Looking south to the corner of Whalley and Harrison.
One of the few surviving residential pockets along Whalley Avenue is about to receive its first commercial sign.
Due to the speed of traffic and the arc in the road, the offices of a longtime family medical practice at the curving corner of Whalley and Harrison are difficult for patients to find when driving. That was the case for a two-by-five-foot sign that lawyer Tim Lee made on behalf of Dr. Jack Hauser and his colleagues, who purchased the practice from e physician Dr. Leonard Fasano, who passed away in July.
The intersection is in a small residential zone across from the Mitchell Branch Library on Whalley. It extends for a quarter of a mile tucked between Westville’s commercial “village” center to the east and the strip-type commercial development all along Whalley west and north to Woodbridge.
Allan Appel Photo
A paper facsimile of the proposed sign.
A maximum of one square foot has been permitted for a medical office in this district since 1956, according to a staff report. This would be the first commercial-style sign in the residential district. The request is for a variance to erect a five-foot high and two-foot-wide ground sign that would be placed nine feet back from the front property line and 25 feet away from the intersection of Whalley and Harrison.
Westville Renaissance Village Association Executive Director Chris Heitmann objected. “I believe the sign is a little too large. I’d like to see traffic slow. I don’t know if a two-by-five sign is necessary in this largely residential area.” He suggested commissioners consider a compromise between the the two sizes.
The commissioners didn’t see it Heitmann’s way. They approved the sign by a four-to-zero vote,with Commissioner Victor Fasano recusing himself. He is the stepbrother of the deceased Dr. Leonard Fasano, the father of state Sen. Len Fasano.
In a telephone interview Fasano said the physicians who bought his father’s practice want to honor the memory of Dr. Fasano by continuing his name in the new signage. “They [the BZA] want to approve each sign that is more than one-by-one to keep the character of Westville. That makes sense. So it’s [that is,the approved sign] not gaudy or interferes with the character of the area,” Fasano added.