶ 38:27 Speaker 8: I think that as a human and a community member, um, as I stated earlier, the inclination for a lot of people, I think is to resist change. So to review that and, um, look at the data that supports the need for additional housing, uh, allows you to kind of consider the bigger picture and fight against your tendencies, the human tendency or urge to resist the change. So I think there's a lot of important issues raised in the plan and some excellent proposals on how to address them. Um, I like how it identifies particular areas. It very candidly and straightforwardly identifies particular areas that it, uh, could serve as opportunity to, um, satisfy the need for housing. Uh, and, um, kind of puts people on notice that, hey, these are the areas that we're looking at, this is what we've identified as as good targets. Um, and I think that with that as a base understanding or a base plan, uh, reviewing proposals that seek to accomplish those objectives, um, is it should be considered.

▶ 39:39 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? My colleague?

▶ 39:43 Maya Jamaleddine: Um, I do have a question, and for that, I would like to suspend the role to be able to ask question as the chair. And, um, so I'm gonna make a motion, um, entertain motion to suspend the rule. Um, and I would like to ask you a question, uh,

▶ 40:02 Robb Stewart: Madam chair. I'll make a motion to suspend Rule 21 C. Second,

▶ 40:06 Maya Jamaleddine: We have a motion to suspend the rule made by councilor uh, Stewart, and seconded by Councillor Chetty. Um, and, um, all in favor, aye. Aye. Any of opposed? Uh, thank you. Uh, so the rule is now suspended, and I would like to thank you first for stepping up and, and, um, uh, taking on this role. Uh, and also I, you know, I heard you mentioning about in this work, whenever there is any project development, there is, uh, always an agreement and disagreement, uh, from the public. And it's very hard to be able to, uh, please everyone and, uh, be able to get anonymous, uh, unanim, um, agreement on one, uh, project, or one, um, uh, you know, point of view, uh, which is a good thing, right? Um, but, uh, when working with, with the knowledge that you have and the experience that you have, um, it is different, uh, from how the public, uh, and, um, constituents are seeing it from their angle. Uh, so in this role that you are gonna hopefully be taking on, um, what would you suggest to make a step or propose, uh, to be able to educate the public and, um, help and fill that gap and help them see it from, um, your, uh, perspective and the perspective of an expert and the person who's making the decision?

▶ 41:40 Speaker 8: So, Monnet, I hope, answer your question a bit indirectly. Um, my approach with anything that I've done in life is to try to absorb as much information as I can first before I then formulate some sort of, uh, action plan. Um, and what I do, what my day job, uh, requires me to do is litigation. And I have found that the most useful tool when trying to, um, address situations that are contentious is to listen to the parties. And if someone feels as though they've been listened to, even if you don't agree with what they're saying, that is a huge first step. So, having, being limited in my experience right now as I sit here today, I think it would be a bit, um, presumptuous for me to offer you an answer to your question. Uh, what I would ask is, if you were kind enough to afford me the opportunity to, um, to gain some experience in the position, and we had a subsequent conversation, I wouldn't be shy about making suggestions in the future, uh, but I would wanna learn a little more first.

▶ 42:55 Maya Jamaleddine: I appreciate that. Thank you so much. It's, it's, I appreciate everything that you will be bringing to this role, and I'm sure you will have a lot to offer. I, uh, am more of hoping to, to have, uh, some kind of education for the public to help them see it from, you know, the experts ex, um, uh, perspective and understand so we can help, uh, fill that gap. So thank you so much for, um, uh, taking on this, uh, rule. Um, what is the will of the committee motion

▶ 43:30 Speaker 5: To recommend? Second,

▶ 43:31 Maya Jamaleddine: We have a motion to recommend made by, um, councilor Che, seconded by counselor, uh, Finn Chiro. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. This motion passes. We will, uh, it will be recommended to the full council. Um, you don't need to attend, but you are welcome, uh, to join us. And thank you, uh, again.