YOUNGSTOWN Panel approves projects

The 27-foot-long sign will be on poles reaching 40 feet and face Interstate 680.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Make-overs to a supermarket and an abandoned building plus a huge new sign for a tire store have gained city approval.
The city's design review commission approved an addition to the West Side Sparkle Market on Mahoning Avenue.
The addition being built now along Mahoning brings the store out to the street. The addition creates a vestibule and will be brick and glass with a Sparkle sign at the top.
The design board is requiring the owner to get the facade's color approved before finishing the project. A building at 1040 Covington St. on the North Side also will be rehabilitated.
YouthBuild, a program within the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, will make its headquarters there. YouthBuild provides academic education and teaches construction skills to high school dropouts.
The agency will renovate the building behind St. Elizabeth Health System, which has sat empty at least 15 years, said Herman Hill, YouthBuild director. Improvements include new windows and an awning, a deck and landscaping. The building will have a dozen parking spaces.
Sign
Finally, the board approved a 27-foot-long, 5-foot-high illuminated sign on poles that will reach 40 feet for Flynn's Safety Tire on Mahoning Avenue. The sign will be just outside downtown on Marshall Street behind Flynn's, facing Interstate 680.
Design review standards cap sign height at 22 feet. Board members agreed to waive the restriction, however. The sign will be in an industrial area and at the same level as another sign facing I-680, they said.
rgsmith@vindy.com