Hickory Woods Over-55 Development Granted Sign Requests

Developers of the future Hickory Woods over-55 development at 304 Nashua Road (Route 102) requested a special exemption from the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) to have a sign placed in a spot along Route 102 that is off site yet still on property owned by the developers.
They also requested a variance to allow that off-premises sign to be 65 square feet, where 25 square feet is allowed.

John Kalantzakos and Rick Welch of Hickory Woods, LLC made the requests in two separate appeals at the ZBA’s meeting Wednesday, Nov. 20, as one was a special exemption while the other was a variance.
“We are applying for an off-premises sign for Hickory Woods,” Kalantzakos said. “It was approved by the Planning Board in the site plan and subdivision plans we did for the whole subdivision a few months ago. We are looking to get approval for that sign because it does meet all the criteria. It will be the only off-premises sign for Hickory Woods, and we are asking for the variance from 25 square feet for visibility. It’s in the Commercial zone and basically we would have to apply for a building permit if this is granted.”
Board member Larry O’Sullivan asked if the site was the same property as the cell tower.
“We subdivided off the cell tower on its own lot and then we had the 55 and over on its own lot, and that is a commercial lot that we own,” Kalantzakos said.
“So it’s still the same ownership, just a different lot,” O’Sullivan said.
“Correct,” Kalantzakos said.
“If we didn’t subdivide it, we could just put the 65-foot sign along that lot,” he explained. “Eventually we will develop the commercial lot, and this is just a temporary sign to kick off the marketing and make sure we have visibility. The sign will be eventually reduced to 25 square feet and then that will go away.”
O’Sullivan reminded the board they had approved a sign with time restrictions of two years in the past.
The Hickory Woods developers are also the developers of the Nevins Community, and Kalantzakos said the Nevins sign will be coming down before the end of the year.
Kalantzakos said the need for the 65-foot sign was for visibility and 25 square feet would be too small.
Board member Jackie Benard asked if the sign would be lit and Kalantzakos said it would if it were 25 square feet but would not at 65 square feet.
The board unanimously approved the off-premises special exemption with a two-year time limit.
As for the size of the sign, the board approved the variance, with restrictions that it not be lit and that it would be the only sign on the property.