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2007-12-06 Design Review Board Meeting Minutes December 6, 2007 [DRAFT] Meeting: Date: Members Present: Members Absent: Recorder: Design Review Board December 6, 2007 Colleen Bruce, Larry Jaquith, Bill Finch, Kate Newhall Dai Shi, Scott Houseman Kate Newhall The meeting was called to order at 6:30pm. 1. Beverlv Self Stora2e - Windover Properties. LLC/60 Pleasant Street Attny. Belliveau presents a wall sign for Beverly Self Storage. It will be the same design as the other two signs and the same dimensions as the smaller of the sign. Mr. Jaquith is ok with sign, its placement. It sets a precedent of having signs on more than one side of the building. Ms. Bruce states that we can only discuss the design of the sign. Mr. Finch states that the sign design is fine. He is concerned about the precedent of putting a sign on multiple sides of the building. Mr. Jaquith asks the reason to put a sign on that side of the building. Attny. Belliveau apologizes for not coming to DRB before putting up the third sign. There was miscommunication between sign maker and Wind over. Mr. Finch states that we should look at zoning and interpretation and possibly amend the ordinance to address this type of situation. Mr. Finch makes motion to approve as presented. Seconded by Mr. Jaquith. Motion carried 4- O. 2. Country Store - Kathv Salter!166 Cabot Street Ms. Kraus and Ms. Soper present a wall sign for Country Store. She brought in the actual sign, carved wood with no color. Mr. Jaquith asks where the sign will be placed. Ms. Soper states that it will be over the door flush with the building and under the overhang. Mr. Finch asks if the business is already in the building. Ms. Kraus states that they have been open since September. Mr. Jaquith makes a motion to approve. Mr. Finch seconds. Motion carried 4-0. 3. Tasty Subs - Donna Diamantopoulos/496 Cabot Street Gina Diamantopoulos presents the roof sign from Tasty Subs. Mr. Finch asks how many signs are on the building. Ms. Diamantopoulos states that all of the signs have been in existence since the bought the business in January 2006. There is one sign on the fa<;ade and a pylon sign. Ms. Newhall states that all of the signs are grandfathered, however the content on the sign is not grandfathered. Ms. Diamantopoulos wants to add more lettering to the roof sign that states the types of food offered at the business. Mr. Finch states that we don't have the right to deny a sign, but can deny the content. The phone numbers should not be on the signs at all. A sign's purpose is to identify a business, not advertise what the business offers. Mr. Jaquith states that phone numbers can be a public safety hazard and the likelihood of someone calling or even writing down the number as they pass the sign are slim. Mr. Finch states need to keep signs free from clutter. Mr. Jaquith asks if the signs are internally lit. Ms. Diamantopoulos states that they are. The roof sign is not lit. Mr. Finch wants the phone numbers to come off of all of the signs. The signs that state "steaks, plates" etc, can remain, but new text may not be added to the roof sign. The text already in place may remain since the lower half of the pylon sign is pre-existing. Mr. Jaquith makes a motion to approve the roof sign with the name of the business only and no phone number or product lists. Phone numbers shall be removed on all signs and the lower half of the pile on sign can remain. Ms. Bruce seconds. Motion carried 4-0. 4. MTB Enterprises - Michael Boland/83-85 Brid2e Street - Site Plan Review Attny. Kavanagh and Mr. Boland present the site plan for 83-85 Bridge Street. They are planning to remove the canopy and gasoline stations and add a third service bay (20' by 52'). Mr. Boland wants to make this change due to the greater demand in the neighborhood for repair services rather than gasoline service. Attny. Kavanagh went to the ZBA for a variance to remove the canopy and put the proposed addition in its place. The new addition will have windows facing Bridge Street and will have the same fa<;ade and roof treatments as the original structure. There will be brick at the bottom with vinyl clapboard or shingles and then an asphalt roof. The brick has the same appearance as the buildings in the Ralph's Plaza. There is a two- foot wide strip of landscaping proposed along the front of the building in an area that is currently asphalt. The curb cut on Bridge Street will be eliminated and filled in with a sidewalk, resulting in the only access and egress from the property being from the two side streets. The soffet lighting remains the same. Additional lighting is proposed for security reasons and will be placed above the garage doors. The lights will be fully screened, as per a condition of the vanance. Ms. Bruce asks about the driveway location. Attny Kavanagh shows the main entry off of Eastern Avenue. The addition will eliminate traffic from passing in front of the building. Ms. Bruce asks if the landscaping can be increased since