HomeMy WebLinkAbout5023 553 Route 28 Decision Certified 06.14.23TOWN OF YARMOUTH
BOARD OF APPEALS
DECISION
FILED WITH TOWN CLERK: June 14, 2023
PETITION NO: 5023
HEARING DATE: May 25, 2023
PETITIONER: Shrim Inc., dba Freebird Motor Lodge
PROPERTY: 553 Route 28, West Yarmouth, MA
Map 31, Parcel 134
Zoning District: B-2
Title: Book 27240, Page 294
MEMBERS PRESENT AND VOTING: Chairman Steven DeYoung, Dick Martin, Jay Fraprie,
John Mantoni and Sean Igoe
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 Shrim, Inc., dba Freebird Motor Lodge, who petitions concerning property
located at 553 Route 28, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts which property is in the B-2 zoning
district. The applicant seeks to either overturn the Building Commissioner's decision relating to
his interpretation of the application of the so-called "sign code" as contained within the zoning
bylaws, or, in the alternative to grant a Special Permit and/or a Variance to allow for a 22.5' x
17.9' sign to be installed on a building within the motor lodge property. In many ways, this is the
rehearing of a petition previously filed by this petitioner and heard on February 9, 2023.
Purvish and Parth Patel did a fine job of presenting the merits of the petition. In approaching the
Building Commissioner in the appropriate manner of seeking approval of proposed signs, the
Building Commissioner found that a mural -like painting measuring 22.5' x 17.9' to be affixed to
the wall of one of the interior buildings on the site constituted a sign which was not permitted
under the zoning bylaws. From this decision, the petitioners seek review by this Board.
On February 9, 2023, the same petitioners sought to have this Board consider other signs on the
property. A suggestion was made that they first needed to address the matter with the Building
Commissioner who has acted to deny a sign permit for what the petitioners now suggest is not a
sign and instead is a piece of artwork. As indicated, the Building Commissioner felt otherwise. In
the alternative, the petition seeks either the grant of a Special Permit, or a Variance to allow the
proposed sign to be created. A TRUE COPY ATTEST
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JUL - 5 909J
No exhibits were received. There were positive public comments from Joseph Manning, Steve
O'Neill, and Susie Kilmartin, who all spoke eloquently in support of the petition. The gist of
their favorable speech was that the streetscape of Route 28 needed improvement and that this
was a good start toward that end. Ms. Kilmartin, herself an artist, spoke of having crafted many
murals of this type on other public structures throughout the country.
As the Board has stated time and again, it is not for the Board to legislate changes to the existing
bylaw provisions, which regulate signs generally. If the Town feels that it is in the best interest
of its citizens, to allow such signage, such should be determined by Town Meeting, and not by
legislation implemented by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Members of the Board did not
generally take a position as to whether this sort of signage should/should not be allowed, but
rather agreed with the Building Commissioner that the bylaw as currently written, did not allow
for a permit for the sign. No Board Member expressed the willingness to overturn the Building
Commissioner's decision, which, upon a reading of the bylaw, was felt to be appropriate.
Accordingly, Mr. Igoe moved, and Mr. Martin seconded, that the Building Commissioner's
decision to be upheld and separately, that both a request for a Special Permit, and a request for a
Variance be denied.
On all three of these motions a roll call vote was called, with each member voting in favor of the
motions and, therefore, the Building Commissioner's decision was upheld and the request for the
Special Pen -nit together with the separate request for a Variance was denied.
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 ##5023 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.
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. Mary A. Maslowski
J U L - 5 2023
A TRUE COPY ATTEST.
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