Board of Adjustment Delays Verizon Signage Case

The Westfield Board of Adjustment gathered in a scheduled monthly meeting on Wednesday evening, hearing six cases, carrying five and passing one.

The majority of the meeting centered around the application of the Verizon Wireless store on 109 North Ave. to add a third, internally-illuminated wall sign on the outside of its building, and three internally-illuminated temporary window signs.

Verizon’s is basing their case on a Planning Board resolution passed in January 1999 that allows for the building to have 75 total square feet of sign space on the building’s exterior. The building currently has two signs on display and the proposed third wall sign would still be below the 75 square feet limit. The company still needs variance relief from the board to place any additional signs.

Verizon’s case was stalled however by Vincent Loughlin, the board's attorney, who objected to having Verizon’s architect Ken Gruskin give expert testimony on the marketing value of the signs in question. Loughlin disallowed Gruskin’s planned comments on the importance and centrality of the North Ave. store and the difficulty in seeing store signs when approaching from certain directions.

Board Chairman William Heinbokel decided to carry the case to the November meeting.

For the remainder of the nearly four hour meeting the board heard the cases of several individuals who wished to use their property in ways outside of the current land use and zoning restrictions.

Andrew Davlouros (418 Wesfield Avenue) applied to create two separate lots to accommodate the two-dwellings on his property that currently share the same lot. After Davlouros testified on preventing any parking related problems for the community as a result of the subdivision, the board voted unanimously to accept the application.

Jorge and Vera Ortiz (218 Livingston Street) applied to convert a portion of their newly purchased residence, currently designated as storage or unfinished basement space, into habitable space to use as a living room for their family. Due to a miscalculation by the previous owner about how much space would be altered, the board decided to carry the application to a future date.

Kennetg Dannevig (210 Ross Place) applied for certification that his property qualifies as a three-family dwelling. To qualify, Dannevig must prove that the residence has been a three-family dwelling since 1928, when the zoning laws were changed to prohibit three-family buildings. The case was carried to the November meeting so Dannevig could provide additional evidence that the site was being used as a three-family dwelling.

The last case heard was on the estate of Eloise Houston Clark (237, 241, 245 Charles Street) which applied to separate one lot with three dwellings into three separate lots so the estate could sell them individually. The case was carried because the board ran out of time to hear the full testimony.

The board will resume hearing testimony from the Clark estate, and several other recently carried cases on November 9.