By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

Last week, the planning board unanimously approved, with conditions, a Brookline developer’s plan to tear down the former Atlantic Aquarium and replace it with a four-story, 21-unit residential building.

At its March 29 meeting, both the project’s special permit and developer Jonathan Levitt’s filing of a preliminary subdivision plan received favorable action.

John Chessia of Chessia Consulting Services, the engineer reviewing the project, listed items for the board to consider, including setbacks, landscaping, width and grade of parking spaces, deliveries, trash pickup, lighting, infiltration systems, DCR permitting, catch basins, soil testing, and drainage plans.

Click here for the Special Permit documents filed with the planning board

Click here for past stories about this project in The Hull Times

“We support all the conditions and will begin the construction plan once we have the permit in hand,” said Adam Brodsky, attorney for Leavitt, principal of 120 Nantasket Avenue LLC. “We have also initiated conversations with DCR.”

The preliminary subdivision was automatically approved because under Massachusetts law, that was the only course of action. The filing of the subdivision does not change the proposal, but freezes the current zoning for at least eight years, meaning that any town meeting action to change the property’s zoning will not immediately take effect.

“We spoke to town attorney [James] Lampke and understand there is nothing we can do, so we will be approving it,” Chair Harry Hibbard said.

Brodsky indicated that the developer may be able to come up with “some accommodation with the town to potentially restrict the freeze to the 21-unit building project. My suggestion is, let’s get to town meeting to see if we have an issue or not… see what bylaws pass.”

In closing, Brodsky said Leavitt agreed that “the project got better through the planning process.”

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