Owners seek variance from buffer strip to create parking lot at Thorn Street; neighbors raise safety and noise concerns

TMC 1 LLC and TMC 2 LLC asked the Reading Zoning Hearing Board on Jan. 8 for relief from a planted buffer requirement along the northern boundary of a proposed surface parking lot that would serve a restaurant at 220 Douglas Street and reconfigure adjacent parcels at 730 North Third Street and 743 Thorn Street.

Attorney Rob Lewis said the plan would reconfigure the two lots to create a 14-space parking lot on Thorn Street to serve staff and patrons at the adjacent lawful nonconforming restaurant. He said the owners previously received confirmation from the zoning officer that a private off-street parking lot is permitted in the R3 district but that resulting lots must comply with dimensional criteria. The city’s zoning officer had concluded the proposed Thorn Street parking area required a planted buffer where it adjoins residential properties.

Surveyor Daniel Laudenslayer testified that an existing 6-foot concrete block wall sits on the northern property line, that the owners sit at a lower elevation than the adjoining properties, and that removing the wall is not feasible because it is structurally important to adjoining lots. Laudenslayer said accommodating a six-foot planted buffer in the narrow stretch north of the wall would eliminate four or more parking spaces and require underpinning, excavation and other grading work to meet slope requirements. He said the plan otherwise provides the required buffers along other property lines and that the driveway cut can be reduced to a 20-foot curb cut to meet requirements.

Neighbors and other residents opposed the proposal at the hearing. Leslie McGann said a prior application had prompted neighborhood petitions opposing a parking plan and cited concerns about noise and disorder tied to the restaurant’s operation. Other residents asked who would be responsible if underpinning or excavation affected adjacent yards and said they had safety concerns about losing trees and vegetation.

The applicant offered to work with the city on planting and street trees elsewhere and to provide a revised curb-cut detail. Emily Diaz Mondez’s staff memo clarified that the applicant should obtain any necessary zoning relief before proceeding with land-development approvals. The board admitted the applicant’s exhibits into the record and closed testimony; members said they would deliberate and render a written decision at the February meeting.