MEMBER SIGN IN
Not a member? Become one today!
         iBerkshires     Berkshire Chamber     MCLA     City Statistics    
Search
Mister Tire Property to Reopen Under New Ownership
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
03:42AM / Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Print | Email  

Planners were not impressed with owner Charles Fox's cleanup of the former RMV, asking that extraneous items be removed before approving a business to locate there.

The Planning Board approved several new businesses but called on one to clean up the property first.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Mister Tire property will reopen for tire service this August under new owners Vianor Inc.

The Planning Board approved a special permit request Monday for the change of ownership of Mister Tire, located at 558 Curran Highway.

"We are excited, and we have big shoes to fill," said Vianor President Jason Phelps.

Phelps said other than a fresh coat of paint and some interior changes, the business should be left mostly unchanged.

"We plan to continue the drive-through tire service like it has been done at this location since 1992," he said. "Hopefully, we can keep all the employees and continue to do business as it has been."

Longtime owner Larry Davis had run the business for 38 years until deciding to close up shop in June.

Vianor is a tire service chain with stores throughout New England, and one of the largest tire chains in the Nordic countries. Its parent is Nokia Tyres of Nokia, Finland, and it sells Nokia, Michelin and Bridgestone brands.

Phelps said a new unlighted sign will go up on the building after the front is painted a dark gunmetal gray to match Vianor’s branding and the new name on the lighted pole sign.

He added they plan to construct an interior waiting room and showroom area to separate customers from the garage.

The hours will remain the same: Weekdays from 8 to 5 and Saturdays from 8 to noon. The plan is to open by Aug. 8.

The board also approved, with some conditions, the application of Syed Jamal to open an electronic vapor cigarette shop at 420 Curran Highway.

Jamal said the store was first slotted for a location on Holden Street but because of a signage issue had to relocate. He was told to use one sign but instead installed two.

"We are going to be using the last sign as we did last time but just one sign," he said. "It was a misunderstanding."

However, tenants in the Holden Street building had objected strenuously to the vape shop because they had voted the building to smoke-free.

The owner of the Curran Highway property, Charles Fox, said it had been cleaned up.

"We have done extensive cleanup of the property, and as a matter of fact, all of the shrubs have been pruned down to a normal size," Fox said. "It has been significantly weeded, and one of our tenants who had a lot of unsightly stuff stored on the property was told to remove it."

Chairman Michael Leary thought otherwise.

"I beg the differ ... I don't know what your definition of trimming the shrubs was but it looks still pretty unsightly to me," Leary said. "The fencing is still falling apart, and on the inside of the building there are piles of junk and signs."

Fox said many of the items inside are from his partners antique business, which he said will be removed soon. He said other items inside are for the construction of a wall to subdivide the interior.

A dog training and day facility were approved in the same location in March with conditions that demanded the owner clean up the property.

Fox said the dog training tenants were going to install the fence to accommodate their use but the owner sustained a back injury and has yet to do this.  

The board approved the request but only if Fox removed or replaced the fence and cleared the property of extraneous material. The planners will review the case in 60 days.

In other business, planners approved:

An application of Devin Kibbe and Deborah Raber to operate a yoga and fitness instruction business at 26 Holden St.

Raber said she will provide fitness instruction and Kibbe will provide yoga instruction.

"The fitness will all be low level, and there won’t be any throwing weights around," Raber said. "It is more or less more functional movement for people to make feel better. That is my goal to help people in the community feel better."

A request from Cumberland Farms to add a temporary storage unit at 70 Ashland St.

Planner Brian Miksic said he believed the storage unit was needed to hold extra products. With the current construction of the new Cumberland Farms near the Mohawk Trail, the Ashland Street location has seen an upswing in business.

Leary said he was concerned about parking.

"It takes up three parking spaces in the lot that is already pretty congested on a regular basis," he said. "I worry about it because it is busy most of the time."

The storage container will be removed when the Cumberland Farms on the Mohawk Trail is completed this September.

0Comments
More Featured Stories
NorthAdams.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 102 Main Sreet, North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384
© 2011 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved