Minutes of February 21, 2006
Present were: Donald Anderson,
Chairman; Louis Calabrese, Vice Chairman, Marilyn Richards, Michael
Przybylowicz, Clerk and Thomas Morrissette.
Request for Waiver of Site Plan Review – Bruce Miller,
Mr. Anderson welcomed Mr. and Mrs.
Miller and their attorney Richard Goldman to the meeting. Mr. Anderson explained that the board asked
Mr. Miller to attend the meeting to discuss the safety and appearance of the
store. Mr. Anderson explained that the
members did not want the gate to give the store a look like it belonged in a
bad section of town. He also advised
that Mr. Miller needed to bring a color rendering of the sign he would like to
place at the business along with a completed sign application. Mr. Miller stated that he would like to open
a Rare Coin Business at
Mr. Miller asked if the Board was
referring to the gate on the door? The
Board answered yes. He said that the
gate was only closed at night and opened during the day and he would be happy
to address it with the Board if they were concerned about it. Mr. Miller said even in fashionable
neighborhoods there are gates used as a deterrent, and he installed the gate to
slow someone down from breaking in during the night time. He said that he does have an alarm system
from ADT but feels uncomfortable because the back-up radios from ADT do not
work in
Mr. Morrissette told Mr. Miller he
would be required to get a business certificate from the Town Clerk. Mr. Miller said he did not realize he had to
do that, but would go to the Clerk’s office and obtain one.
Mr. Anderson said once he had a
sign application the Board would review it in terms of aesthetics and that the
Building Inspector needs to review it to determine that the dimensional
requirements were met. Mr. Anderson also
stated that the sign application needed to be completed, including the way in
which it would be lit and that no LED lighting is allowed. Mr. Morrissette said that the Board preferred
a front lit sign. Mr. Miller said he
would probably put a diamond symbol on the inside of the window and for now the
gate would be moved inside.
Upon motion duly made and
seconded, the Board voted (5-0) to waive Site Plan Review.
Request for Waiver of Site Plan Review & Signage –
F.Y.E. Music & Movies,
Upon motion duly made and
seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the directory sign,
conditioned upon the lettering being comparable to the existing tenants on the
directory. Upon motion duly made and
seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to the building sign to be attached
to the front of the building conditioned upon obtaining a sign permit from the
Building Inspector.
The Chairman endorsed the
subdivision contract for Great Woods X, which subdivision plan was previously
approved.
The Board reviewed the minutes of
January 24, 2006 and, upon
motion duly made and seconded, voted unanimously (5-0) to accept them, with
edits.
Ms. Richards said she sent an
email to the Board members and Jayson Falcone with respect to the Walgreen’s
sign conflict. She said the version of
the sign rendering that was submitted with the application and the rendering
that Mr. Falcone provided (that had all kinds of documentation and the LED
illumination written somewhere in the margins) was not the same as Mr. Falcone
showed the Board. She explained that
Mr. Falcone sent her an e-mail and said that his integrity was important to him
and he was uncomfortable that there were two different sign renderings .
In a phone conversation with Ms.
Richards Mr. Falcone continued by stating that when he requested information
from Kelly Ziegler of East Coast Sign Company, what he had presented was what
she sent him. Ms. Richards said that the
Board’s copy says nothing about LED signage and the application says nothing
about LED illumination.
Mr. Anderson added that Mr. Falcone
had stopped to see him on the previous day and that he mentioned communicating
with Ms. Richards, and Mr. Anderson asked Ms. Richards if could she please copy
him on anything involving one of the Board members so that he understands what
was being said. Ms. Richards said she
would forward it to everyone and that was why she was bringing it up. Ms. Richards continued by stating that she
feels that the Board has some leverage because Walgreen never disclosed the LED
lighting, and the rendering looks different than what is standing. Mr. Przybylowicz added that the Board knew
that the application looked different than what had been submitted.
With regard to the directory
signage for the Village Center, Ms. Richards stated that she feels that the sign
is attractive and that one at each end of the plaza would be appropriate and
said that Mr. Falcone indicated at the last meeting that they have a setback of
12 feet however she does not know where he got that information from.
Switching to the proposed changes
in the site plan, Ms. Richards said she has identified 10 changes and felt that
they should have a public hearing to amend the Special Permit. She said the changes could potentially change
the numbers for the traffic study and also she was not sure if the parking
spaces that were squeezed in are standard regulation spaces.
Ms. Macdonald said she requested
Mr. Falcone provide a clean parking plan without elevations and without grading
to enable the Board to better see where the changes in parking spaces were
proposed. Ms. Richards then stated -
back to the ground sign - based on the
size it looks to be about 140 square feet and she is not sure how they would
measure it and that the Board needed to talk about the set back
requirements. Ms. Richards stated that a
sign of that magnitude, 12 feet from the road would be huge. Mr. Morrissette stated that the issue becomes
a problem if it is supposed to be 50 feet back and the developer wants it to be
12 feet back – he added that he understands that 50 feet is too far but asked if the Board had
the authority to allow it to be closer.
Mr. Calabrese said no, that the applicant would have to go to the Board
of Appeals.
Ms. Richards stated that she had a
discussion with Town Counsel and they need to be careful about making decisions
based on what they perceive, that the Board is not held accountable for
mistakes or errors in judgment that prior Boards have made. Ms. Richards asked Ms. Macdonald that if,
before the next meeting, to notify Mr.
Pesce and tell him the Board is waiting for a plan that shows all of the
changes so that they could look at it and see if it substantive enough to
warrant a new hearing. Ms. Macdonald
advised that he had sent Mr. Pesce an email last week and that Mr. Pesce informed
her that he is working on it.
Mr. Calabrese said the Board
should wait until Walgreen comes back to the Board with a new application and
in the meanwhile, should they send a cease and desist order to use the
sign. Mr. Anderson stated that they need
to find out what power they have if it is the Board or the Building Inspector
and do they tell the Building Inspector to issue a cease and desist order? Ms. Richards said that a letter was already
sent to Walgreen in November telling them to turn the sign off until such time
the issue was settled. Ms. Richards
added that Walgreen asked to keep it on through the holidays and they were
given a date to meet with the Board. The
representative did meet with the Board, however, it seems that now Walgreen has
suddenly dropped the matter. Ms.
Macdonald said that Walgreen is apprehensive to come back before the Board with
a new application because they feel that the Board has already predetermined
that a new application would be denied and Walgreen would like some kind of
confirmation stating that the Board would not disapprove of the new
application. Ms. Richards stated that
the members cannot give any type of confirmation because the Board has not seen
a new application. The Board then asked
Ms. Macdonald to write a letter to the building inspector and ask that as
Zoning Enforcement Officer, he shut the sign down.
Parking spaces for a restaurant
were discussed and it was determined that Spoleto’s would require approximately
another 24 to 25 spaces. Mr. Morrissette stated said he felt that a new traffic
study needed to be provided if the amount of people is going to be
increased. Ms. Macdonald reminded the
Board that they could hire an independent traffic consultant. Ms. Richards asked if the Board had talked
about the door that opens out to the patio, she said that she had heard rumors
that the side of Spoleto’s that faces Crane Avenue and there was going to be
some kind of door that was going to open to an outdoor dining area. Mr. Morrissette stated if that were to
happen, they would have to reduce the number of seats inside.
There being no further business
and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to close
the public meeting at 8:30 p.m.
For
the Board,
Michael
Przybylowicz, Clerk