THIS NEW mixed-use building at 184 Water St. is ready for occupancy. The first floor will be home to a business called “Life. Love. Cheese.” Seven residential units fill out the upper two floors. (Mark Sardella Photo)
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The town will soon have its first gourmet cheese shop since the 1970s, when the Cheese Gourmet operated in the Olde Theatre Block.
“Life. Love. Cheese” will soon open on the ground floor of a new mixed-use building at 184 Water St., next to Nasella Playground. Seven residential units will occupy the upper two floors of the building.
The store owner, Kimi Ceridon, was at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting last week with her attorney Brian McGrail to get final approval for signage for the new store.
Local residents may be familiar with Ceridon’s mobile cheese operation from appearances at the Wakefield Farmers Market.
McGrail said that the building is now ready for occupancy and noted that the ZBA had reserved jurisdiction over signage. He displayed images of a lighted bracket sign as well as sign bands with carved, raised lettering along the Water Street and Melvin Street frontages.
Board members liked the proposed signs, calling them “tasteful and creative.”
McGrail said that a board member would need to go out to the site and confirm that all of the ZBA’s conditions have been met so that the Building Inspector can issue a certificate of occupancy.
The ZBA voted to approve the signage and authorized chairman Thomas Lucey to sign off on the conditions.
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Just a few doors down, Cataldo Ambulance will be able to move into its new home at 200 Water St. after the ZBA authorized the Building Inspector to issue a temporary occupancy permit to allow Cataldo to move its ambulances inside for the winter.
McGrail noted that some of the grading in the parking lot is off and needs to be corrected before a permanent certificate of occupancy is granted.
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The ZBA granted a waiver of site plan approval for 474 Main St., the former location of Mystic Industries. McGrail explained that his client plans to redevelop the site, but for now would like to rent the building out to an archery instructor. He said that the instructor has conducted archery classes for young people at the Americal Civic Center in the past.
McGrail noted that he will return later for the required Special Permit for the planned recreational use of the site.
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An 11-unit residential project planned for 33 West Water St. appears to be nearing approval at the Zoning Board of Appeals.
McGrail and project architect Andrew Jones talked about some of the latest adjustments to the plans, including shifting the building to the right side of the site to create an outdoor patio space with a buffer of shrubs and plantings along a wooden fence at the left edge of the property.
There was some discussion of entryway and garage lighting as well as ventilation for the ground-level parking garage.
Board members expressed concern that the garage window openings were wide open with no screening.
Jones said that he would look for some type of louvres or screening for those openings and would present something at the next ZBA meeting.
The board asked McGrail to come up with a basic operations and maintenance plan as well as some draft conditions for the board to look at.
The hearing was continued to the board’s Dec. 11 meeting.
