 Welcome to the Monday, May 16th, 2022 meeting of the Montpellier Design Review Committee. We'll let members and staff introduce themselves. Go ahead, Eric. Benjamin Cheney, member. Meredith Crandall, staff. Stephen Everett, member. Martha Smurski, member. We don't have Liz on. Okay. So, Martha is the only one remote? Yep. She's the only member remote. Okay. At this point, we'll let Meredith review the remote meeting procedures. Just a minute. Sorry, I'm just emailing somebody who we're hoping to get on the meeting. Alrighty. So, I am going to be sharing, oh, there she is. I'm going to be sharing my screen. This is more for, oh, recording in progress. There we go. This is going to be more for people who are watching via Orca Media and might want to sign on, but there are some little tidbits about how we do this hybrid meeting procedures in here for everybody on right now as well. So, for those of you viewing this Design Review Committee meeting tonight via Orca Media, you can participate in the meeting via the Zoom platform through the video link here that you can paste into your web browser or by calling into this phone number and using this passcode. Oh, nobody can see that. Hold on one second. I got to fix the other screen. If anyone has problems accessing the meeting, please email me. My email address is right here on your screen. And I will be reviewing, keeping an eye on my email throughout the meeting. So if you do have problems, I can try and walk you through getting in. For those attending via Zoom, turning on your video is optional. For everyone attending, please keep your microphone on mute when you're not speaking. This will reduce background noise for everybody participating. The Zoom chat function should only be used for troubleshooting or logistics questions. If you have a question or comment about an item on the agenda, please raise your hand. So far tonight, all we have on is applicants. So my guess is we won't have to worry about any of that, but just keep it in mind. In the event the public is unable to access this meeting and I would find out via email, then it will need to be continued to a time and place certain. I will now hand the meeting back over to the chair. Unless anybody has anything else to add at this time, do I hear a motion to approve the agenda? I move to approve the agenda. I'll hear second. All in favor of the agenda, speak your names. Martha. Eric. Ben. And Steve. Eric, could you put your microphone closer to you? Thank you. OK, we can go to the first application for 89 State Street, Vermont Mutual Insurance, placement of a tent. Is someone here from Vermont Mutual? Yes, Steve and I are pretty ill with Vermont Mutual. Thanks for taking the time to consider the application we put forth. We are in the process of fully opening or reopening our offices after being shut down for the last two years. And we are looking to have a temporary outdoor space as we transition folks back into the office. Given there's a fair amount of uncertainty and some unease, generally speaking about being in closed quarters, whether it's eating or in situations where folks can't socially distance. So we're just looking for a temporary space for this summer to have outdoor meeting space and a place for lunch. So that's what we're putting forth is an application for a small tent, 600 square feet in the back of the building on 89 State. It's not visible from State Street. It's clearly visible from court, given that that parking lot in the back of us is wide open. OK, do any of the committee members have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding the tent? And again, it's placed temporarily between June and the end of September. Correct. OK, we can run down through the criteria. I will read through the each of the criteria. Number one, exterior design and materials of new construction or alterations of existing building should be consistent and compatible with the characteristics of the existing building or other properties in the district. That's acceptable. Respect views of the State House dome acceptable. So let me just not interfere with any views of the State House. Architectural features, architectural features, including but not limited to cornices, windows, shutters, fan lights and tablet or trim, other forms of molding or character defining, detailing, prevailing on the existing building should be considered in any alteration. That's acceptable. And lastly, landscaping, screening and site furnishings. Projects within the design review district and subject to landscaping requirements shall be shall consider the following. Site furnishings including fencing, seating, other types of site furniture visible from the street or side yards. And in this location, it's certainly acceptable. And accessory buildings or structures, new accessory buildings or structures should be located within either the side yard or rear yard and shall not visually disrupt the streetscape or affect the integrity of the existing building of proposed new building acceptable. All in favor of the application as presented. Speak your names. Ben. This is Martha. I say yes. And Steve says yes. So it's passed in favor for to none in favor. Describe the next step, Brody. Because this requires a minor site plan review as well. Audra and I just need to do up a quick, like mini memo that goes along with this. So it might be a couple of days before you get the permit. Just we've got to put it in queue, but we'll get it to you as soon as possible. Sorry, my area is signed above, so you'll have to sign both places. These days when people are remote, if you guys haven't made recommendations or optional changes, we typically aren't getting that second set signature. It just makes everything longer. So I signed for it. Yep, just signed for him. Thanks, Brody. Thank you very much. Great. I can sign off. Thanks. You can sign off. You're all set. Perfect being first. