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Braintree ZBA continues sign-variance request for Forbes Road tavern to Sept. 29
Summary
The Zoning Board of Appeals continued a request from Northeast Neon Company for a variance to allow a parking-lot-facing wall sign that would push the property's aggregate wall-sign square footage over the 150-square-foot limit. The applicant agreed to return with revised sign dimensions and calculations.
The Braintree Zoning Board of Appeals on Aug. 25 continued a request from Northeast Neon Company to install a second wall sign at 1860 Forbes Road, instead of deciding whether to grant a variance for the additional square footage. The board set a continuation for the next public hearing on Sept. 29.
The application seeks permission under the Braintree Zoning Ordinance to add a parking-lot-facing sign measuring 28.25 feet by 2.346 feet (66.3 square feet). The applicant said the business already has a street-facing sign, and the new sign would make the property's aggregate wall signage exceed the 150-square-foot maximum allowed by zoning.
Zoning Planner Jonathan Dickinson told the board that previous tenant TGI Fridays had three wall signs approved and those did not exceed the 150-square-foot aggregate. The applicant's submission, the planner said, leaves one sign that still needs a variance because of its size.
Applicant representative Walter DiCarvalho said the second sign is intended to mark the parking-lot entrance and that the design was based on the prior tenant's signage. He said reducing the new sign significantly would defeat the purpose of identifying the main entrance. "We would have to shrink the size significantly in order to make it fall within the required," DiCarvalho told the board.
A neighbor, Patrick Mulkerin of 12 Ellery Street, opposed the variance during public comment, saying the strip of highway-front businesses is becoming overly flashy and that the new sign contributes to visual clutter: "I oppose this variance," Mulkerin said.
Board members asked the applicant to provide revised sign dimensions and calculations showing how small reductions in height or lettering would affect total square footage. The applicant told the board the backlit sign is scheduled to be on only during operating hours and agreed to set lighting cutoff by 1 a.m. to meet the town's sign lighting rules.
After discussion, the board voted to continue the hearing so the applicant could provide precise size calculations and explore whether lowering the sign height would eliminate the variance. The board's motion to continue was made, seconded and approved unanimously.
The continuation was scheduled for the ZBA meeting on Sept. 29. The board asked the applicant to consult with staff and to file any revised plans before that date.
