2016-03-24-ZBA-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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BOA Meeting March 24, 2016 7 The applicant, Ms. Robin Ross, spoke. Her company provides services to persons nd with developmental disabilities in the Lexington community. They have been in the 2 floor office space since 1990. They love the location of the building and have had their eye on the first floor space for a long time. ReMax Realty recently vacated that space. The building is accessible without stairs at the backdoor. In the front of the building, there are two (2) steps onto a patio area before the front door of the building. A lot of nd the clients and families cannot negotiate the stairway in the building to the 2 floor because of its instability. nd A Board Member (Mr. McCarthy) asked if they plan to still occupy the 2 Floor (no). The Applicant (Ms. Ross) stated they have already signed a lease on this space and their realtor is present at this hearing. She stated that it would be difficult for a retail company to occupy the space because they would have no way to display anything in the window due to the size. A Board Member (Ms. Wood) asked if they would be gaining any space by moving to st the 1 floor space (Yes, they would be gaining 270 sq ft of space). A Board Member (Mr. McCarthy) asked if they had met with the center committee. Additional paper received – Memorandum from Robin Ross regarding meeting with Center Committee. There was not an opinion against or for during the meeting with the Center Committee. Mr. Jerry Michaelson, Chair of the Center Committee spoke. He stated that on March 10, 2016 the Committee met with Ms. Ross. They had made the suggestion for SP (non center storefront). They didn’t take any votes but did discuss it. They talked about if they were really trading storefronts.Real Estate is a G and this is an H so it’s not a direct flip. They had concerns about the definition of the public way. They had heard that the Building Commissioner had commented that it wasn’t a public way. There is also a bikeway in the rear and a public parking lot and it technically does front st it. They also talked about the 1 floor space being a non-premium space and it may compliment the other businesses. They also mentioned the remodeling the back of the building as well. The Social Services Center is a very valuable business to the town. They have been there for a long time and that if they wanted to move, there are other places in Lexington they could move to. The Center Committee did not take a vote and feel that it’s valuable to make a statement. A Board Member (Mr. Williams) looked at the zoning code table and stated there are many destination uses. Looking at the table, there are probably 12 uses that are not destination uses. There’s other office spaces around the center that are available and there is excess office space overall. He agrees with Mr. Michaelson that it’s a storefront. He mentioned that the neighboring nail salon is a destination use and is torn as to whether this should be allowed and stated that they don’t need to be right on the avenue to be successful. The Chairwoman stated that she is sympathetic to the use and suggests that if they approve, they approve with the condition of a time limit. She asked what the length of the lease is (5 Years).