Mentor Board of Zoning Appeals Approves Sign Variances

Mentor’s Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday approved variances that will allow two city businesses to install new commercial signs.

A variance was granted for at 7825 Mentor Avenue in front of Levin Furniture store. The variances will allow Dunkin' Donuts to install two front wall and two side wall signs with a total sign area of 101 square feet. City code allows for 96 square feet.

Two of the signs are necessary to inform customers about the store's  drive-thru service, said Kevin Willis, the architect representing the business owner Bhavesh Patel. The new 2,523-square-foot Dunkin' Donuts, expected to open in the fall, will replace the current Dunkin' Donuts on Route 306 that will be closed.

The BZA also approved a variance that would allow Lake Ambulatory Care Center at 9500 Mentor Avenue to install a 56-square-foot freestanding sign. City code requires 40-square-foot freestanding commercial signs.

Building Manager Mike Warmington explained a larger sign is needed to make it easier for patients to locate the businesses in the building, Northcoast Laser Cosmetics LLC and NeighborCare Pharmacy.

In other business, BZA approved variances that would allow:

•  The construction of a 10-foot-by-16-foot shed at 4856 Farley Drive,

• A garage addition at 6221 Bryson Drive,
• A 529-square-foot garage and to relocate an existing above-ground pool at 5035 Wake Robin Road.