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you very much. Yes. Thanks for the consideration. Bye. Goodbye. The next application is for 170 Main Street, the city of Mypilia renovations to locker room and including replacing an exterior door with a double hung window. Is someone here for the city representing the, I thought so. Just make sure you're speaking into the microphone so that people can get it. So what we're doing as you see in the images, we've got an existing locker room over at Main Street Middle School. We're converting those spaces into a student support space. And what we're looking to do is we're going to retain one of the doors. There's currently two doors out of locker rooms in one space. Talk to Chris Lumber. He'd like to keep one of those doors, which we will. We're going to put a, we do want to put a window in that stuff, in that flush door. And then we'll take the other door out and infill the brick with a, probably with a wood or a composite material, we'll paint it red to match the brick. And then we want to put a double hung window in that hole. It'll be a similar character to the rest of the double hung windows in that wall. As a, just as in clarity, whether we're able to get a double hung window in there this summer, I'm not 100% sure we're meeting with our contractor tomorrow. But if we are not able to do that, what we'd probably, what we'd like to do is just put a, put a window in that flush door until we can get a window. And then install it. But we want to make sure there's natural light in that space at the start of school. But who knows how long it's going to take to get windows. Is the fiberglass like an integrity or? Yeah. Yeah, a Marvin or? Yeah. What are the other windows on the side of the building? There would. There would? Yeah. Do they one over ones pretty much? Yes, I believe on that, on that side of the addition. It looks like it. Yeah. Again, do any of the members have any questions, comments, suggestions? No, it's never going to be. It's behind the dumpster. Alongside the dumpster. Okay. Then we can go through the criteria for this installation. Number one, exterior design and materials of new construction or alterations of existing buildings should be consistent and compatible with the characteristics of the existing building or the properties in the district. The removal of historic materials, not really applicable other than the door, which doesn't look like a historic door by any means. Character defining features, finishes and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize an historic building should be preserved. Deferiorated character defining features should be repaired rather than replaced. When the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a character defining feature, new features should be replaced in time. Any treatments that cause damage, none here. This is acceptable with the replacement of the door, either with a window in the door or it's certainly at this location or a window with an infill below is fine. Existing buildings should be recognized as a physical record of their time, place and use. Any new development should be differentiated from the old and be compatible with the massing size, scale, architectural features, detailing and overall character of the primary historic building and nearby historic properties acceptable. Proportion, compatibility of relationship between width and height or facades as well as relationship of width to height of windows and doors acceptable. Rhythm, visual patterns established by the alterations of solid walls and openings, windows and doors and the facade of a building shall create a rhythm. Patterns of solids and opening shall be preserved to the extent feasible, acceptable, architectural features, including but non-limited to cornices, windows, shutters, fan lights and tabulator trim and other forms of molding or character defining detailing prevailing on the existing building should be considered in the alteration acceptable. And windows and doors on historic structures, character defining windows and door patterns, placement sizes, proportions in original features such as trim, sash and molding shall be preserved to the extent possible. When preservation is not possible, such character defining windows and doors must be rehabilitated or replaced in kind. Windows and doors that are not character defining may be replaced but such replacements must be compatible with the historic building style, materials and architectural features acceptable. All in favor of the applications, speak your names. This is Martha. I say yes. And Steve says yes. So it's passed four to nothing in favor. I'm going to ask you to sign it. Sure. I'll sign in the right place since he's here for- The nice thing is that this is neatly safe than I knew, so he should be able to get this out really quickly. Just in that block on the left below my name. Yeah, just leave it on the table. That doesn't work. Oh, here. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay, you're welcome. Take care. Good luck with your ordering the window. That's Dr. Bob Wood. Thanks. Okay, goodbye. Next application is for 77 Main Street. Heaney family, Main Street, LLC, player Benedict for Bear Pond books regarding replacing an existing storefront sign. Someone here from Bear Pond? Yes, I'm here, Claire Benedict. Go ahead and describe your application for your new sign. We are replacing the existing sign with a 14-foot sign of the same, which is the same size as the existing one, and it's just going to be an updated, it's going to say Bear Pond books and just like it says now, only in a newer fresher look. Claire, you're also going with a different color. Is that true? Yes, it is dark blue. The current sign is a dark red and with white lettering, and the new sign is going to be dark blue with off-white lettering. Okay. Is it the same material? I'm sorry? Is it the same material? It is, I don't believe so now. I think the old sign is wood. It's been up there for a very long time. I'm not sure what it is. The new sign is a die-bond panel, a foam frame around a die-bond panel. Okay, and is the lettering about the same size as the existing one? Yes, it is. There's going to be an addition of a