Architectural Review Commission Meeting Update
Regular Meeting

August 20, 2007                            Monday                                 5:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL:      Commrs. Jason Kambitsis, Zeljka Howard, Anthony Palazzo, Greg Wilhelm, Steven Hopkins, Vice-Chair Allen Root, and Chairperson Michael Boudreau 

Commr. Howard was absent. 

ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA:  

The order of the agenda was not modified. 

PUBLIC COMMENT:   

There was no public comment other than on regular agenda items. 

PUBLIC HEARINGS: 

1.           950 and 990 Aero Drive.    ARC 5-07;   Review of a new 134-room hotel;  BP-SP zone; Airport Hotel LP, applicant. (Phil Dunsmore) 

On a 6-0-1 vote, the ARC granted final approval to the project, based on findings, and subject to conditions.  The applicant’s engineer presented a revised site plan at the meeting that demonstrated how the driveway linking the project site to the property to the north could be moved further to the west.  The project architect reviewed the responses to previous ARC direction, which the ARC supported.  Overall the Commission was pleased with the clean, modern design and vibrant colors of project buildings in the context of the airport setting. 

COMMENT & DISCUSSION: 

2.           Staff: 

A. Agenda Forecast - Pam Ricci provided an agenda forecast for the 9-4-07 meeting, noting that it was scheduled for a Tuesday because of the Labor Day holiday and that it would be held in the Planning Conference Room downstairs in City Hall because of a Council meeting that same evening. 

3.           Commission: 

A.        Minutes: August 6, 2007 - The minutes were approved with a minor amendment. 

       B.   Recent Project Review – Lessons Learned 

Commr.  Hopkins mentioned that the plaster awnings on the remodeled Quaglino Building on Court Street appeared a little heavy and not really compatible with the rest of the building.  He liked the brick veneer used on the ground floor, but wondered why the smooth-troweled plaster was not retained.  Chairperson Boudreau noted that the walls were mostly removed on the ground floor as part of the seismic retrofit and that the brick treatment was proposed by the applicant as part of the plans that the ARC reviewed.

The Commission had a general discussion regarding the Cinderella Carpets mixed-use building on Broad Street.  The consensus of the Commission was that the building looked massive and plain noting issues with the selected colors, lack of windows, and proximity of the building to the street. 

The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m. to a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 4, 2007, at 5:00 p.m., in the Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street.