By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD —— At the end of a hearing marked by confusion and miscommunication, the Zoning Board of Appeals last week granted a minor modification to a 2005 Special Permit that will allow Irving Oil to update and refresh some the signage at the gas station that it operates at 448 Salem St. in Montrose.
Representing Irving, engineer Rick Hanna presented Irving’s request for a variance to allow the changes to the signs. After a lengthy and occasionally tense discussion, it turned out that a variance was not needed and that only a minor modification was required.
Hanna began by showing the board images of the site and the signage that Irving would like to update.
He said that the two “Irving” signs mounted on the canopy over the gas tanks have become faded due to sun and weather and would be replaced with new signs of the same size and color. One of the signs is on the long side of the canopy facing Salem Street. The other is on the short end of the canopy facing Montrose Avenue.
Hanna said that Irving would also like to replace panels on the free-standing sign on the corner for the same reason. Although it was not technically part of the request before the board, Hanna added that Circle K (a separate business at the location) would also like their panel on the free-standing sign to be replaced.
ZBA member David Hatfield observed that the changes were modest – just an update and refresh of the signage. He indicated that he had no problem with the request.
But board member Chip Tarbell did have an issue. He noted that the landscaping on the site had not been properly maintained in accordance with a previous ZBA decision. He wanted to make granting the signage request conditional on fixing up the landscaping.
Hanna said that he didn’t think the signage had anything to do with the landscaping. But Tarbell pointed out that maintaining the landscaping was a condition of the original Special Permit allowing the gas station and convenience store to be built on the site.
Hanna said that Circle K was responsible for the landscaping and promised to contact Circle K and have them address the landscaping issue.
Tarbell said that he was under the impression that Irving owned the whole site. But Hanna said that the property is owned by a third party and and that Irving leases the fuel portion of the site and Circle K leases the convenience store building and is responsible for the landscaping.
Tarbell cautioned Hanna. “You’ve got be a little careful on your attitude here. You’re walking a line real closely,” he warned.
“I’m not trying to,” Hanna replied.
At this point, ZBA member Kirsten Brown checked the Assessor’s records online and said that the property was in fact owned by a different entity.
The discussion then turned to whether to go forward with the just the Irving sign or to continue the hearing for two weeks to allow the Circle K sign to be included and to get answers on the landscaping.
Hanna said that he preferred to leave Circle K out of it and just go forward with the request to change the Irving signage. Still, he promised to contact Circle K the following day to have them address the landscaping.
At this point in the discussion, Hatfield wondered why the request was filed as a variance rather than as a minor modification of the original Special Permit. Tarbell agreed that it should have been filed as a minor modification, not a variance.
Ultimately, Hanna withdrew the variance request and the ZBA granted a minor modification to allow the signage change.