Harvard Chabad Appeals Zoning Board Decision to Reject Expansion

Harvard Chabad, after twice failing to secure city approval for a large-scale expansion, appealed the decision Monday afternoon — just hours before their deadline to do so.

The appeal, submitted to Middlesex County Superior Court, challenges the decision made by the Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeals to reject a large-scale expansion of Chabad’s headquarters.

Chabad’s proposal seeks to merge two historic buildings into a larger indoor congregation space, which leaders say is necessary due to limited indoor capacity. According to Chabad President Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, the organization has been hosting most of its programming outdoors because of space constraints.

“We've been outdoors now since March of 2020, including through the cold winter,” Zarchi said in a May interview.

The expansion plan, which would add more than 7,000 square feet to the current space, far exceeds the size and density limits allowed by current zoning regulations, thus requiring a variance from the BZA to move forward.

After initially failing to gain approval at a May hearing, the group returned to the BZA roughly a month later with a revised proposal, optimistic that the variance would be granted.

However, Chabad fell one vote short of approval for the expansion, meaning the group must wait two years before the proposal can be reconsidered.

The BZA’s formal rejection was issued on Aug. 26, giving Chabad 20 days to appeal to either the Massachusetts Land or Superior Courts under state law. Chabad filed their appeal at 12:28 p.m. Monday, just hours before the deadline.

Chabad’s lawsuit alleges that the BZA “acted unreasonably and arbitrarily” in their rejection of the proposal, stating that the BZA failed to provide a clear reason for denying the variance.

Members of the BZA could not be immediately reached for comment.

The BZA’s ruling states that the variance was denied due to concerns over the scale of the expansion and its compatibility with the neighborhood.

At the May hearing, BZA Chair Jim Montevard called the expansion a “detriment to the neighborhood” due to its size and density, which nearly doubles the current limit.

Cambridge residents — many of whom were from the Kerry’s Corner Neighborhood Association — expressed opposition to the expansion at both the May and June hearings, citing concerns about the size of the development, as well as potential issues with noise, trash disposal, and increased car traffic.

Although the BZA rejected the expansion, it granted Chabad a special permit to increase their parking on a private street extension adjacent to the property.

Last week, Toulopoulos Realty — the owners of neighboring apartments to Chabad — filed a separate appeal in Massachusetts Land Court, arguing that permitting parking on the shared, private Green Street Extension constitutes an “unlawful trespass.”

The appeal also alleges that the BZA failed to account for safety risks posed by increasing parking on the narrow street, including requiring drivers to reverse into the intersection of Green Street and Putnam Avenue.

Lawyers for Harvard Chabad did not respond to a request for comment. Chabad must respond to the neighbor’s appeal by early October.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart or on Threads @laurel.shugart.

—Staff writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at grace.yoon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.