2024-12-5 Design Review Board meeting minutes City of Beverly Design Review Board
December 5,2024
Meeting Minutes
1 CITY OF BEVERLY
2 PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES
3
4 BOARD OR COMMISSION: City of Beverly Design Review Board
5 DATE: December 5, 2024
6 LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street, 3rd Floor, Conference
7 Room A
8 MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Jon Ouellette; Wendy Pearl; Ellen Flannery; Michael
9 Barone Jr.
10 MEMBERS ABSENT: Vice-Chair Rachel Poor
11 STAFF PRESENT: Kenneth Clawson, Assistant Planning Director
12 RECORDER: Kristan Patenaude
13
14 Ouellette called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
15
16 1.Applications:
17 a. Cabot Performing Arts Center,Inc. c/o Alexander & Femino, 1 School Street,
18 Beverly, MA 01915. Sign: The Cabot, 286 Cabot Street.
19
20 Tom Alexander, Alexander& Femino, stated that the applicant is hoping to receive a
21 recommendation this evening in order to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals for its January
22 meeting.
23
24 Stefano Basso, Architect for the project, stated that the applicant has made some modifications to
25 the signage. He displayed some draft shop drawings and stated that the applicant could come
26 back with formal shop drawings immediately prior to fabrication. The blade sign has been
27 changed to invert the colors,with the previously proposed white reading a bit grayer. White
28 lettering is proposed on a navy blue background. The letters are also proposed to be raised to a
29 4"profile. The sign is proposed to be solid aluminum and internally illuminated at the letters
30 only. An edge band is proposed, similar to the historic Ware Theater sign. The intention is to
31 replicate that sign's detail in terms of depth and texture of the edge band and with the lettering.
32 Regarding the LED panels proposed to be mounted on the sides of the building,the intention is
33 to incorporate them a bit more architecturally, with a trim band or casing type of detail. The
34 panels will be boxed in so that the edge of the screen will not be seen. A small piece of molding,
35 similar to a back band, is also proposed. This will give more texture to the profile. The panels
36 will be picture framed on all four sides with a metal drip cap on the top side.
37
38 The Board stated that the proposed projecting sign looks nice and mirrors the historic sign of the
39 property. The proposal to shrink the LED signs to fit within the existing architectural aspect of
40 the wall is a nice idea. There was a suggestion to look at the size of the sign along the facade of
41 the West Dane Street elevation to allow it not to be so squeezed. Basso agreed to work on this
42 sign.
43
44 Ouellette: Motion to approve the four signs for The Cabot, at 286 Cabot Street, with the
45 following conditions: that the applicant return for a final review of the projecting
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Meeting Minutes
46 sign presented today, and further resolution of the West Dane Street sign on the
47 northern side of the building. Flannery seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
48
49 b. Pamela Jagiello, 100 Tenean Street, Dorchester, MA 02122. Sign: Zuzu Kitchen, 240
50 Elliott Street.
51
52 The applicant team explained that changes were made to the application to reduce the total
53 dimension of all the signage down to approximately 80x54 or 30 s.f., and to reduce the
54 dimensional letters for"Dining, Take Out, and Delivery."
55
56 Ouellette: Motion to approve the wall sign for Zuzu Kitchen, at 240 Elliott Street as
57 presented. Pearl seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
58
59 c. Platinum Gym One,Inc DBA Flash Fitness, 55 Dodge Street, Beverly, MA 01915.
60 Sign: Flash Fitness, 55 Dodge Street.
61
62 Stephen Stabile stated that he was the owner of Blink Fitness, and that franchise brand went
63 bankrupt in August. He has since developed his own brand under the name Flash Fitness. His
64 intention is to replace the existing Blink Fitness signage in approximately the same square
65 footage. He plans to replace the word"Flash"with"Blink"while keeping the word"Fitness."
66 The sign will be illuminated as it currently is.
67
68 Ouellette: Motion to approve two signs for Flash Fitness, at 55 Dodge Street, as presented.
69 Barone seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
70
71 d.Walter J. Ciampa,2 Friendship Lane, Lynnfield, MA 01940. Sign: Anchor Medical
72 Supply Pharmacy, 100 Cummings Center
73
74 Walter Ciampa presented his application.
75
76 Ouellette: Motion to approve the application for Anchor Medical Supply Pharmacy, 100
77 Cummings Center, as presented. Flannery seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
78
79 e. Glovsky& Glovsky LLC, 8 Washington Street, Beverly, MA 01915. Application:
80 RSD Site Plan Review: 0 Trask Lane, Corcoran Trask Lane,LLC
81
82 Ouellette recused himself from this item. Barone sat as Acting Chair.
83
84 Miranda Siemasko explained that the Board previously expressed wanting additional time to
85 review the application materials to make comments.
86
87 Pearl asked for clarification on the proposed site plan in terms of the topographical changes and
88 the foundation walls. She asked how the development fits into the landscape, as it appears to be
89 built with a wall around it. Siemasko stated that the site is challenging topographically and with
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Meeting Minutes
90 many wetlands. Pearl suggested that the planting treatments should lead beyond the walls. The
91 Board reviewed the plan and the proposed wall heights.
92
93 The Board spoke about the design of the proposed common area for the site, which is also a main
94 area to be traveled by vehicles.
