What has been called the “last available parcel of land” on Beacon Hill will become a single-family home, if a new owner has anything to do with it.

Standing in his way is nothing less than an entire neighborhood, as well as the city of Boston’s zoning board, fire department, and members of the city council.

Okay, how was that for a lead? (lede?)

I’m no journalist, so let me just write this the way I usually write stuff.

Michael Zuromskis is the owner of Charles Street Liquors, in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. For at least the past twenty-odd years, he and/or Paula LaRosa have owned a 1,480-square foot undeveloped piece of land at 1 Putnam Ave, between Charles Street and West Cedar Street. The lot can only be accessed by a walkway from either street.  It is fenced in and includes at least three trees as well as what looks to be an “untended garden” apparently “untended” by owners at 80 West Cedar Street.

For sometime now, Mr Zuromskis has been trying to build a home or homes on the site and/or at least suggested that someone else to do so.

In July, 2007, the land was listed for sale for $495,000 in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLSPIN); 184 days later, the listing expired, with no buyers evident.

However, transactions recorded at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds in July, 2008, suggest that the property has exchanged hands, and I have it on good authority that the new owner(s) are attempting to get approval for a single-family home on the site.

Some neighbors, however, are not happy with the proposal, saying there is no way that the new owner(s) should be allowed to cut down what appear to be 100-year old+ trees.

Whether the opposition is driven by some well-meaning arborists or simply by people concerned that their views and light may be affected, is unknown.

What is known is that a lot of work remains to be done before anything can be approved for building.

Last year, when the land was first advertised for sale, the Beacon Hill Times had a story about the land, and reported the following:

Beacon Hill’s zoning would allow building on half the lot up to four stories, if the height were under 65 feet.

But variances would be required for a front-yard setback of 20 feet, and side- and back-yard setbacks of 10 feet each. There is also a requirement for one parking space and 150 square feet of open space per unit, according to Jessica Shumaker, a spokesperson for the Boston Redevelopment Authority.

Shumaker said it might be possible to obtain variances since no Beacon Hill building fits within these parameters and city planners like buildings to line up with neighbors.

A four-story single-family home with as much as 2,600 square feet might be possible, according to a source quoted in the article.

The city’s fire code may pose problems, according to the Times. It quotes someone saying that, “with new construction, you have to have a hard-surfaced, all-weather fire lane at least 20 feet wide within 25 feet of the building.”

The lot is at least 25-feet from the streets at both ends, by my on-site calculations.

If the proposal ever made its way through the byzantine permitting process, getting anything actually built would be a nightmare. Construction workers would have to carry everything in by foot. There would be no staging area.

Worse, it’s not crystal-clear whether or not Mr Zuromskis has access to the lot from both streets; the Beacon Hill Times reported in 2000 that he had filed suit against the owners of 137 Charles Street “claiming that early deeds show that he has an easement … over the passageway.”

With land titles running back 400 years, at least, an activist neighborhood, and local and national preservationists congregating at the gates, it is not a fight for the timid or the ill of health, to be sure.