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Home My WebLink About2006-02-02 Zoning Board of Appeals MinutesTown of Reading ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes of February 2, 2006 Members present: Susan Miller Robert Redfern John Jarema Paul Dustin Michael Conway " - Members absent: Mark Gillis t-D 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. Case # 05-33 Continuation of a Public Hearing on the petition of Brinker International who seek a Variance under Section(s) 4.9.5.6/4.9.5.6.1/4.9.5.6.4 of the Zoning By-laws in order to install two (2) additional signs on a building located in a PUD-I (Roman's Macaroni Grill) on the property located at 48 Walkers Brook Drive. Hazel Wood Hopkins spoke on behalf of the Applicant, Brinker International. She said Town Counsel had determined that the ZBA was the, governing body for her request. The Applicant is requesting an identical sign for the side of the building the same as the one on the front of the building. They also are requesting a "To Go" sign for the side door used for the "Curbside to Go" customers who.are picking up take-out food. Ms. Hopkins has requested that Ed Shaw of Dickinson Development attend this meeting to speak regarding the multiple signs that were originally approved at one of the preliminary CPDC meetings. After that meeting, the CPDC then only approved one sign. Romano's Macaroni Grill is one of the building-end tenants and the developer had been hoping to obtain approval for a side sign for each of the end tenants. If someone were driving down from Jordan's they would not see any sign on the side that identified the building as Romano's Macaroni Grill. The roadway up to Jordan's is an active traveled way although not a public way. This side entrance is also a public entrance into the main restaurant as well as the "To Go" entrance. The Chairman said Town Counsel did give the opinion that the ZBA is the governing body for this request. She also received a letter from the Town Planner that included notes from meetings at which the CPDC discussed the signage for Phase I Walkers Brook where multiple signs were approved for those buildings such as Home Depot and Chili's. February 2, 2006 The sign requested for the side is 75 square foot and is identical to the sign on the front of the building. The requested "To Go" sign on the side will be 12 square feet. There was some concern by the Board of a resulting domino effect and some of the other tenants might start requesting additional signage. The Chairman explained that Chili's does have a second sign but the Town Planner is of the opinion that even though they received a permit it is an illegal sign and the Board should not compound the mistake by allowing this to continue. Paul Dustin said in the Phase I buildings Chili's has four signs with one on each side, Home Depot has two and Jordan's has at least three. The Chairman said it was because the CPDC was reminded at a meeting by an abutter that these additional signs in Phase I were not legal signs. The CPDC's role is limited by the by-laws and only the ZBA can grant exceptions. The CPDC mainly approves design and color. The Chairman discussed the four criteria required for a Variance and asked Ms. Hopkins to address these issues. Ms. Hopkins said there is no topographical hardship for the side sign but she said there is a practical hardship because this is a restaurant doing business in a busy area looking for customers to come in off the street. The manager of Romano's Macaroni Grill said this store was not as busy as their Burlington store and they thought this was because there is no side signage. Michael Conway said a request has come to the Board based on what has been previously - allowed in Phase I. He said what CPDC had done in the past should not be a consideration. The only consideration should be that the only other major restaurant in this strip mall has four signs. He asked whether this side signage issue was discussed originally with CPDC. Ed Shaw of Dickinson Development said they appeared before the CPDC in 2004 and they approved what was shown on the color rendition submitted. Dickinson Development then told potential tenants what signage would be allowed would be based on this color rendition and they needed to go before CPDC only as to the design and graphics. Ms. Hopkins said the directional sign allowed at Chili's was 10.5 square feet and is located above the doorway used to pick up the "To Go" food. She said she has seen some of these signs as big as 20 square feet but the average is usually about 10 square feet. The Chairman said the equity and fairness of this situation should be considered and the side signs should not affect any abutters. But she said the Board would not want to compound a situation that should not exist. The Board discussed how a restaurant without signs on four sides would be a hardship. The topography of the building itself is also a hardship. It is unique because it is a corner lot and a business with streets on two sides would expect that they could put signs on the both sides of the building. Current zoning would allow a larger sign on the front than what they presently have in 2 February 2, 2006 place and even with the two proposed signs on the side, they still would not exceed the total sign area that would be allowed on the front, based on frontage. John Jarema said since they have not utilized what the Zoning By-laws would allow then how could the request for these signs be denied. On a motion by John Jarema, seconded by Robert Redfern, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance under Section 4.9.5.6.4 of the Zoning By-laws to allow installation of two additional signs as described by the plan drawn by Federal Heath Sign Company Eules, Texas, with a design # 23-42126-00 and dated December 6, 2005. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Jarema). Case # 05-32 Continuation of a Public Hearing on the petition of Richard Smart who seeks a Variance under Section(s) 6.1/6.1.1.3 of the Zoning By-laws in order to install a Quiznos Sub Sandwich Shop in a former retail space on the property located at 505 Main Street. Attorney Mark Favaloro said the required parking spaces would be utilized by the patrons of Quiznos as well as the tenants of the building. He submitted a new plan with changes showing the parking chart for the use of the spaces by Quiznos. The seating would be reduced to 23 seats instead of the original 26 so the parking space needs for Quiznos would now be six parking spaces. The spaces for Sounds Unlimited and the second and ground floor office spaces conform to the Zoning By-laws. The parking for Quiznos on Green Street gives the public direct access to the restaurant. John Jarema said what is proposed does not seem to be practical and people will be parking on the streets. He also did not think the Fire Department would allow the four stacked spaces. Attorney Favaloro said that it would require a lot of cooperation by the tenants in order to make this parking plan work. He also conceded it would be difficult to manage but said they could direct deliveries to Quiznos to be done during off-hours and that would free up the designated loading area. John Jarema said they could reduce the number of seats in Quiznos to 20 and that would then reduce by three the number of spaces required. Conditions on the Variance could be that the dumpster have a pickup time between 6:30 and 8:00 AM and the loading zone be utilized during the time frame of 6:30 to 9:00 AM. The three spaces in front of the building can be construed as municipal parking spaces. Attorney Favaloro said reducing the seating to 20 seats would be acceptable to the owner. The stacked spaces would make sense if they were changed to spaces assigned to Sounds Unlimited as they work on vehicles but a Variance for the loading zone would still be needed. February 2, 2006 On a motion by Robert Redfern, seconded by John Jarema, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to grant the Applicant a Variance from Section 6.1.1.3 of the Zoning By-laws in order to allow two less on-site parking spaces than the required five on-site parking spaces; to allow a Variance of 78 square feet from the 420 square feet on-site loading area required, all to be shown on a new revised parking plan to be submitted to the Town prior to the filing of the written decision with the Town Clerk; and, to allow five legal, leased off-site parking spaces for five employees, in accordance with requirements of the By-laws, for the Quiznos restaurant proposed at 505 Main Street, Reading. The new revised parking plan shows the three required on-site parking spaces for the restaurant and a 342 square foot loading area, all off of Green Street. The motion was approved by a vote of 3-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Jarema). Minutes On a motion by Robert Redfern, seconded by Michael Conway, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to accept the minutes of September 1, 2005, with changes. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Jarema, Dustin, Conway). On a motion by Robert Redfern, seconded by Michael Conway, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to accept the minutes of September 15, 2005. - The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Jarema, Dustin, Conway). On a motion by Robert Redfern, seconded by John Jarema, the Zoning Board of Appeals moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0 (Miller, Redfern, Jarema, Dustin, Conway). Respectfully submi Maureen M. Recording S 4 February 2, 2006