The Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) on February 23 discussed a building code matter at 40 Beacon St. where the request was to “modify fourth floor unit to isolate space to be transferred to second floor Unit 3. Create egress vestibule and move one door,” according to the hearing notice, after some changes arose following the original development plan.
The notice continues on to say that “the number of exits or exit access doorways required within the means of egress system shall comply with the provisions of Section 1006.2 for spaces and Section 1006.3 for stories.”
Doug Anderson, the co-consultant on this matter, said that originally, this redevelopment included a particular space on the roof terrace for for Unit 5 that connected two pieces. He said that the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission denied it “because of a very small visibility issue from a driveway” down what he said he thinks was Willow St.
“The development went forward and the rear part and the front part were originally marketed together as Unit 5,” Anderson said, but the owner of Unit 5 did not want the rear portion, so the owner of Unit 3 two floors down bought it.
“This introduced an egress issue,” he said, and the rear stair had to be kept as common use for Unit 4.
“As a form of compliance alternative, we proposed as a second means of egress:” a door that would be equipped with an electric stripe for the top floor unit to use, Anderson said.
The roof terrace is heated, “so there’d be no snow or ice issues. I looked at this as analogous to a connecting balcony,” he said
The ZBA voted to approve this project.