Simsbury, CT - Design Review Board

Emil Dahlquist, Chairman, called the Regular Meeting of the Design Review Board to order at timeMinute30Hour175:30 PM in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. The following members were present: Kevin Gray, William Gardner, Mark Naccarato, Richard Schoenhardt, Charles Stephenson, and Alternates John Carroll and Anthony Drapelick. Also in attendance were Howard Beach, Zoning Enforcement and Conservation Officer and other interested parties.

Mr. Richard deGrandis, Jr. stated that he is now the owner of the property located at addressStreet136 Hopmeadow Street. He provided the Board with a site plan, a reduced in size sign plan and photos of the site, as was requested at the last meeting. Mr. deGrandis also indicated that hostas and daylilies would be planted at the base and there would be ground lighting of the sign. He also stated that the existing “Macri” sign on the building has been removed.

Mr. Beach indicated that the scaled down sizing will look better and is compliant, but noted that it should be 10 feet in from the street. Mr. Stephenson suggested that the sign be lined up with the left window, which would position it halfway between the driveway and the midpoint of the site. Chairman Dahlquist asked if there would be other lighting on the property and Mr. deGrandis stated that there is an existing small hanging light on the building above the entry door.

Mr. deGrandis asked the Board to consider the addition of a 4” wide by 18” tall rotating lighted barber pole to be placed where the wall sign had been previously located. Mr. Beach stated that the Zoning Regulations prohibit “signs that allow light to project through the base of the sign or lights that themselves make up the lettering or symbols” as well as “signs which have flashing, rotating or other forms of movement of light”. Mr. deGrandis noted that several other barbershops in Town have barber poles, but Mr. Beach added that they do not rotate.

Chairman Dahlquist thought that the Zoning Commission will ultimately determine the propriety of the barber pole, but that it was likely they would prohibit the internal lighting. Several members of the Board were in favor of the rotating pole, although Mr. deGrandis said that he would accept a stationary pole if so required.

Mr. Stephenson made a motion that the Design Review Board finds the application of M. Sandra Macri, Owner, Richard A. deGrandis, Jr., Avon Barbershop, LLC – Agent, for Signage to be placed on property located at Avon Barbershop, 136 Hopmeadow Street in its current form, as presented on design application dated July 10, 2007, to be generally consistent with the guidelines for community design and recommends its approval by the Zoning Commission with the conditions that sign will be located generally in line with the northern window on the façade and will be lit on both sides by small ground mounted flood lights not to exceed 50 watts halogen not visible from the right-of-way and that there will be plantings around the base of hostas and daylilies and that initially the two lower placards will be left off. Additionally, the Board supports the owner’s request to add an approximately 4” diameter x 18” high barber pole as indicated in a drawing on page 28 and recommends its approval for mounting on the north corner of the building facing Hopmeadow Street. The motion was seconded by Mr. Carroll and passed unanimously.

Shannon M. Conover, President & CEO of Signs Direct, Inc., presented the Board with revised proposed sign layouts for a 19 square foot reverse lit channel letter mounted on aluminum frame sign to be mounted at a tenant space at Simsbury Commons. Chairman Dahlquist confirmed that the sign was in compliance with the unified sign plan for the site.

Mr. Beach indicated that the site’s uniform sign plan speaks to size, but not color of signage. He also noted that some of the existing Farmington Valley Mall anchors were allowed to grandfather their signage at the time of the Simsbury Commons renovation, which has resulted in some mismatching. Mr. Conover indicated that the proposed color matches the tenant’s corporate logo. Mr. Stephenson noted that the Board has in the past been responsive to corporate identity colors.

Mr. Carroll made a motion that the Design Review Board finds the application of Raquel Fisher, Tenant Coordinator, Eden’s & Avant, Owner, Shannon M. Conover, President & CEO, Signs Direct, Inc. – Agent for Signage at the Huntington Learning Center, Simsbury Commons, 530 Bushy Hill Road in its current form, as presented on design application dated July 10, 2007, to be generally consistent with the guidelines for community design and recommends its approval by the Zoning Commission. The motion was seconded by Mr. Gray and passed 5-1 (Mr. Naccarato voted “no”).

John Bilts presented the Board with drawings for a proposed 95” x 36” free-standing sign supported by brick column supports with ground lighting to be located at the north end of the Holloway’s Appliance building to be placed 18 feet from the road. Mr. Beach indicated that the 24 square foot sign would be compliant as the total allowable signage for the site would be 80 feet, although only one freestanding sign is allowed per parcel and, therefore, a Special Exception will be required to allow this sign as it would be the second one on the site.

Mr. Carroll thought that the supporting columns could better match the structural columns of the building. Mr. Stephenson thought that the attempt to duplicate what is on the building with masonry was becoming somewhat clumsy and what is holding up the sign is becoming too important and too visible; he thought that two nicely detailed wooden support posts might be more attractive. Chairman Dahlquist noted that Zoning Regulations will require landscaping at the base of the sign.

Mr. Naccarato thought the street address should be incorporated into the signage. Chairman Dahlquist agreed that the Board typically asks for the street number to be included on signage. Mr. Beach concurred that there is a public safety requirement that a number identifier be on either the building or a sign. Mr. Bilts thought that, since the building is over 95 feet from the road, including it on the sign would be more appropriate.

Mr. Gardner made a motion that Design Review Board finds the application of Robert G. Holloway, Owner, John R. Bilts, Agent, for Site Plan Amendment for Signage on property located at Holloways Appliance Center, 1430 Hopmeadow Street, in its current form to be generally consistent with the guidelines for community design and recommends its approval by the Zoning Commission as a second free-standing sign on the site with the conditions that the street identification number be added to the sign, that there will be landscaping around the masonry base, that there will be two ground flood lights that illuminate the sign that are not visible from the main right-of-way, that the sign be located fully within the property line so as not to interfere with sight lines and that the masonry split face block and brick should match the same materials of the building in terms of color and mortar. The Design Review Board notes that having a second free-standing sign identifying just the Holloway’s appliance center on the property (the first being for the Burkholder building) is appropriate as there is sufficient distinction between the buildings in terms of their location on the site and the signage type. The motion was seconded by Mr. Carroll and passed unanimously.

Chairman Dahlquist acknowledged receipt of a letter from the Harold Bender of the Southwest Homeowners Association asking that the Board consider making green development a standard practice for the Town of placeCitySimsbury’s growth and that it question any future projects that come before it if they are green-compliant.

Chairman Dahlquist acknowledged a letter from Save Our Simsbury relative to the River Oaks project stating that their organization has begun conducting studies with various experts, including economic impact, traffic impact, character/historical preservation and environmental impact and hope to share results of their research with the Board.

Chairman Dahlquist stated that he met with the Main Street Partnership, who has set up a Design Committee that has concerns relative to repairs needed at Eno Hall. He also noted that the Victor Dover presentation indicated that, as part of the development of a Planned Development District, priority should be given to the Town center when considering any future development. He stated that there will be a meeting next Wednesday of the PDD Steering Group to consider the next step in developing the PDD regulation.

Mr. Carroll noted that the Dunkin Donuts project had been approved by the Zoning Commission and thought that they were supposed to have come back before the Design Review Board as the applicant did not appear to be well informed about the project when they presented it. Mr. Beach stated that the design as presented to the Zoning Commission had been revised in response to concerns raised by the Design Review Board, although the applicant is still having issues regarding signage in that the site is exceeding its square footage allotment.