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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-12-06 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesTown of Reading ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes of December 6, 2007 T Li :~E rT1 Members present: Robert Redfern, Chairman 00 c, Paul Dustin Clark Petschek Peter Tedesco z/'j : cn Susan Miller cn - a Members absent: John Jarema 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 attending the meeting was Glen Redmond, Commissioner of Buildings. Case # 07-22 Continuation of a Public Hearing on the petition of Salem Five who seeks a Variance under Section(s) 5.1.2 & 5.3.1.1 of the Zoning By-laws in order to construct a one-story building with a drive-through for use as a bank on the property located at 8 Walkers Brook Drive in Reading, MA. Attorney Chris Latham said the DRT minutes and favorable comments from the Town Planner have been submitted to the Board since the last meeting. Attorney Latham said this proposed bank building is consistent with the Town Master Plan and also fulfills the Town goal of utilizing empty lots. The lot is small and cannot meet the required setbacks and that is why the Applicant has applied for Variances. The Chairman said the Board members had reviewed the DRT minutes. Mr. Tedesco said he hoped the Applicant would provide adequate screening for the abutting residential district. Mr. Dustin said he thought the use proposed for the lot was suitable and because it is a bank, the disturbance to the neighborhood would be minimal. Tony Darezzo of 130 John Street wanted to know that, if the footprint was smaller than what had been proposed, would the Applicant have to return to the Board for a modification. The Building Inspector said the Applicant would not have to do this. The Chairman asked the Building Inspector if the front setback of 49' that is required for a wall sign would be adhered to and the Building Inspector said if the Applicant received a Variance for the building then the wall sign would not be an issue. ZBA Meeting, December 6, 2007 On a motion by Paul Dustin, seconded by Clark Petschek, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance from the requirements of Sections 5.1.2 and 5.3.1.1 of the Zoning By-laws in order to construct a one-story building with a drive-through for use as a bank on the property located at 8 Walkers Brook Drive as shown on the Plot Plan prepared by Sullivan Engineering Group, LLC. This Variance is conditioned upon the following: 1. The Petitioner shall submit to the Building Inspector a Certified Plot Plan of the proposed construction and proposed foundation plans, prior to the issuance of a foundation permit for the work. 2. The Petitioner's final construction plans for the new structure shall be submitted to the Building Inspector, along with the as-built foundation plan(s), prior to the issuance of a Building Permit. As-built plans showing the completed construction shall be submitted to the Building Inspector immediately after the work is completed and prior to the issuance of an Occupancy Permit. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Dustin, Tedesco, Petschek). Case # 07-24 A Public Hearing on the petition of Bertucci's who seeks a Variance and an Appeal from a decision of the Building Inspector under Section(s) 6.2.3 / 6.2.3 (additional requirement 10) / 6.2.3 (Note A) / 6.2.31 (M) / 6.2.2.4 of the Zoning By-laws in order to construct 2 (two) signs on the property located at 45 Walkers Brook Drive in Reading, MA. Attorney Chris Latham said the property is presently under construction. He said the Applicant is seeking Variances for two signs. The first is the main sign and it would say Italian Bertucci's Restaurant and the secondary sign would say Take Out. These two signs are much less than the signage granted to Stop & Shop, Chili's Restaurant and the Macaroni Grill. Attorney Latham said that although the property is located on Walkers Brook Drive, it is oriented towards the back and the entrance is actually on New Crossing Road. The Bertucci's structure will be the only structure (besides Longhorn Restaurant) on Walkers Brook Drive that has its back facing this roadway. The two signs proposed will not be seen from Walkers Brook Drive at all. The Longhorn Restaurant will obstruct the entrance vestibule for Bertucci's. There will be a joint freestanding monument sign for both restaurants at the entrance on New Crossing Drive. Attorney Latham then presented to the Board what he thought was the required criteria necessary in order to obtain these Variances. The Chairman referenced the memorandum submitted to the Board by the Building Inspector dated February 9, 2007. The Building Inspector clarified some of the details in this memorandum. He questioned what the wall material was that was shown on three sides of the 2 ZBA Meeting, December 6, 2007 building and said it might be considered a sign. Attorney Latham said it was essentially a decorative frieze that will be on three sides of the building that will not be lit up. Attorney Latham also said these signs for Bertucci's were custom designs that were made specifically for Reading. The Building Inspector said he did not consider these two signs to be directional signs even though Attorney Latham thought they were. Tony Darezzo of 131 John Street said all the restaurants referenced by Attorney Latham were in a PUD zone and therefore not competition for Bertucci's and Longhorn. Mr. Darezzo said that Longhorn would have its back facing on Walkers Brook Drive