Zoning board considers, tables bike shop variance

The board of zoning adjustments tabled a request for a variance for building setbacks and parking space requirements at 10 Riordan Road, citing the need for more information before a proper decision can be made.

The request was for reduced side and parking setbacks, a reduced landscape perimeter and 19 parking spaces in lieu of the typical 30 spaces required for a building the size of the proposed three-story, roughly 14,900 square-foot structure on a roughly half-acre lot.

Phat Tire co-owner Tim Robinson said the company purchased this property planning to renovate the existing building but, with some damage to the building, he would like to start fresh and outside the flood plain.

“That’s way more costly than we had initially planned,” he said.

To offset this, he said, additional floors with apartments for short-term vacation rentals were chosen to generate more revenue, he explained.

Robinson said that, while code requires more parking when more floors are added, he doesn’t believe this specific business will need it.

A lot of customers and employees come by bike, he said, and there’s not likely to be a serious overlap between when people are coming to the shop and when they are coming to stay in the rentals, he said.

Don Robinson, the board’s chair, said he was concerned that the board wasn’t getting a complete enough picture and he would prefer to see this request after the planning commission has had a chance to look at the development.

The board voted unanimously in favor of tabling the request.

Additionally, the board unanimously approved a request to reduce platted side setbacks on a Hitchin Lane property.