Procedural issues stall The Woods

With confusion over parking requirements, signage and a missing sign-off on the proposed septic system, the approval process for The Woods restaurant at the Josiah Smith Tavern will take a slight detour before coming back to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

The much-anticipated restaurant project appeared before the ZBA on March 24, but both board members and Brian Piccini, CEO of Boston Urban Hospitality, were unclear about who needs to sign off on-site and on-street parking. Additionally, the Board of Health needs to approve the project’s septic system. The ZBA recommended Piccini withdraw the application without prejudice and refile in the near future once the issues are resolved.

“Typically, we see all of the approvals within town government. We’re the last to receive everything … It’s a little premature for us to be passing judgment on this, even though it sounds like it’s all greased and ready to go,” ZBA Chair Stephen Laroque said. “We need a bona fide document from the Board of Health that this accommodates the use.”

In the Planning Board’s certificate of action for site plan approval, the board stated BU West LLC, the entity Piccini is doing business under, must acquire a special permit for restaurant use, a variance for two signs and a finding from the ZBA assuring 28 street parking spaces are adequate for the additional capacity.

Parking space confusion

The Woods needs 28 additional parking spaces to accommodate its 189-seat restaurant plan at the tavern, with 49 of those seats being outdoors. Piccini has proposed street parking on Boston Post Road within 200 feet of the building going toward that parking requirement – if counted, the street parking will satisfy the requirements – but there is no clear precedent on how to interpret whether that is allowed, according to the site plan approval document.

A 2019 site plan approval allowed 12 street spaces to be counted toward the parking requirements, and the building inspector in 2009 determined that a project in the tavern could use street spaces to meet parking requirements. However, that 2009 application, which relied on the building inspector’s determination, was withdrawn without prejudice and the ZBA’s decision at the time noted the “inspector’s memorandum did not specify the section of the zoning bylaw upon which his determination was based.”

The Planning Board recommended the applicant ask the building inspector or the ZBA to issue a finding that street spaces can count, or have the ZBA issue a variance for parking requirements.

Signage questions

Piccini needs a variance to go through with his two-sign proposal: one above the entrance to The Woods and a freestanding sign on the rock ledge that screens the Josiah Smith Tavern’s parking lot.

Weston’s zoning bylaws allow one sign and require any standing sign to be within the setback requirements. The proposed sign on the rock ledge, which Piccini said will ensure eastbound traffic on Boston Post Road can easily find the lot, lies within Business District B’s 25-foot setback requirement.

“As you’re approaching the building from the west side, if you don’t see where the restaurant entrance is and you’re using Google Maps, you’re going to drive past the restaurant parking lot,” Piccini said, noting the proposed sign is similar in size to others in the town center. “We really want to give an indication of where you can see the restaurant … without interfering with the building or changing the stone wall.”

ZBA members said they see the value in the sign, but a variance requesting an additional sign, as well as an exemption from the setback requirements is a big ask. They noted Piccini might be able to place a sign on the left side of the parking lot entrance to guide drivers, although that, too, would be an additional sign to consider beyond the one above the main entrance.

“To me, the big concerns here are not just the setback location of the sign, but the fact that we have a second sign,” Laroque said, noting this is not an “insurmountable” challenge, but it will take more consideration from the ZBA.

Adrienne Giske, a longtime architect associated with the tavern project, expressed concern about who should be contacting Historic New England. The nonprofit has a preservation restriction on the tavern, which is owned by the town.

“We can’t have tenants dealing with the building,” Giske said. “The deed restriction, if you look at it, is between the town of Weston and Historic New England.”

At least some of the correspondence with Historic New England is being done in tandem between Piccini and Town Manager Leon Gaumond, according to emails obtained in a public records request. Historic New England’s Preservation Services Manager Rachel Farago detailed some of the renovation approvals it has granted, as well as several additional approvals that were being considered in a Nov. 17 email to Gaumond, Piccini and Friends of the Josiah Smith Tavern President Jay Valenta.

As questions about parking, septic, signs and the deed restriction are resolved, Piccini said things will get back on track soon, as he plans to submit documents to the Board of Health and building inspector in the first week of April.

“Every board, every person I talk to is telling me a different step,” Piccini said. “We’re pretty confident that we’re meeting every other guideline.”