HomeMy WebLinkAbout4955 648 Route 28 Decision TC01'
t.,
TOWN OF YARMOUTH
y
BOARD OF APPEALS
0k DECISION
y`,„11.A C K`$
FILED WITH TOWN CLERK: June 10, 2022
PETITION NO: 4955
HEARING DATE: May 26, 2022
PETITIONER: Simple Signs of Cape Cod,Inc.
OWNER: Gerasimos and Elpiniki Yannatos
PROPERTY:648 Route 28,West Yarmouth, MA
Map 32, Parcel 87
Zoning District: B2
Title: Book 1632,Page 0173
MEMBERS PRESENT AND VOTING: Chairman Steven DeYoung, Sean Igoe, Megan Homer,
Jay Fraprie,and Richard Martin.
Notice of the hearing has been given by sending notice thereof to the Petitioner and all those owners of
property as required by law, and to the public by posting notice of the hearing and publishing in The
Cape Cod Times,the hearing opened and held on the date stated above.
The petitioner is Simple Signs of Cape Cod, Inc. who seeks relief in conjunc tou with a Building
Commissioner's decision regarding signs at its business location of 648 Route 28, West Yarmouth,
MA. This property is in a B-2 zoning district. Specifically,the petitioner's representative (who did a
fine job of presenting the corporation's argument) indicated as follows: The petitioner sought to
advertise its business by replacing an existing sign adjacent to Route 28. A sign permit was issued.
After construction of the sign,the Building Commissioner's office issued a notice of violation of the
By-Laws and the so-called"sign code"contained therein. While the permit did properly issue from
the town,the sign erected by the petitioner was found to be in violation of the code after its
construction. The petitioner's representative argued that the constructed sign consisted of a
background with the actual sign being much smaller than the structure upon which it was built. He
pointed to his belief that the sign was made in conformity with the permit that he had received on
behalf of the petitioner.
One of the issues for the notice of violation of the code was the size of the sign constructed and that it
was too close to Route 28. Despite knowing that the size of the sign was an issue,the petitioner
presented no evidence as to its exact size taking into account the background(overall structure) of
the sign. The sign is in the same background color as is the petitioner's logo.The entire structure
exceeds the allowable square footage of a sign in the B-2 zoning district. The Board was not willing
to accept the petitioner's argument that only a portion of the structure should be considered as its
sign. Moreover, Board members were generally and/or specifically aware of the sign in its location
and the hazard it presented for vehicles entering and leaving the petitioner's place of business. The
sign obstructs visibility and is too close to Route 28.Despite the Board's expressed misgivings as to
the sign and belief that the Building Commissioner acted properly in issuing the violation, the
petitioner's representative requested that the Board act on the merits of the petition as it relates to a
Special Permit. Accordingly, a Motion was made by Mr. Igoe and seconded by Mr. Martin to uphold
the decision of the Building Commissioner and thus,to deny the relief sought by the petition. A roll
call vote was taken with the following results:
Mr. Igoe AYE
Ms. Homer AYE
Mr. Fraprie AYE
Mr. Martin AYE
Mr. DeYoung AYE
The petitioner's representative was then offered the opportunity to ask the Board to withdraw the
request for variance, without prejudice. In support of this request, a motion was made by Mr. Martin,
seconded by Mr. Fraprie to allow for the withdrawal of the portion of the petition which sought relief
by way of variance. A roll call vote was taken with the following results:
Mr. Martin AYE
Mr. Fraprie AYE
Ms. Homer AYE
Mr. Igoe AYE
Mr. DeYoung AYE
The variance was, therefore, allowed to be withdrawn without prejudice.
Steven DeYoung. Chairman
CERTIFICATION OF TOWN CLERK
I, Mary A. Maslowski, Town Clerk, Town of Yarmouth, do hereby certify that 20 days have elapsed
since the filing with me of the above Board of Appeals Decision#4955 that no notice of appeal of said
decision has been filed with me, or, if such appeal has been filed it has been dismissed or denied. All
appeals have been exhausted.
Mary A. Maslowski