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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025 5.20 Zoning Board of Appeals Minutes Approved Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Members Associate Member Michael T. Lis., Chair Matthew J. Ginsburg Laura Craig-Comin, Vice-Chair Zachary J. Hachey Frank J. Killilea, Clerk Melissa Rutherford James M. Testa Zoning Enforcement Officer Alexandria A. Jacobs, Esq Paul G. Hutchins MEETING MINUTES Date of Meeting: Tuesday, May 20, 2025 Time of Meeting: 7:30 p.m. Location of Meeting: Town Hall, 120 Main Street, North Andover, MA 01845 Signature: Terri MacNeil 1. Call to Order called at 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Michael T. Lis, Laura Craig-Comin, James T. Testa, Matthew J. Ginsburg, and Zachary J. Hachey Staff Present: Terri MacNeil Gavel given to: Michael T. Lis Pledge of Alliance 2. Administrative 288 Stiles Street M. Lis an administrative note, we have been advised by Town Counsel that we cannot discuss the 288 Stiles Street Application. This is because it was asking for a variance from uses permitted in the zoning and that is not something that we typically allow by variance. It would create a pretty complicated mess if we did because it would make the zoning board of appeals have an that should change in future meetings and it will be brought back up. Acceptance of Minutes April 8, 2025 J. Testa made a motion to accept the minutes for the April 8, 2025 meeting, motion was seconded by L. Craig-Comin, M. Lis, aye, J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg, aye and Z. Hachey, aye, L. Craig- Comin, aye, J. Testa, aye. Behavior during public comment Last month there was a meeting regarding the 45 Third Street Application, it got a little bit out of control. The Board values input from the public. Fairness and out of ability for the Board to function set some limits on the amount of time that an individual is allowed to speak and also some limits to the behavior, especially physical contact between attendees at this meeting will not Notices and agendas are to be posted 48 hours in advance of a meeting excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. Please keep in mind the Town Clerk's hours of operation and make necessary arrangements to be sure that posting is made in an adequate amount of time. A listing of topics the Chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at a meeting are to be listed on the Agenda. Note: Matters may be called out of order and not as they appear in the Agenda. Page 1 of 6 Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS be permitted. The Chair reserves the right to remove the person from the meeting immediately. Even if it is not intended as violence, it does count as an assault when you are pushing someone away from the podium. The Chair will also set a timer for 5 minutes for public comment, when necessary. 3.45 Third Street (Continued from April 8, 2025 Meeting) Brian Vaughan is at the podium on behalf of Ryan Grasso. They have requested a continuance in advance, they are working with the architect to revise plans. One set of plans was not acceptable, plans are currently being revised and will get the revised plans to the Board. M. Lis do I have a motion to continue. J. Testa makes a motion to continue, M. Ginsburg seconded the motion. M. Lis, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye. J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye. 4. New Public Hearing of 350 Winthrop Street Clerk reads legal notice into the record. Justin Parker, Amherst, NH, Classic Signs is at the podium. There is a mistake in the plot plan, it is now lit set of channel letters for the Market Basket location after the façade renovations. The previous letters were it at the previous location, it will be a continuance of existing conditions. The special circumstances: The previously existing sign already had illumination. Does not generally affect other properties in the zoning district because there will not generally be a drastic change from the existing conditions. The literal enforcement of the town zoning bylaw will result in substantial hardship to the owner, by disallowing an internally lit sign business will be decreased, this is the anchor tenant for this location, so it will probably not only result in decreased business for not just the Market Basket by all the surrounding businesses. Granting the proposed variance is the minimum change that is necessary in order to grant our client relief. By granting this variance substantial justice will be done to the owner, does not see how it will hurt granting the internal illumination. The Board questions the Applicant regarding hours of the store, the size of the new sign. The