Package Store Owner Looks To Use Portion of Petals and Paws Building

The Canton Zoning Commission heard a proposal by Mark Gerrity Wednesday to move his Wine and Liquor Warehouse to a portion of the Petals and Paws building at 465 Albany Turnpike (Route 44) at the corner of Cherry Brook Road.

Gerrity told the commission he simply wants to move the business from its current space at 345 Albany Turnpike and that Petals and Paws is interested in downsizing its space.

“We’re just moving to a different location,” he said.

Gerrity said the new location on the east side of the property would allow him to  expand from roughly 400 square feet to about 1,200 square feet.

The business requires several approvals before it could move to the new location, including sale of alcohol and a special exception for a sign.

Zoning commissioners did express concerns that the sign be placed in an area that did not affect visibility to and from the property.

The biggest issue, however, was with the Petals and Paws property itself, which town planner Neil Pade said has unapproved structures on the site and is delinquent in its taxes.

As a result Gerrity would not be able to obtain a building permit until the situation of the structures is resolved with zoning and an agreement is worked out with the town regarding the taxes.

Owner Christopher A. Mathes was also at the meeting and told the commission that he did not realize the structures needed zoning approval since he considered them temporary. He said he would resolve the issues. Gerrity said the addition of his business would help the owners financially as well.

The plan is to place the package store on the east side of the building and use the center doors for the package store and a separate side door for Petals and Paws, Gerrity said.

Since it felt Petals and Paws had to resolve the issues anyway, the commission delayed making a decision until its April meeting.