Winchester BZA approves variance allowing sign to be rehung at 2426 Valley Avenue

The Winchester Board of Zoning Appeals on Aug. 13 approved a variance allowing a nonconforming freestanding sign to be rehung at 2426 Valley Avenue, a commercial property now zoned Neighborhood Design District. The board voted 4-1 to grant the relief requested in BZA-25-2, with conditions including that a sign permit be approved, work be completed within one year, the sign not encroach on the public right-of-way or create a visual obstruction, the sign area not exceed six square feet, and the sign use no more than three colors.

The variance was necessary because the sign structure sits within the five-foot setback the Winchester zoning ordinance requires for freestanding signs. City staff said Section 18-8-8 and Section 18-8-9(b)–(c) of the Winchester zoning ordinance prohibit enlarging or structurally reconstructing…