Applicant states that the height of the new sign will be a foot higher. The Applicant was asked what the basis is for the argument that business will decrease. The Applicant states that the sign will not be illuminated at night and will not be seen from the street, internal illumination stands out more. Instead of lighting up the entire store face, from farther away you can see that there are bright channel letters out there. L. Craig-Comin asks if there are light studies on the internally illuminated signs vs. externally illuminated signs. The Applicant states there is not. L. Craig- ZBA Minutes for May 20, 2025 Page Ћ ƚŅ Џ Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Comin asks if the new sign will be brighter than the existing sign. The Applicant states it would be about the same. They use red acrylic and then red LEDs, more of a muted brightness. Open to public comment. Paul Trip from Classic Signs is at the podium. He believes that halo lighting for those letters are already allowed in the Town. M. Lis states they are not. Only external lighting is allowed. Discussion between P. Tripp and the Board on the footprint of light coming just from the individual letters shining out toward the street. M. Lis asks how bright is it going to be externally illuminated versus internally. P. Trip it is virtually impossible to measure that light output from that distance unless you are in that exact environment at night. M. Lis felt there was too much light coming from that plaza. P. Trip there are about 6,000 more lumens of light coming from the parking lot lighting. The lights point down and then reflect up to the sky, it is virtually impossible to measure that there is going to be more light from the sign. L. Craig-Comin move to close public comment. J. Testa seconded. M. Lis, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye, J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye. Board deliberates on the brightness of the sign and the visibility issue for a Market Basket. L. Craig-Comin moves to accept the Application of Classic Signs. Reads the notice into the record. Incorporates: (1) Revised Plan of Classic Sign revised on March 6, 2024. Vote was taken: M. Lis, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye. J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye Application was accepted. 5. New Public Hearing of 30 Wentworth Avenue Clerk reads legal notice into the record. Charles Parsons 30 Wentworth Avenue is at podium. Asking for a variance to build a garden shed to hold gardening tools, lawnmowers, etc., as well as material from the house. The lot is 100 x 100, granting the variance and putting the shed in the corner as opposed to putting it where the current law says, would essentially put it in the middle of the yard. Shed would be 6 feet from the ZBA Minutes for May 20, 2025 Page Ќ ƚŅ Џ Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS back of the property line and 2 feet from the side of the property line. Things would be stored behind the shed, hidden from the street. Granting the variance will make the property more functional and allow them to build the yard up as they envision it. The Board questions the Applicant regarding where the shed will be located. The Applicant states that 2 neighbors have sheds basically in the same location as his proposed shed. The Applicant states there is a 6 foot privacy fence that goes across the whole rear set back and on the side there is a four or five foot picket fence that slopes up at the back. M. Lis asks if the Applicant has talked to the neighbor that does not have a shed, Applicant states he has, the neighbor Open to public comment. L. Craig-Comin makes a motion to close public comment. J. Testa seconded. M. Lis, aye, L. Craig- Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye. J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye. Board deliberates. L. Craig-Comin moves to approve the petition. Reads the legal notice into the record. Incorporates: (1) Plan of land dated July 6, 2022 hand sketched. Moves to vote: M. Lis, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye. J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye Application was approved. 