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Home My WebLink About2007-05-17 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesRECEIVED Town of Reading TOWN CLERK DING, M ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS E t, Minutes of May 17, 2007 2901 JUN 22 P 1 1 Members present: Robert Redfern, Chairman Susan Miller Paul Dustin Peter Tedesco Michal Conway Clark Petschek 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 in attendance was Glen Redmond, Commissioner of Buildings. Case # 07-08 A Public Hearing on the petition of Ed Juralewicz (Hallmark Health) who seeks a Variance under Section(s) 6.2 Signs, Table 6.2.3 of the Zoning By-laws in order to install a free-standing sign and two wall signs as indicated on plans of the property located at 30 New Crossing Road in Reading, MA. Attorney Brad Latham spoke for the Applicants, Hallmark Health, who operate the Melrose- Wakefield and Lawrence Memorial Hospitals. They are establishing a health care facility at 30 New Crossing Road. The Applicants have appeared before the CPDC who has approved the requested signs. The Building Inspector wanted the Applicants to appear before the Zoning Board for approval of the requested signs. The building is 150' away from New Crossing Road and that creates a visibility problem. There also are two new restaurants being built on New Crossing Road. This will limit the visibility of any signs as people approach the building. If the signs are too low, people approaching will not be able to see the signs indicating that the building is the.Hallmark Health Medical Center. There will be a new two-floor canopy in the front of the building at the request of the Town and this will further restrict the signage area on the lower level. Trees along New Crossing Road also block lower viewing areas. The requested sign on the side facing towards Walkers Brook Drive will help people approaching from Wakefield and the sign on the front will help those approaching from Reading. It was explained that the freestanding sign cannot be located 20' or more from the lot line as `V required by Zoning because the Town wanted one common driveway to be used for this building ZBA Minutes May 17, 2007 as well as for the two new restaurants being built. There is no independent driveway and this causes the need for a more visible sign indicating that this is the Hallmark Health Medical Center. Attorney Latham cited the hardships the property has regarding meeting the standard sign regulations. He said building identification is crucial to people being able to locate the building more easily. He also said there will be much more traffic in this area due to the increased number of businesses in the area. Attorney Latham indicated to the Board exactly where the requested signs would be located on the building so there would be no confusion as to what side of the building they would be located on. Donald Belfey of Hallmark Health said Hallmark is occupying the entire first floor for rehabilitative services but the other floors will be occupied by Hallmark Health-affiliated doctors. Ms. Miller said the Reading Medical Center has a sign at their roadway entrance indicating they were located down the road but Hallmark Health will not have this added signage. Mr. Juralewicz said the actual sign on the monument-type structure should be all that is considered for signage. The stucco monument area is just to make the sign appear more attractive. The Building Inspector said this could set a precedent and cause other similar signs to pop up around Town. He said the question for the Board is if they consider the stucco support area of the monument to be part of the sign-board as he had determined. The Building Inspector said if the stucco area part of the sign is not considered part of the sign then it could be considered a structure that must meet setback requirements. Mr. Belfey addressed the depth of the building signs and he explained that because of the backlighting bulbs it must have depth. It is now extended out 12" but if necessary he could extend it out only 8". The Building Inspector questioned why the free-standing sign could not meet the setbacks. Attorney Latham said this sign is more of a directional sign because this driveway will be shared by the other businesses. He said it is important to have the sign in this particular spot in order to direct traffic to the Hallmark Health building. The Board members suggested other areas where the free-standing sign could be located. The Chairman said he thought the Applicants had gone out of their way to accommodate the requests of the Town. Mr. Belfey said many of the people coming to this building are ill and distressed so they need to be able to easily identify the building. Tony Darezzo, 130 John Street, said the Reading Health Center has only one small non-lit sign. He thought having large signs at the Hallmark Health Medical Center in order to be able to locate the building is, in his opinion, over-kill. He said he thought the need for two wall signs is excessive because once you go up the road you will see the building. He also thought the monument sign should be closer to the driveway. r On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved „ to allow the Applicant to locate a free-standing sign within the side setback as shown on the 2 ZBA Minutes May 17, 2007 Certified Plot Plan, Drawing Number SV-1, prepared by Russell J. Bousquet, Project Number 09727.00, dated April 24, 2007. The motion was approved by a vote of 4-1-0 (Miller, Conway, Dustin, Tedesco approving, Redfern opposing). On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to allow the Applicant to have a free-standing sign of a size outside the size allowed by the Zoning By-laws, as shown on the Certified Plot Plan, Drawing Number SV-1, prepared by Russell J. Bousquet, Project Number 09727.00, dated April 24, 2007 and the drawing prepared by United Sign Company, showing both the free-standing sign and monument sign plan, dated April 23, 2007. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Dustin, Tedesco, Redfern). On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to allow the Applicant to install two wall sings for one tenant as shown on the drawing prepared by United Sign Company, showing wall signs front and side, dated May 17, 2007, on the condition that any additional signage or increase in signage area must be approved by the Board. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Dustin, Tedesco, Redfern). On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to allow the Applicant to install two wall signs above the allowed first floor level, said signs to be placed in accordance with the drawings prepared by United Sign Company showing wall signs front and side, dated April 23, 2007, on the condition that any change in location must be approved by the Board. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Dustin, Tedesco, Redfern). On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Paul Dustin, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to allow the projection of the two wall signs to exceed the 6 inches allowed by the Zoning By- laws to a maximum of 8 inches on the condition that any increase in projection must be approved by the Board. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Dustin, Tedesco, Redfern). Minutes On a motion by Susan Miller, seconded by Peter Tedesco, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to approve the minutes of April 19, 2007. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0 (Conway, Miller, Tedesco). 1 3 ZBA Minutes May 17, 2007 On a motion by Michael Conway, seconded by Peter Tedesco, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Dustin, Tedesco, Redfern, Petschek). Respectfully Maureen M. Recording Sf 4 ZBA Minutes May 17, 2007