TOWN OF OLD SAYBROOK
Architectural Review Board
302 Main Street Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475-1741
Telephone (860) 395-3131 FAX (860) 395-1216
MINUTES
Regular Meeting
Monday, April 25, 2005 at 7:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
I. CALL TO ORDER
Chairman, David Wight, called the regular meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
Attendant Members Absent Members
David Wight, Chairman Bette Del Giorno, Secretary
Kingman Snow Elizabeth Swenson, Vice Chairman
Frank Vinciguerra
Guy Pendleton
Jonathan Gibbs
Attendant Staff
Janet Vinciguerra, Recording Clerk
III. OLD BUSINESS
A. “Tissa’s Country Market” Special Exception and Site Plan
855 Boston Post Road (Map 36 / Lot 2)
Shopping Center Business B-2 District
Applicant/Agent: Kathleen A. Benjdid
Ms. Benjdid was present and provided the Board members with a site plan and landscape plan. She reviewed the details of the landscape plan, which include using five planters at each corner of the property at Boston Post Road. Alternating between the planters will be four solar landscape lights. There will be two benches and three planters on the concrete walkway in the front of the store. The street planters will be 15” in height and the storefront planters will be 12” in height. Along the windows will be four 9” high planters. All planters will be in a Tuscan style. In 2006 Ms. Benjdid will create two rock gardens using the similar planters for each corner of the back of the parking lot. In 2007, an annual garden will be created along the
North and East sides of the parking lot. Ms. Benjdid noted that the Lamps Ear (item #3 on the Landscaping Plan) has been eliminated. For lighting, Ms. Benjdid will use the two existing light poles for the parking lot.
Note for the file: the site plan presented by Ms. Benjdid included penciled in notes for expansion of the kitchen and a patio in front of the building. These are future plans and Ms. Benjdid did not request approval for these items.
MOTION to approve the site plan and landscape plan improvements as presented.
MOVED by J. Gibbs SECONDED by F. Vinciguerra
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, F. Vinciguerra, J. Gibbs and G. Pendleton.
OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINING: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
A. “HomeGoods” Special Exception, Bldg and Façade Renovation, Sign
105 Elm Street (Map 36 / Lots 60,80,92-96,103)
Shopping Center Business B-2 District
Applicant/Agent: Matthew Rubin
Mr. Matthew B. White, P.E., of Angus McDonald, Gary Sharpe & Associates, Inc., Mr. Wayne R. Borge of TJX Companies, Inc., Mr. David Lafo of American Sign, Inc., Mr. Kevin Bengtson of Roots & Shoots Landscaping and Mr. Matthew Rubin, owner of the shopping center, were all present.
Mr. White provided the Board with a description of the proposed changes to the site to allow HomeGoods to move into the space formerly occupied by four businesses. The most noticeable exterior change on the west side of the site will be a proposed loading space and concrete pad for compactor. This will be the backside of the business and will not have a public entrance. The only public entrance will be from Boston Post Road parking area. The proposed loading space and concrete pad for compactor will be 12’x40’ and 10’x40’ respectively. Heavy landscaping will be added on both sides of this area to provide screening. The existing concrete walkway in this area will be eliminated to allow for the proposed loading space. This area is adjacent
to the landscaped patio area just outside the existing café. Mr. Gibbs expressed his concerns about the elimination of the walkway, as it will block pedestrian access from the Famous Footwear store on Elm Street over to the Stop and Shop side of the shopping center. Both Mr. White and Mr. Rubin stated that there is very little foot traffic from Elm Street. Additionally, Mr. Borge stated that deliveries for this location are already scheduled for early in the morning before 10:00 a.m.
The Board also expressed concern about the close proximity of three handicapped parking stalls to the loading space. Mr. Rubin stated that he believes the proposed single loading dock will be safer than when four previous stores each had their own deliveries. The trucks had to park parallel to the building which created more obstruction to shoppers. Mr. Wight recommended that the three handicapped parking stalls on the west side of HomeGoods be relocated to the front of the building. These stalls on the west side can be converted back to regular stalls thus keeping the same number of parking stalls.
Mr. White described the signage on the front of the building. Mr. Snow asked about the LED. Mr. Lafo stated it would be 100,000 hours, approximately two years. Mr. Gibbs expressed concern about the scale of the proposed front canopy in relation to the lettering and other existing storefronts in the center. Mr. Gibbs said he would like to see the outside of the canopy line up with the outside columns. Mr. Borge stated that he will discuss this recommendation with HomeGoods. Mr. Wight stated that when Pier One was reviewed, the additional storefront canopy was concerned its own wall in terms of allowable signage because it came out more than 15” from the existing building. Mr. Wight believes the same ruling may apply to the proposed storefront canopy for
HomeGoods. Mr. Wight stated that he would like to see how the dimension of this storefront compares with Famous Footwear and Pier One. The canopy will be the same gray color as the shopping center.
Mr. Wight noticed a discrepancy of the dimension of the lettering between the signage drawing and the site plan.
Mr. Vinciguerra said he would like to see the entrance and exit doors be spaced further apart. Mr. Gibbs stated that he would like to see more windows in the front of the building. He explained that minimal windows in front of a building could cause a perceived lack of security by the public.
Mr. Pendleton discussed the landscape plan with Mr. Bengtson. Mr. Bengston stated that the main emphasis of the plan is to screen the loading dock with a variety of broadleaf and year-wide coverage. Mr. Gibbs also suggested adding a fence on either side of the loading area.
MOTION to table this discuss so that the following recommendations can be considered for the next regular meeting:
1. Provide an alternate pedestrian route from Elm Street to allow safe passage across the loading dock.
2. Re-proportion the canopy façade so that the canopy and columns work together. Make sure the façade is in proportion with the other facades in the center and provide photos of other storefront signs in the center.