6. New Public Hearing of 180 High Street Clerk reads legal notice into the record. Joseph Souza, 180 High Street is at the podium. Big house, looking to split, a lot of parking. Not allowed to use most of the house because of medical issues. Looking for he and his son use the first floor. The house does need some upgrades. The Board questions the Applicant on whether the exterior or the building will change and the entrances and egresses into each unit. Discussion was held regarding the parking at the location. The Applicant states there are currently 3 parking spaces, off street parking currently with asphalt. J. Testa asks if the attic is presently finished. The Applicant states it is not, just 400 square feet of storage space. J. Testa wants to confirm that the living space will stay at 244 square feet. The Applicant states there will be 2 bedrooms on the second floor. He states that a neighbor is interested in renting. L. Craig-Comin asks if only the second floor unit would have access to the attic space. The Applicant states they will. Open to public comment. ZBA Minutes for May 20, 2025 Page Ѝ ƚŅ Џ Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Fatima Delgado, 38 Columbia is at the podium. Parking is a huge concern, crowded area. M. Lis ask after seeing the plans, what would she thinks a reasonable remedy for the parking would be. F. Delgado Colleen Coco 16 Perley Road is at the podium it is a very congested area for parking that is her only issue. She thought the house was already a two family. The parking with other 2 family units specially in an emergency. Edward Whipple 34 Columbia Road, he owns a three family on Columbia Road. He has been inside 180 High Street, and it looks like it has been used as a two family, in the past. The lot is a pretty good size, he thinks he would be able to come up with 4 parking spots, two for each floor. The parking situation over there is tight. He asks if making parking allowed on only one side of the street would help. Keith Reynolds 182 High Street is at the podium - parking is an issue. Wants to confirm that an abutter letter was received. M. Lis calls the applicant back to the podium The Board questions the Applicant about parking spots. He states there are currently 3 spots, asphalted and there is at least 3 or 4 more available. All of his parking is off street. The other side of Perley is not and causes a lot of the congestion. His overflow parking is still off street and still on his lot. Spoke to the police, there is parking on High Street. L. Craig-Comin asks about a curb cut to make a spot to the right of the front door. The Applicant states he has talked to the town about it. M. Lis states that a curb cut would be a whole other thing. P. Hutchins states that the Applicant is required to have 2 spots per unit, so 4 total, which cannot be grass. The Applicant will need to add a spot. M. Lis says that e it would require him coming back. Even if the Board approves the Application today, the Applicant will still need to have 4 spots of parking or a second unit will not be allowed. There are two bedrooms on the first floor and three on the second, as designed. Z. Hachey asks if the parking spots include the garage or just the driveway. The Applicant states it is just the driveway, if he includes the garage, he would have 5. Spot. L. Craig- Comin ask if it is a two car garage. The Applicant states it is 20x23 side by side and next to it is 9 feet of asphalt. Two in the garage, so 6 altogether, 3 available and 3 stacked. L. Craig-Comin asks if the Board has to wait for confirmation on the parking before we can vote on this. M. Lis states no. The Board is not granting any variances with regards to parking. The Applicant does not have permission to have a second unit unless there are four parking spots. Sounds like there will be 5. P. Hutchins states shows that he has parking. M. Lis Asks if the audience feels that there will likely be 5 spots, if that is sufficient, to allay their concerns about parking. Fatima Delgado - is back at the podium, would like clarification on the 5 spots. J. Souza describes where the spots near the garage would be. ZBA Minutes for May 20, 2025 Page Ў ƚŅ Џ Town of North Andover ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Motion to close public comments L. Craig-Comin moves to close public comment, J. Testa seconds. M. Lis, aye, l. Craig-Comin, aye, Z. Hachey aye, J. Testa, aye, M. Ginsburg aye Board deliberates M. Lis do we have a motion L. Craig-Comin moves to accept the petition of Joseph Souza for property at 180 High Street, North Andover Reads the public notice into the record References: (a) Plans by McKenzie Drafting and Design 5 pages, dated April, 2025 (b) American Surveying Company, Mortgage Inspection Plan dated September 7, 1995 M. Lis roll calls, M. Ginsburg, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, J. Testa, aye, Z. Hachey, aye, M. Lis, aye. You have it. 7. Miscellaneous. M. Lis Once again as the last item we will not be discussing 288 Stiles Street on the advice of town council, with that we have concluded our items. L Craig-Comin motion to adjourn, J. Testa seconds. M. Ginsburg, aye, L. Craig-Comin, aye, J. Testa, aye, Z. Hachey, aye, M. Lis, aye. 8. Adjournment 9:00 p.m. ZBA Minutes for May 20, 2025 Page Џ ƚŅ Џ