along with Bertucci's so Bertucci's was in fact not the only building on Walkers Brook Drive to have its back on that roadway. Attorney Latham said that Mr. Darezzo is the closest abutter to the proposed new structure. Mr. Petschek and Mr. Tedesco both thought the Applicant's request was reasonable. The Chairman explained that the Applicant came before the Board because the Building Inspector had denied the request for the two proposed wall signs. On a motion by Clark Petschek, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance from Sections 6.2.3, 6.2.3 (Note A), 6.2.3 (Additional Requirement 10), 6.2.3.2 (m) and 6.2.2.4 (e) of the Zoning By-laws in order to construct two wall signs, totaling 53.805 square feet, at its restaurant located at 45 Walkers Brook Drive, as depicted on drawing A34, dated January 26, 2007 and prepared by Prellwitz/Chilinski Associates, Inc., of Cambridge, MA, and signage drawings numbered 1-4, dated October 12, 2007 and prepared by Stephen Samalis of SRP Sign Corporation of Somerville, MA. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Dustin, Tedesco, Petschek). Case ff 07-25 A Public Hearing on the petition of Batten Bros. Inc. (for Longhorn Steak House) who seeks a Variance under Section(s) 6.2 / 6.2.3 of the Zoning By-laws in order to install 2 (two) additional wall signs and also to install 310 lineal feet of LED lighting at the perimeter of the proposed building on the property located at 39 Walkers Brook Drive in Reading, MA. Jerry Winter of Batten Brothers Signs in Wakefield represented the Applicant. He said Longhorn Steak House is an old-western style theme restaurant but they are using more modern designs in their signage. Longhorn has the rear of their building facing Walkers Brook Drive and so they are asking for additional signage. The company logo is a backlit steer's head and it is very important to the company's image. They also would like a sign on New Crossing Road that is facing the Stop & Shop. The other request is for LED accent lighting. The LED lighting goes 3 ZBA Meeting, December 6, 2007 around the building on the three sides and represents a lasso. The LED tube is white in color during the day but becomes red at night when lit. The Chairman said, in his opinion, this type of lighting functions as a banner or a beacon and is therefore not allowed. Mr. Tedesco also thought this type of lighting functioned as a beacon. Mr. Dustin said, in his opinion, a beacon is a single light and this LED type of lighting is not addressed in the Zoning By-laws. A discussion was held regarding the similarity in this case with the canopies on gas stations and how requests for this type of lighting on the canopies have come before the Board and been denied. Ms. Miller asked why they wanted a sign on the New Crossing Road side of the building since there will be a wall sign facing Walkers Brook Drive. Mr. Winter said once you are on New Crossing Road you cannot see the Walkers Brook Drive wall sign. With this proposed sign on New Crossing Road, shoppers leaving Stop & Shop could see that the Longhorn is located right across the road. Tony Darezzo of 131 John Street said he thought LED was similar to neon and should not be allowed. He also said he did not think the Applicant was allowed more than one wall sign because only one wall sign is allowed in the Business B zoning district. Mr. Darezzo said he was specifically trying to prevent the LED lighting, the New Crossing Road sign and the Walkers Brook Road sign. It appears that a permit was issued for the wall sign facing Walkers Brook Drive that perhaps should be revoked because this property is not in a Business B district. The Applicant said he would not object to a Variance being issued for the Walkers Brook Drive sign. But the Chairman explained that this sign could not be addressed at this meeting because it had not been advertised as part of the hearing. On a motion by Peter Tedesco, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant's request for a Variance to install 234 linear feet of LED accent lighting along the building parapet as shown on the plan entitled Plan of LED Border dated December 7, 2007. The motion was denied by a vote of 1-4-0 (Dustin: approved; Miller, Redfern, Tedesco, Petschek denied). On a motion by Peter Tedesco, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a variance to install a "steer head" logo on the building's south elevation as shown on the drawings prepared by WD Partners, Drawing A-9 dated April 13, 2007 (with revisions). The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Dustin, Redfern, Miller, Tedesco, Petschek). 4 ZBA Meeting, December 6, 2007 On a motion by Peter Tedesco, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance from Section 6.2 to allow construction of a wall sign facing New - Crossing Road (as shown in drawing A-9). Should the Building Commissioner determine that the permit issued for the proposed sign facing Walkers Brook Drive was issued in error and revokes it, under this variance, the Applicant shall be permitted to construct a wall sign facing Walkers Brook Drive (as shown in drawing A-9) instead of (but not in addition to) the aforementioned wall sign facing New Crossing Road. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-1-0 (Redfern: denied; Miller, Tedesco, Petschek, Dustin: approved). On a motion by Susan Miller, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Redfern, Miller, Dustin, Tedesco, Petschek). Respectfully subm' ted, Maureen M. ig t Recording S creta 5 ZBA Meeting, December 6, 2007