3. Relocate three handicapped parking stalls in the west parking lot to the front of the building.
4. Additional windows to the front of the building.
MOVED by K. Snow SECONDED by G. Pendleton
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, F. Vinciguerra, K. Snow, J. Gibbs and G. Pendleton.
OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINING: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
B. “New England Alliance Mortgage” Sign
50 Pond Road (Map 36 / Lot 116)
Central Business B-1 District
Applicant: New England Alliance Mortgage Agent: Robert Bradley
Mr. Bradley was present. He described to the Board that New England Alliance Mortgage would like to use the same street sign location as the most recent tenant but rather than use the west side of the building for the building sign, as most recently used, he would like to move the building sign location to the front of the building centered over front, below the roof line. A former tenant used this location some 10 to 15 years ago. The Board members agreed that the front of the building may be better exposure for traffic driving west, however they did not feel that it was architecturally appropriate for the building and secondly that a sign hanging just below the roof line would block part of the second floor windows. An alternate location suggested was to place the building sign
under the second floor windows on the right side of the building justified toward the front door. The building sign will not be illuminated and the street sign will use existing spotlights with low illumination.
MOTION to approve signage with the condition that the building sign be placed either (1) on the west side of the building, centered over the second floor windows, or (2) be placed on the front of the building, right side justified toward the front door, under the second floor window. If the west side of the building is chosen, then the street sign may be rotated to be parallel with the building.
MOVED by G. Pendleton SECONDED by F. Vinciguerra
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, J. Gibbs, G. Pendleton, F. Vinciguerra and K. Snow. OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
C. “General Equities/Food Bag” Façade Renovation and Site Plan
1630 Boston Post Road (Map 26 / Lot 38)
Gateway Business B-4 District
Applicant: Cherokee Hill, LLC Agent: John Messario
Mr. Bill Robinson of General Equities was present. Mr. Robinson explained to the Board that the Food Bag would like to update its gas pumps and canopy. He provided a photo of another Citgo gas station in town that has a similar canopy to what is being proposed. The pumps will be diagonal to the building which provides more security. The proposed canopy is rectangular with southwest corner at a diagonal to allow the future removal of nearby underground storage tanks. The entire canopy and pumps will be moved about 20’ to the west to allow more turning space toward the east entrance/exit. There will be recessed lighting under the canopy. Mr. Snow specified that this lighting should use 275-wattage. Mr. Gibbs did not like the asymmetrical canopy as
proposed and offered an alternate sketch. Mr. Gibbs’ proposed a 6-sided polygon that would be symmetrical on both ends and reduce the apparent length of the front of the canopy. Mr. Robinson will take the sketch back to his manufacturer to find out if Mr. Gibbs’ proposal can be built.
MOTION to table discussion until the next regular meeting.
MOVED by F. Vinciguerra SECONDED by K. Snow
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, J. Gibbs, G. Pendleton, F. Vinciguerra and K. Snow. OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
D. “Maximus Antiques” Façade Renovation and Sign
143 Main Street (Map 37 / Lot 14)
Central Business B-1 District
Applicant/Agent: Erica Lombardi
Ms. Lombardi was present and described the dimensions and materials of the signage. The signboard will be flat black aluminum with gold lettering. The Board members suggested using a black roof edge cap, which can be framed around the signboard. Mr. Vinciguerra further suggested a ¾” reveal shadow line around the brick posts on either side of the sign. Ms. Lombardi stated that she will use the existing lighting. Currently, the building has 6 to 8 floodlights. Ms. Lombardi said she will only use two or three.
MOTION to approve the sign and façade renovation with the following recommendations: (1) roof edge cap with ¾” reveal shadow line around the brick posts, and (2) reduce the lighting to two or three floodlights.
MOVED by F. Vinciguerra SECONDED by K. Snow
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, J. Gibbs, G. Pendleton, F. Vinciguerra and K. Snow. OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
E. “Subway” Sign
655 Boston Post Road (Map 36 / Lot103)
Shopping Center Business B-2 District
Applicant/Agent: Iraj Tirabadi
Mr. Tirabadi was present and provided the Board members with specifications for the sign. Ms. Vinciguerra read aloud a letter submitted to the Board by Mr. Matthew Rubin, owner of the shopping center, granting his consent for this sign. The sign will be approximately 24” high by 10’9” long, consisting of individual neon lettering and will be installed to the left of the Wal Mart sign on the garden center side of the shopping center.
MOTION to approve the sign as presented.
MOVED by J. Gibbs SECONDED by G. Pendleton
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, J. Gibbs, G. Pendleton, F. Vinciguerra and K. Snow. OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
V. REGULAR BUSINESS
A. Meeting Minutes
MOTION to approve the minutes of 04/11/05 as presented.
MOVED by F. Vinciguerra SECONDED by J. Gibbs
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, J. Gibbs, G. Pendleton, F. Vinciguerra and K. Snow. OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
B. Correspondence – none.
C. Committee, Representative & Staff Reports
Mr. Pendleton inquired about the possibility of church and civic organization signs be posted in a more orderly manner, particularly at the top of Main Street and at the intersection of Main Street and Maple Avenue. The Board members suggested that perhaps the signs could be grouped together on one or two posts in both locations. Janet Vinciguerra said that she will speak to Ms. Costa about this issue.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 11:08 p.m. until the next regularly scheduled meeting on May 9, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Saybrook Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 302 Main Street.
MOVED by D. Wight SECONDED by K. Snow
IN FAVOR: D. Wight, F. Vinciguerra, K. Snow, J. Gibbs and G. Pendleton.
OPPOSED: none. ABSTAINED: none. APPROVED: 5-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Janet S. Vinciguerra, Recording Clerk
| 