there will be no cars passing between the front of the building and the street. Mr. Finch asks if the sidewalk is separated from the parking spaces on Bridge Street side. Attny Kavanagh says that there is no physical separation. Mr. Finch would like to see more landscaping in the space between the addition and the sidewalk along Bridge Street. There is 11' from the building to the sidewalk and all of the proposed landscaping is within 2' of the building. Mr. Jaquith wants the building to look as friendly to the neighborhood as possible since it is in a semi-residential area and plantings help. Ms. Bruce states that the plants will exceed 2ft in width once they are grown. Mr. Finch states that the building is utilitarian but residences surround it. He would like to see some better definition between the sidewalk and the service areas of the building and the parking areas. There is an opportunity to bring more greenery in and soften the look of the building without causing a major impingement on the functionality of the building. Attny. Kavanagh states that the ZBA relief requires the ten parking spaces remain. Attny. Kavanagh thinks there is room to increase the landscaping strip in front of the proposed addition. He is open to suggestions for more appropriate plantings. The area between Parking Space 4 and Parking Space 5 can be more heavily landscaped. Mr. Finch would like to see some definition between Parking Space 5 and Parking Space 6 and the sidewalk. A raised brick bed and some plantings between the sidewalk and the property would act like a screen and give definition of the boundaries of the property. This "screen" could be carried from Parking Space 6 east along the Bridge Street property line. Mr. Boland is concerned about plowing and salting with the landscaping suggestions. Attny Kavanagh states that the brick planter will probably be high enough so that a plow would not hit it. Ms. Bruce asks about the corner at Bridge and Eastern Avenue. Mr. Boland states that the sidewalk is concrete and the asphalt is on the property line. Ms. Bruce asks if anything is proposed for that area. Mr. Boland states that there is nothing specific proposed there. Mr. Jaquith's primary concern is having a clear definition between the sidewalk and the property and would like to see more greenery. He does not want to see people driving on the sidewalk by accident, creating a safety hazard for pedestrians. Mr. Boland thinks that to use the planting as a buffer between sidewalk and property is impractical. He is more in favor of curbing. He thinks he can accomplish a buffer, but not with plantings. Mr. Finch states that the buffer can be a raised bed, which will bring the plants above the salt splash line. Ms. Bruce states that we can talk to Phil Klimowicz about putting a street tree on the sidewalk in front of the building. Ms. Newhall states concerns regarding invasive plant species mentioned in Amy Maxner's comment letter. Attny. Kavanagh states that replacing this species with a native one is not a problem. Landscaping recommendations: . Increase the plantings next to the proposed addition. The 2' strip can be increased to fill in the area between Parking Space 4 and Parking Space 5 between the addition and the street. . Increase the number of plantings and the height of plantings to create more visual and species diversity in the area. . Incorporate a landscaping feature, such as curbing, a low wall, constructed of brick, brick veneer, or simulated concrete stone, 1-2 ft in height, to define the boundary between the property line and the sidewalk. At the very minimum, this feature should be a curb. It should run from the length of property line along Bridge Street. Returns should be added along the east end of Parking Space 4 and the west end of Parking Space 5 to mark the boundaries of the parking spaces and the planting area. The planting bed should incorporate some smaller trees and shrubbery that is located away from the building so that there is room to expand and grown. Ms. Bruce asks if the garage doors have windows in them. Attny. Kavanagh states that the doors do have windows. Ms. Bruce asks if there are lights above the pedestrian door. Attny. Kavanagh states that a soffet light can be placed above the door. The Board recommends that there be additional soffet lighting over the entryway and ramp. 5. Other Business Sign Definition Discussion: The Board agrees to endorse the following sign definition: "An image, device, structure, or object designed to attract attention to a commercial or non-commercial entity." Precedent Issue on River Street: Ms. Newhall will draft a letter to Steve Frederickson stating concerns regarding the precedent at Beverly Self Storage and the zoning interpretation of what constitutes the term "facing a public way." 6. Approval of Minutes Ms. Bruce makes a motion to approve as presented. Mr. Finch seconds. Motion carried 4-0. 7. Adjournment Mr. Jaquith motions to adjourn. Mr. Finch seconds. Motion carried 4-0. Meeting adjourns at 8:30.