Regular Meeting
Monday, February 14, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Town Hall, 2nd Floor Conference Room
302 Main Street
Jonathan Gibbs, Vice Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Present
Jonathan Gibbs
David Wight
Kingmon Snow
Absent
Theodore Pendleton
Arcangela Claffey
I. Ben Akin
Attendant Staff
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
- OLD BUSINESS
- NEW BUSINESS
1657-1687 Boston Post Road, (Map 25/Lots 21 & 22)
Gateway B-4 District
Applicant: Colvest/Old Saybrook, LLC Agent: Peter LaPointe
Attorney Ed Cassella, who is representing Colvest, introduced the team of people he’s been working with on this project. He explained that although they have not submitted a plan to the Zoning Commission yet, after meeting with First Selectman Mike Pace, Town Planner Christine Nelson and Zoning Enforcement Officer Chris Costa, and after reviewing the Yale Design Study, the team wanted to meet with the ARB to go over their plans.
Stuart Fairbanks, engineer, reviewed the plans with the Board. He said the old Viggiano property is 1.7 acres and the old White House/Aleia property is 1.6 acres. He said there are no buildings on the sites, and the Aleia property is entirely paved.
Peter LaPointe, project manager from the Colvest Group, went over the plans for the building, and he said the tenant, West Marine, has approved the proposed plans.
Stephanie Fuss, landscape architect from Stephanie Fuss Associates, LLC, said after meeting with Town Hall staff, she wanted to try a different approach to the site. She talked about the street trees she would use such as columnar maples and evergreen trees. She recommended varying the height, type and spacing of the trees. She also discussed the placement of the other two buildings on the site, parking and street access.
The Board members agreed that they’d like a reserve area graded and ready for parking if need be, so it could be kept “green” for now.
Frank Colaccino, President of Colvest Group, spoke of his company’s commitment to meet the needs of both the town and the tenant to create the best plan they can.
John Matthews, building architect, discussed the plans with Board members reviewing the building footprint for the 25,000 square foot building, materials, façade design and glazing.
J. Gibbs said he would be in favor of glazing toward the street and parking lot.
P. LaPointe talked about lighting. He said they’d like to have shoebox down lights, and three to five 5’ candles in the parking lot. There was discussion about our regulations for lighting, the safety requirements and the ARB’s concerns about bulb glare from the street.
J. Gibbs summarized the ARB’s thoughts and recommendations. He felt the hips on the central pavilion may not be consistent. He’d like to see the hips be softened. He suggested they consider a hip on gable (jerk and head) design. He also suggested simplifying the roof and bringing the eve down lower.
The ARB would like to see less regular spacing of the trees. They recommend that the 1,000 square foot building on the plan be enlarged. And, they feel strongly about preventing bulb glare from spilling off site.
After hearing the ARB’s suggestions, the applicant agreed to come back to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Architectural Review Board on Monday, February 28, 2011, Town Hall 302 Main Street, 2nd Floor with revisions and a more complete floor plan.
B. “Advance Auto Parts” Site Plan & Special Exception
631 Boston Post Road (Map 36/Lot 104)
Shopping Center B-2 District
Applicant: Indigo Land Design, LLC
Joe Wren, engineer, and Mike Grahbarek, of site enhancement services, who works with Advance Auto Parts as a facilitator, presented.
J. Wren explained that the current building is in need of repair, and the current site is 98% impervious with very little green space. He showed pictures illustrating the existing building and the proposed plan with improvements being made to the building as well as the site, including a landscape plan.
J. Wren showed where the three signs would be placed; two on the building (one on the street side and one on the west side) and one monument or street sign. He said they would be internally lit with LED lights inside the letters themselves. He added that the internally lit signs would not be lit all night, only during business hours.
There was discussion about the dimensions of the signage area, the length of the signs in relation to the length of the building, and the placement of the signs in relation to the roof line.
J. Wren explained that the Advance Auto Parts logo has a red background with yellow letters. Commission members talked about the pros and cons of having the red band bordering all the way around the building versus the red band as only part of the signage, and how this would affect the size of the signs in terms of the Zoning Regulations. J. Wren said he would speak with C. Costa, Zoning Enforcement Officer, for further clarification.
J. Wren described the proposed plan to landscape the site by adding trees, day lilies and grasses. The existing concrete sidewalk has been removed and a 2’ landscape strip has been added. With the removal of the existing sidewalk, the existing handicapped parking space can be improved, and the existing parking spaces can be realigned so pulling in and out of the parking lot will be easier and much safer.
J. Wren explained that there would be more landscape added to the east side and that the truck access area from the gas meter back will be landscaped as well to cut down on the large percentage of asphalt on the site.
The lighting plan will include 14’ full cut off lighting and wall packs on the existing building. The wall packs will be painted a “beachcomber” color to match the building, and bulb glare will not be visible from the street.
MOTION to recommend approval of “Advance Auto Parts” Site Plan & Special Exception; 631 Boston Post Road (Map 36 / Lot 104) Shopping Center B-2 District; Applicant: Indigo Land Design, LLC with the following stipulations: The signage area should be brought into conformance with zoning regulations. In the opinion of the ARB, the red area constitutes part of the signage. The space between the sign to the roof cornice above should have a matching equal space between the sign and the horizontal band below. The horizontal band should have an architectural projection of 1” to 1 ½”. The paved area should be minimized as much as possible with the truck access, particularly on the NE side. The paved area should be illuminated with the lighting fixtures proposed, not
intending to have bulb glare spilling into the street. These lights should be maintained, and they should be on a timer.; MADE by J. Gibbs; SECONDED by D. Wight; APPROVED by D. Wight, J. Gibbs, K. Snow. (3-0-0)
- Meeting Minutes
- MOTION to approve the minutes of 11/22/2010; MADE by D. Wight; SECONDED by K. Snow; APPROVED by D. Wight, J. Gibbs, K. Snow. (3-0-0).
- Correspondence
In their packets, the Board received their monthly budget status report, a copy of the memorandum dated 1/14/2011 re: the ARB’s Operating Budget Request, the December 2010 newsletter from “New Urban News” and a flyer from the WPCA re: rainwater and composting bins .
- Committee, Representative & Staff Reports
MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 9:40 p.m. to the next regularly scheduled meeting of Monday, February 28, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall, 2nd floor conference room, 302 Main Street; MADE by J. Gibbs; SECONDED by K. Snow; APPROVED by D. Wight, J. Gibbs, K. Snow. (3-0-0).
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Noyes, Recording Clerk
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