[ back ]
Zoning board stuck in wonderland
(by Barbara Christian - October 01, 2008)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Zoning board stuck in wonderland
Came home from last week's Chagrin Falls zoning appeals board meeting with a headache. I cover these meetings about once a month but never got a headache before, except that this time it was our ox being gored.
By "our," I mean my already-confessed role as a member of the Valley Art Center's board. The particular ox is the word "art," which we want to paint as a mural on the east and west ends of our Bell Street building.
VAC board member and architect Henry Piper gave an impassioned plea for zoning board members to use their discretion and find that the 12-by-8-foot word "Art" is a mural and not a sign. But it was like talking to a wall. In the case of the Valley Art Center, a dark gray faux stucco wall.
The zoning folks just kept shaking their heads and repeating that "Art" is a sign, which it clearly is not. Signs give full names of the place of business.
As a sign, it is too "substantial" and runs afoul of the village sign rules. Long story short, the zoning board voted "Art" down. They might say yes, the members added, if "Art" were smaller. But when was the last time you ever saw a small mural? The Land of the Lilliputs maybe.
It's not as if the center is alone in this view, because 237 village residents signed a petition stating their support for the idea. But the presentation of the petitions hardly made a ripple in the flow of the meeting and was barely acknowledged by the board, which has always put stock in what neighbors have to say, and every adjacent VAC neighbor signed the petition.
As one signer put it, "It's like they don't want art to escape from the building, and heaven forbid 'Art' should be seen by young people and old folks."
Truth of the matter is VAC has an identity crisis. One resident told the board that she lived in town for a year and attended and even taught art classes elsewhere until someone pointed out that she was within walking distance to the Valley Art Center.
Something called "practical difficulties" is one of several criteria for granting a variance. VAC is not easily found, because it is away from the center of town, and the front of the building and its sign are hidden by street trees, making it not only difficult but practically difficult indeed.
It's not that the appeals board was totally nonsupportive; it was just not very helpful. Zoning board members did remind VAC folks that they have one more crack at the variance when Village Council votes on it Oct. 13.
In the end, appeals board members expressed their appreciation of the center and love of art and artists. One said he had taken a class at the art center and had enjoyed it. Another member, after the meeting, even signed one of the petitions.
Then there is the memo from the village legal department. Its contents guided the appeals board in its decision. We asked for a copy of memo but were advised that it has to be released by "the client." I thought we were all clients, but, as we know, lawyers live in the nether world of double speak.
As for my headache? It's caused by of Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole syndrome, which manifests itself when things get curiouser and curiouser.
[ back ]
