The Boston Planning Department held an Article 80 Meeting last week on the proposed 145-unit rental building at 201-207 Brighton Ave. in Brighton.

DND Homes is looking to put in these units with no parking spaces and 30 affordable income-restricted units as per the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP) for 20 percent of the building affordable. The site will have 176 bike parking spaces and 822 square feet of commercial retail space on the first floor.

The proposal needs quite a bit of zoning relief and therefore will be heading to the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals for approval, though attorney representing DND Jeffrey Drago said the commercial zone upon which the site sits only triggered three variances (which is comparatively low in Allston versus other projects). The plan needs zoning variances for exceeding allowed floor area ration (3.78 proposed 1 allowed), height in feet (35 feet allowed / 70 proposed) and rear yard setback (20 feet required 4 feet, 7 inches proposed).

The site will feature a vehicle entrance for pickup, drop-off, and rideshare on Cambridge Street.

Charlesview Housing Community Engagement Manager Oscar Lopez asked about adding more community space rather than a gym on the first floor. He also asked about what the proponents would be doing to promote the units to seniors and families and not just young professionals and students.

“We haven’t really announced anything yet because we’re going through the community process and we didn’t want to market it,” Drago said.

Lopez said he understood but would like to see an effort geared towards elderly residents looking to downsize. Trina Murphy said they would look into doing that when the units are closer to being online. Lopez said overall, though, he appreciated the height and density of the project.

“I think it’s a great project, only a couple more things need to do to get there, but honestly, if you can’t build high here, I don’t know where you can,” he said. “Just down the way in Allston Square where Twin Donuts used to be you have that huge bunch of condos and you have that huge parking lot right next to here.”

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Resident Dominic Reterra said he also supported the project as businesses and others have been leaving the area.

“It will be a great addition to what seems like a pretty dead stretch of auto body shops, parking lots and an empty school, so if you want to go taller I would support that, along with any bike improvements on Brighton Avenue,” he said.

One resident, who went by Mike, said the zoning variances were too much for the neighborhood.

“You are asking for a pretty dramatic change to the zoning,” he said. “It’s like two times the zoned height for the area and almost four times the zoned FAR. I was thinking about the most recent developments approved that are very close to you, 446 Cambridge, and that’s much less dense. They have four or five stories with an offset in the back, and you’re asking for six. I would definitely consider this kind of an extreme example of asking for too much.”

Mike also said the lack of parking highlights “the parking crisis” in Allston and Brighton, and advocated for an enforceable agreement between the tenants and the landlord that they cannot bring a car to the neighborhood. Drago said that’s been tested in court and has been found to be illegal.