ZBA approves Roche Bros. food market, defers action on Crunch Gym

[ron_newman]

The Zoning Board of Appeals tonight unanimously approved Roche Bros' proposal for a Brothers Marketplace food store on the first floor of 240 Elm Street, which housed a Social Security office until 2010.

They didn't seem so happy with the proposed Crunch Gym on the second floor, raising questions about how much additional traffic and parking demand the gym would bring to Davis Square. They deferred action on this until their next meeting on November 19.

Comments

[ron_newman]

Under the current zoning rules, the supermarket does not require a parking variance, while the gym does. It all has to do with the number of spaces required by the previous uses vs. the proposed new use.

There is an ongoing process to revise the zoning code, which might make future such decisions easier to make and explain.