The on-going controversy over a permit granted to a Bowdoin St. auto shop reached a new level of bureaucratic entanglement Tuesday afternoon when the City’s Zoning Board of Appeal declined to rule on a permit issued by the Inspectional Services Department that allows the shop to legally operate as a repair shop.

The Board of Appeal voted to move the issue to the City’s Legal department in order to closer examine the legality of the permit and the shop’s operations.

The permit, granted in May by ISD inspector Luis Santana, changes the occupancy of the business from “service station” to “repair shop garage.” Neighborhood activists had initially worked to trigger the ISD investigation to stop what they said were illegal auto repairs at the 13 Bowdoin St. property.