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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-02-07 HPC MIN0 • Heritage Preservation Commission Feb. 7, 2000 Present: Howard Lieberman, chair Beth Diem, Phil Eastwood, Jeff Johnson and Roger Tomten Others: Planner Sue Fitzgerald Absent: Robert Kimbrel and Dean Miller Mr. Lieberman called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Approval of minutes: Mr. Tomten, seconded by Mr. Johnson, moved approval of the minutes of Jan. 5, 2000; all in favor. Case No. DR/00 -2 Design review of proposed development at 1820 and 1830 Market Drive. David Reimer representing Urban Associates, applicant. Mr. Reimer was present for the discussion. Mr. Johnson expressed his concern about the orientation of the Timber Lodge Steakhouse to County Road 5 and the visibility of the trash enclosure. Mr. Reimer offered to plant spruce trees to screen the area. Mr. Johnson offered several suggestions for alternative locations of the enclosure, none of which Mr. Reimer said would work. In addition to planting trees, Mr. Reimer said he could face the opening of the enclosure to the southwest, so the opening would not be seen from County Road 5. Later in the discussion, Ms. Fitzgerald produced a larger site map which indicated there is an outlot, 150 -200 feet, between Timber Lodge and County Road 5 so the trash enclosure won't be as visible as initially thought. Ms. Diem suggested including the site map with the Commission's action on the request. Several members expressed concern about the appearance of the rear wall of the building. Mr. Lieberman suggested the massive wall on the back doesn't do justice to the design of the front. Mr. Reimer noted that Target had approved the design. With the price of the land and rising interest rates, he said there is no room economically to add to the cost of construction. He further noted that the coping wraps around the entire building and that the front and sides of the building, not the rear, are the most visible to the public. Ms. Diem said she didn't disagree that the front could be different than the rear of the building. Regarding lighting, Mr. Reimer said the fixtures and poles will be the same as specified in the PUD — shoebox and downlit. Signs will be all individual channel letters. Mr. Tomten stated he would prefer to have the security lighting on the back elevation more in line with other architectural features such as the dark color band, rather than placed at the parapet. Mr. Johnson also suggested the intermediate security light on the rear elevation could be eliminated. Mr. Johnson also expressed a concern about the potential visibility of the rooftop mechanicals given the 2' parapet. Mr. Reimer stated this is the same as the 1St phase of the development, and the mechanical units will be no larger than those in the 1St phase. 1 Heritage Preservation Commission Feb. 7, 2000 Mr. Johnson moved to accept the plans as conditioned, with the additional conditions that the trash enclosure serving the Timber Lodge be screened with spruce trees at the southwest corner and that the door of the enclosure face to the south; that the security light shown mid - building on the rear elevation be eliminated and all other security lighting on the rear elevation be located in the dark accent band below the parapet. Mr. Eastwood seconded the motion; all in favor. Case No. DR/00 -3 Design review of an exterior sign at 131 S. Main St. Jennifer Cosgrove, applicant. Jennifer and Chris Cosgrove were present. They provided color renderings of the proposed signage — 20 square feet on the Main Street and about a 10x3 ` sign on the Chestnut Street side. Mr. Johnson suggested that the signs on the front and side be placed at the same elevation. Mr. Johnson also questioned the appearance of having different size signs, noting the existing signage at the same height and appearance works well. The applicants agreed with Mr. Johnson's observation. Chris Cosgrove stated their initial proposal was to have Coca Cola on the two ends of the signs, rather than the hamburger and malt. He said their intent was to have signage representative of the 1930s and 40s. Members were supportive of the use of Coca Cola on the signs. Mr. Johnson noted that if the words were a separate sign, that would not be allowed. However, since the wording is within the total allowable square footage, the use should be acceptable according to the city's guidelines. Mr. Lieberman said his personal preference would be to spell Grill and Shop correctly, rather than Grille and Shoppe as proposed; the Cosgroves agreed with that suggestion. Mr. Lieberman moved to approve the signs, 8' x 2 %2', on the east and south elevations, allowing the use of the Coca Cola wording, and spelling Grill and Shop correctly. Mr. Johnson seconded the motion, noting the motion includes the requested awning and colors as submitted. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Fitzgerald will do further checking to make sure there are no restrictions in the use of Coca Cola. Case No. SUP/DR/00 -10 Design review of office /warehouse at 1900 Tower Dr. Ray Kennedy, applicant. Mr. Kennedy was not present. After discussion, a motion to approve with several additional conditions -- concerning the placement and color of signage, submission of a lighting plan, requiring a parapet — was withdrawn. Mr. Tomten noted there are serious design issues with the proposal. The design guidelines call for architectural consistency in details and materials on all sides of a building, which the current proposal does not do. Ms. Diem also noted there might be code issues involved with the use of residential siding as proposed. Mr. Tomten moved to deny the request as submitted based on the design guidelines requiring architectural consistency. Mr. Lieberman Heritage Preservation Commission Feb. 7, 2000 suggested, and moved, to continue the request to the March meeting to receive additional information from the applicant. Mr. Eastwood seconded the motion; all in favor. Other items: Mark Balay appeared with preliminary plans for a ticket office /storage for St. Croix Boat and Packet. Mr. Balay explained that the DNR is requiring Mr. Anderson to get rid of the existing floating ticket office. He reviewed the proposed location, which will require rezoning, and the preliminary design. He said the new structure will appear as a single -story building from the road, but will be a walkout from the river side. The entire building will be above the 100 - year flood mark, he said. The building materials likely will be corrugated metal siding with an asphalt roof, similar to the Commander Elevator. Signage will be a simple board sign mounted on brackets on the west elevation. He said Mr. Anderson has submitted two reports to the DNR outlining progress made to date. Members were receptive to the preliminary plans as presented. The request for the annual renewal of the special use permit for the popcorn wagon at 401 S Main St. was included in the packet for information only. Ms. Fitzgerald said there have been no complaints regarding the operation. Ms. Fitzgerald asked members to be thinking about the annual HPC awards to be presented in May. A list of cases reviewed in the past year was included in the agenda packet. It was noted that the award nominees need not be restricted to those cases reviewed in the past year. Mr. Lieberman suggested members take a group walk when the weather gets warmer to get a feel of changes /needs in the downtown area. The recording secretary left at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Baker Recording Secretary 3