The Quincy Zoning Board of Appeals continued the hearing on a proposal to add a third floor at 170 Rota Street and set the next hearing for Feb. 11, 2025, after board members and the applicant discussed multiple design changes aimed at reducing the apparent three-story massing on the left elevation.

Architect Andres Bernal of Blue Circle Studio presented revisions intended to lower the visual scale, saying the team "added essentially an expression of a sort of a gable end" and attempted to achieve "a 2-and-a-half-storey sort of feel." Board members repeatedly flagged the left side for further work, noting a tall existing chimney and a large vertical plane that would read as a full three stories from the street.

Members suggested several options, including raising knee walls, adding dormers, continuing an eave expression across the left elevation, encapsulating or siding the chimney to reduce its visual prominence, or moving some of the additional square footage sideways where lot geometry allows. The applicant and board agreed the changes could be addressed and scheduled the continuation for Feb. 11, 2025.

No formal vote was taken; the board moved to extend the hearing to the February 11 session so the applicant can present additional drawings that address the left-side massing and chimney treatment.