Condos Cleared for Rebuild and Residents Rejoice

Hugs, cheers and thanks to city officials filled the room as residents of the Lake Williams Condominiums were told that they could rebuild 32 units destroyed in a fire nearly a year ago.

“Even more than one building we really are a community," said Condo Owner Alyssa Pacific. "There are a family and people who made strong connections ... it really is one community.”

The Zoning Board of Appeals agreed unanymously that the condominium was also one building, opening the door to the units being rebuilt on the foundation they had stood on since they were built in 1969.

“This to me is one building. That’s the way I interperet it,” said ZBA Member Paul Giunta who worked as an engineer for 18 years. "I seriously and professionaly believe it the way this is.”

The other members of the board agreed with Giunta's interpretation following a presentation by a lawyer, architect and engineer representing the condominium association. The representatives argued that the destroyed wing of the condominium was part of one continuous building, rather than its own building as Building Commissioner Michael Mendoza had ruled. Had that ruling stood, the condominium association would have had to go before the City Council in order to rebuild on the location.

“This is two structures and not one," said Mendoza at the beginning of the meeting.

The evidence presented was enough to convince the entire board otherwise.

“I came in here thinking it was two, but as the meeting progressed ... it made me believe it is one building,” said Jay Whittaker.

Among that evidence was testimony the concrete was poured as one foundation for the entire condominium structure. Architect for the rebuild of the condominium Eric Chamberlin, from Davis Square Architects, stated that if the building had been poured as two separate structures that there would have been expansion joints.

“It is one integral footing system, and one integral foundation system," he said.

The argument also included statements about how a connection between the wings was used as part of the structure and held load bearing walls. It was enough to prompt Assistant City Solicitor Cynthia M. Panagore Griffin — who had argued that the wing was legally a separate building — to state she may have come to a different conclusion if she had access to this information.

“Had I had the opportunity to be presented this evidence before and had an opportunity to look at it and digest it ... I may have come to a different conclusion," she said.

The board voted unanymously against the commissioner's ruling allowing the condominium association to begin the rebuilding process.