2010-10-21 Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes

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--(vulr,,~ C iz RV, 4 Town of Reading _ r ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes of October 21, 2010 a Members Present: Jeffrey Perkins, Vice Chairman John Jarema John Miles Damase Caouette Robert Redfern Members Absent: Kristin Cataldo Clark Petschek A meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Hall, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts, at 7:00 P.M. Also in attendance was Glen Redmond, Commissioner of Buildings. Case # 10-10 A continuation of a Public Hearing on the petition of Elite Freestyle Karate LLC who seeks a Variance and an appeal from a decision of the Building Inspector under Section(s) 6.2.3.2.2 of the zoning bylaws in order to install 2 additional wall signs where sign bylaws allow 1 wall sign per business on the property located at 1349 Main Street in Reading, MA. Gary Meyer, owner of Elite Freestyle Karate LLC, presented the history of the building. He needs additional signage so people are also aware of the combined fitness center. Mr. Meyer presented his arguments as to how the property meets the criteria required for a Variance. The Building Inspector said there were sign spaces for four businesses but Mr. Meyer occupies three of these areas so he is only allowed one sign under the new bylaws and would need a Variance. If there were four businesses there would be four signs. The Karate Studio occupies two spaces and the Fitness Center occupies one space. Mr. Redfern thought the two spaces without signs did not look occupied. He thought in this instance the sign allowance for each section was smaller than most other buildings. The Building Inspector also thought it looked like two of the units were vacant. The other Board members also agreed. The Building Inspector said he could issue one big sign by right for the three units but it would not fit in well with the building. Mr. Meyer could have a 197 square foot sign but what he is asking for is less than half that, with the three separate signs combined. ZBA Meeting, October 21, 2010 1