Dozen affordable apartments approved on Nottingham Street in Dorchester

The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans for a three-story, 12-unit apartment building on what are now city-owned vacant lots at 23 Nottingham St. in Dorchester.

Developer KZ Builders - named for owners Senam Kumahia and former City Councilor Josh Zakim - won the right to build on the land from the Mayor's Office of Housing with a promise to rent the apartments to people making between 80% and 100% of the Boston-area median income. 

The building will have eight parking spaces.

Some neighbors objected to the proposal, saying it would exacerbate parking and crime issues on the street.

The project needed variances because the building would be taller and larger than allowed by the land's zoning, and did not have the amount of parking required by zoning - although KZ attorney Joseph Feaster noted a new city directive that waives parking minimums for all affordable projects.

The board approved the proposal unanimously, on a motion by member Giovanny Valencia, who praised the reuse of a vacant city-owned lot for housing.