CB 11 Approves Variances for Auto Shop and CVS, Permit for Massage Parlor

passed variances during its monthly meeting on Monday for a local CVS and auto repair shop as well as approved a permit for a massage parlor that specializes in injured patients.

The board unanimously voted in favor for a special permit that would allow Massage Envy to operate at 38-03 Bell Blvd. in Bayside.

The wellness center, which is part of a national chain, would encompass a total 3,000 square feet between its cellar and first floor.

It would be open for business on Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. to p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“There is not ample parking, but 38th Avenue often has on-street parking,” board member Ocelia Claro said of the massage parlor. “This business would be preferable to a bar or a restaurant.”

The board approved the application, but required one handicapped parking spot at the site.

CB 11 also approved of a variance for Prela Auto Repair, located at 42-42 Francis Lewis Blvd. in Bayside, but expressed reservations due to the property owner’s failure to address some of the board’s previous concerns.

Claro said the repair shop, which was first formed as a service station in 1956, had been asked not to allow trucks to park on its lot or place advertisements along the sidewalk bordering its property.

“He’s still parking cars the way he shouldn’t and he’s still advertising the way he shouldn’t,” CB 11 member Melvyn Meer said.

The board voted 31-7 in favor of approving the variance, but with the stipulations that the repair shop’s owner does not allow vehicles to park on the site unless they are being serviced, removes its dumpster, cleans and maintains the station and removes advertising and signs along the property.

“The applicant didn’t do something he should have,” CB 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece said of the auto shop. “But there aren’t any other complains against this applicant, who’s been here for years. We could always revoke our approval.”

Board members also suggested showing up at the shop’s hearing at the Board of Standards and Appeals if Prela’s owner violates any of CB 11’s conditions.

The board unanimously voted in favor of extending a variance for Douglaston’s CVS Pharmacy, located at 242-24 Northern Blvd.