95
96 The Board discussed the proposed parking numbers. Siemasko stated that the applicant is
97 recommending to the Planning Board that there be 1.6-1.7 spaces per unit. Clawson asked if the
98 entire site will be assigned or if just the buildings will be assigned. He expressed concern with
99 the parking for two of the proposed buildings.
100
101 The Board stated that they would like to see a pedestrian and bicyclist circulation plan for the
102 site. Clawson noted that there are no trash rooms in the buildings and that residents will have to
103 bring their trash to the compactor areas.
104
105 There was discussion regarding accessible parking spaces and accessibility overall for the site.
106
107 Siemasko stated that the applicant would come back to the Board with additional information as
108 discussed.
109
110 Barone: Motion to continue discussion of 0 Trask Lane, to the January meeting. Flannery
ill seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
112
113 Ouellette retook his seat.
114
115 f. Harborlight Homes,Anchor Point Lighthouse Center. Application: Modification to
116 Smart Growth Overlay District#01-18 Anchor Point, 108 Sohier Road
117
118 Nick Campanelli, MDLA, explained that updated landscape sheets with an updated plant palette
119 and materials palette were submitted. This is the third phase of a three phase build for the Anchor
120 Point Lighthouse Center. The parking fields for this project are in place. This site is downhill of
121 the Northshore Education Consortium (NEC) and so there are some drainage features as part of
122 the landscape plan to handle the runoff. The program essentially remains the same from the
123 concept phase of the project. The community gardens are south facing of the proposed
124 Community Center and trees have been intentionally kept on the eastern side of the property to
125 anchor the front facade of the building and to open up the south side to provide natural light to
126 the space. There will be stair access from the southern parking lot into the rear of the space. The
127 rear of the property is an open hardscape area, intentionally designed to be flexible. The lawn
128 space is approximately 2,500 s.f. The western corner of the property contains two playgrounds
129 which are tied immediately to the interior program. This area wraps around to multi-sport courts
130 with low segmental block retaining walls. At the high point these walls will be approximately 3'
131 tall. Behind the segmented block retaining wall is chain-link fencing. A potential location for a
132 pad for a shed is included on the plan. The primary material for the walkways is concrete, with a
133 colored concrete for access areas to accentuate space. The patio space on the southern part of the
134 project will have different score pattern to differentiate the space. The sport courts are proposed
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Meeting Minutes
135 to be a rubberized plastic material. The path to the community gardens will be made of an ADA
136 accessible material. These materials will also be permeable. The drainage layer around the
137 western and northern portions of the property includes capturing the water from north of the site
138 and moving it around the site to a low point. The existing drainage patterns will be maintained.
139 In addition to treating the stormwater within the property,there will be a 3' wide stone strip and
140 a perforated pipe approximately 18"below grade that will catch water to mimic the preexisting
141 stormwater flow on the property. This will all be channelized and removed from the property.
142 There are simple pedestrian-friendly structures proposed to take the water off the property. Plant
143 material will be pulled from the Phase I and Phase 11 of the project, including evergreens to
144 screen against the NEC parking lot. On the southern portion of the property,there is a water line
145 easement that runs down the roadway from Phase II across the property. There are trees and two
146 light poles outside of that water line easement. There is a need for lighting and trees to frame the
147 edge of this area to provide a vertical edge from the private usable space in the parking lot. The
148 front of the building will have wall mounted fixtures and two canopies along the sidewalk. All
149 ground level lighting will be removed and replaced with architectural lighting. Pedestrian
150 bollards will be placed along the main pathways for pedestrian-scale lighting. The furniture
151 palette is all pulled from Phase 11.
152
153 The Board mentioned the proximity of shrubs to edges for maintenance and snow removal.
154 Shrubs could be pushed back to fill some of the gaps in the lawn areas. The Board also asked the
155 applicant to make sure that the stormwater design includes future loads. The Board noted that the
156 proposed design seems that it will be a benefit to the City and contains nice and appropriate
157 features.
158
159 Pearl: Motion to recommend to the Planning Board that the condition of approval has
160 been met for Anchor Point at 108 Sohier Road. Flannery seconds. Motion carries
161 (4-0).
162
163 2. Old Business
164
165 The Board discussed additional items to include on the January agenda.
166
167 3. New Business:
168 a. Draft Meeting Minutes (as available)
169 i. September 12,2024
170 ii. October 3,2024
171 iii.November 7,2024
172
173 The Board agreed to table discussion on the meeting minutes until the next meeting.
174
175 The Board reviewed its proposed 2025 schedule.
176
177 Pearl: Motion to approve the 2025 calendar for the Design Review Board as presented,
178 with a start date of January 9, 2025. Barone seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
179
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180 4. Adjourn
181
182 Barone: Motion to adjourn. Flannery seconds. Motion carries (4-0).
183
184 Meeting adjourns at 9:20 p.m.
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