Concord Zoning Board approves multiple variances, denies a fourth Raising Cane’s wall sign at April meeting

The Concord Zoning Board at its April meeting approved variances for several property owners and applicants while denying one request for an additional wall sign at the proposed Raising Cane’s restaurant on Loudoun Road.

The board granted variances that will allow a lot-line adjustment and increased maximum lot coverage for a Granite Center LLC parcel behind the legislative parking garage; a reduced road-frontage requirement at 227 Garvin Falls Road for the McCarthy Family Trust; reduced side-yard setbacks and increased lot coverage at 64 Beacon Street for owners Alex and Rachel Woods; and expanded permitted sign area for a Raising Cane’s at 287 Loudoun Road. The board denied a separate request from the Raising Cane’s applicant for a fourth wall sign on the building. The board also denied a side-setback variance for a proposed house on West Parish Road.

Why it matters: Zoning variances change what property owners may build or keep on parcels that do not meet current zoning rules. Several approvals preserved existing uses (for example, an existing parking area and small changes to dense residential lots), while the denial for a fourth Raising Cane’s wall sign reflects the board’s stated concern about signage facing a residential neighborhood and driver confusion on Old Loudoun Road.

Granite Center LLC — lot coverage John Arnold of Warren Reno, representing the applicant Granite Center LLC, told the board the request is tied to a lot-line adjustment between two legal lots that currently operate as a unified surface parking area behind the legislative parking garage. Arnold said the change moves a dividing line about 30 feet to the south; no new paving or change in use is proposed. "We're not actually increasing the lot coverage here," Arnold said, arguing the total impervious area in the combined parcel will not change even though the…