Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – January 22, 2019
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Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting – January 22, 2019
The Zoning Board of Appeals met on January 22, 2019, at 7:00 PM at City Hall to consider a variance application for the Weinberg Center for the Arts, approve previous meeting minutes, and hold officer elections. The board voted unanimously to approve the minutes and, with one recusal, granted all four requested variances for theater signage. Officers were re-elected for the coming term.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (December 18, 2018): Moved by Member Butcher, seconded by Member West. Approved unanimously without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments on zoning matters or the variance case.
Discussion Items
- Variance Application (ZBA18-1018V) – Weinberg Center for the Arts: The applicant, John Healy (Director of the Weinberg Center), requested four variances to the Land Management Code (LMC) §864 (Sign Regulations) to replace the theater’s marquee and add a vertical blade sign. The existing non‑conforming signage would be replaced with historically‑inspired signs consistent with the 1926 Tivoli Theater. Staff (Gabrielle Collard, Deputy Director for Planning) reported that the Weinberg Center is a publicly owned historic theater in the DB (Downtown Commercial Residential) district and within the Historic Preservation Overlay. The proposed signage totals 365 square feet (333 sq ft above the 32 sq ft allotment), the marquee would project 9 ft 3 in (1 ft 3 in over the 8‑ft limit), the vertical blade would project 42 inches (12 in over the 30‑in limit), and the attached signage size would be 705% of building frontage (exceeding the 125% limit). Staff recommended approval based on seven criteria, finding the variances are the minimum necessary, not contrary to public interest, and support the property’s unique historic and cultural role. The applicant emphasized the restoration to a 1926 performing arts aesthetic and noted future review by the Historic Preservation Commission and Maryland Historical Trust. Board members expressed support, noting the enhancement to downtown’s arts and entertainment district and no pedestrian/vehicular impact. Member Hand recused himself due to a personal relationship with a board member. Member West disclosed his volunteer role at the Weinberg but stated no conflict.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on Variance (ZBA18-1018V): Motion by Member Butcher, seconded by Dr. Ying, to approve all four variances with the seven staff findings. The motion passed 3‑0 (Dr. Ying, Mr. Aronow, Mr. Butcher in favor; Member Hand recused).
- Election of Officers: Jim Racheff was re-elected Chair (moved by Mr. Butcher, seconded by Mr. West, unanimous voice vote). Larry Aronow was re-elected Vice Chair (moved and seconded, unanimous voice vote).
Board Business
- Officer Elections: Held after the variance vote. No other business was discussed. The meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
If we're ready, we're ready. All right. All right. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the January 22nd, 2019 meeting of the City of Frederick Zoning Board of Appeals. A little short background for those who might happen to be watching at uh home or who are new to the ZBA before we get started with tonight's uh business. Um the members of the Board of Appeals here are all uh volunteers. We are all residents of the city. We are um appointed by the mayor, and those appointments are confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. Um we have five voting members uh on our board. We have all five members uh present here tonight. So uh we definitely have a uh quorum to conduct business. Also supporting us in our uh activity here on the ZBA are members of the city staff, and uh just introduce them briefly for uh everybody's benefit to my far right and everybody else's far left. It's Ms. Rachel DePo. She is an assistant attorney with the City of Frederick. Sit seated next to Mrs. Uh to Ms. DePo is um Miss Gabrielle Collard. Uh she is the division manager of current planning uh with the planning department here in the city. Uh and then to my far left and everybody else's far right is uh Miss Jessica Murphy. She is the office manager in the planning department. Uh in addition to numerous numerous activities and responsibilities, she supports the ZBA in everything that uh we here do here tonight. Um a little bit about how our procedures will work tonight. Uh when we get to the point on the agenda where we're here in tonight's cases, um I'll formally call the case. Uh I think we only have one case uh before us here, so if the applicant just gives me a quick wave and lets me know that they're here, that'd be great. Um but the first thing that we will do is I will ask for the staff report. Uh the staff report will be read into the record, and then at the end of the staff report, the staff may make uh recommendation or recommendations regarding the particular case before us. Uh that is one criteria that we use in our decision making process. It is not the only criteria. Um so following the staff report, uh, we'll ask for comments from the applicant. Uh we'll see if there's any additional information they would like to add, anything they would like to clarify with us. Uh members of the board may ask the applicant questions uh to garner a little bit more information, a little bit more fact-finding. Um after we've gone through that process, I'll ask if there's any members of the public that would like to speak uh regarding the case, and then we'll see if anybody here would like to speak. Um and then following uh any public testimony that we might have, I'll ask for closing remarks uh from the applicant to kind of wrap that up. Um that will close our testimony portion of our case. Um and so after we have gathered our testimony, I will call for a motion uh from the board. Um as I mentioned before, uh we have five members on the board. Uh we need a simple majority, three out of five to pass any motion that happens to be before us. A couple of other things to keep in mind. Uh if you uh come to the microphone to speak, the first time if you do, if we could have your name and your address uh just for the record, that'd be great. If you happen to leave the microphone and then come back uh for some reason to speak again, uh just refresh us with your name. The reason for that is is that all our recording or all our proceedings here tonight are being recorded. Anyone who is aggrieved by a decision of the zoning board of appeals has the right to appeal our decision to the Circuit Court of Maryland. Um and when the judge is listening back through the recordings and the tapes and that sort of thing, uh helps keep straight who happens to be talking, helps preserve the record uh if that happens to be the case. Do we have any questions about tonight's proceedings? No, okay. Uh seeing none, as I mentioned, we've got a couple of uh regular items are in our agenda to go through, a little bit of housekeeping. Uh we'll go ahead and do that, and then we'll get on to tonight's cases. So members uh of the board.
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