little window, which our new logo is going to be on there, which will be about the size of a letter to the left, and yeah, it's going to be the same size as the old one. It's very similar. Okay, thank you. My only suggestion is to use the darkest blue that you're willing to go with for two reasons. Number one, the darker the blue goes nicely with the burnt color of the building, and also gives you more contrast and makes the sign more readable without having to enlarge any letters or make any change other than creating contrast. Yes, thank you for that idea. The blue that we're using is actually very dark. The materials that I got from the that you're looking at, I assume that you're looking at, is not in the exact color that it's going to be, ultimately is going to be a darker kind of like a midnight navy blue kind of color. No, that would be much nicer if you look at the banner, the picture of your storefronts. If you look at the banner with the flags, that's a very dark blue. And again, the darker the blue, the better it goes with the brick and the better contrast you get for readability. Yeah, I think you'll like it. Any other comments, questions or suggestions from the Okay, I can read through the criteria for signs. The size, location, design, color, texture, lighting, and material of all exterior signs within the design review district should be compatible with the building and structures of the site and surrounding properties, acceptable. Where appropriate, signing shall respect the original sign placement and sign bans, acceptable. If a building has multiple tenants should be consistency and placement of size and size among all signs, acceptable. It is recommended that sign placement be centered over building entries, acceptable. Sign installation shall minimize damage to character defining materials of the building, acceptable. In masonry buildings, fasteners shall be in mortar joints. This one is being attached and a signed band, existing. Sign design, color, and typography shall respect historic precedents where appropriate and shall be the appropriate scale for existing and new buildings, acceptable. Sign support structures shall be compatible with the building architecture and must not be overly complex or dominant in and of themselves, acceptable. All in favor of the applications, speak your names. Martha, did you vote in favor? Yes. Oh, okay. And I vote in favor as well, so it passes four to zero. Thank you. I'm doing it again. So, Claire, we'll get this out to you as soon as we can. There's no written recommendations on the form, so we don't need to get you to sign it. And I I did double check and commercial awnings can be approved administratively. They don't need to go to the design review committee. So, when you are ready to update that awning, as long as you keep that new and used books fit the same or get rid of it, we can approve the switch out of the awning color administratively. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much and good luck with your new installation of the sign. Thank you. We can move to the next application for 8 Bailey Avenue, the Vermont Land Trust applicant, SAML group, Steve Erdle regarding replacement of existing signage. Is he's here? Yeah, Steve Erdle is here remotely. Do you want to describe your application for us? Yes, please. The Vermont Land Trust has asked us to update their signage with their new logo. It's a horizontal logo and we're doing it in other locations also. Both of the signs we're applying for today are replacing existing ones. One on the facade of the building, a small one next to the door, and then a freestanding sign out front. As you can see later on in our proposal, I have the old sign near that snow bank and the new sign kind of put on top of it so you can see that the two signs will be located in the identical location that it was before. It will have two posts and all the dimensions are on that application also as to how high and everything. The top of the sign will be 72 inches. The top of the post I should say will be 72 inches and pretty low profile and pretty far away from the road there. We're going to paint the posts the brown to match the border around their logo to try to not have raw PT posts out there. The sign itself is also going to be wood at their request of a sustainable recyclable material versus a PVC or something like that. I believe that's about all I have. The new sign is 11.8 square feet. The actual sign itself for the freestanding sign and the one on the building is 1.67 square feet. How large is the existing freestanding sign? I believe it was six square feet. As you can see in that photo there the very last page of my application it shows the existing signage that is there. Yes. And it's a huge post system with the smaller sign hanging from it. Yes. Do you intend to use the same post system? No. No. It'll be exactly like it is on I believe page three of the application. Let's say on to page four and five. I can pull it up on a screen chair if you want Martha. I think I've got it. Okay. I think I've got it. Yeah. So a six by six on either side painted brown with a nice top cap to kind of go along with the building's architecture a little bit more. Okay. Thank you. Is the lettering and logo painted on the plywood? It's going to be digitally printed directly on the wood and then we're going to put a Matthew's clear coat over the top of it to seal it in for longevity. Okay. We have the ability to just print right directly on the material. Even with the clear coat if you were to put a primer on the MDO would that allow you to print on the on the primer? The MDO ships pre-primed. Oh okay. So it's primed two sides already. Oh good. And then we run that through our printer and then we'll hit it with a clear coat or multiple clear coats. If it's pre-primed, inquire if they can do a urethane primer which lasts a lot longer than a standard primer. We've had some experience with those. Yeah they were very interested in using something recyclable but trying to get as much life out of it as possible so that I will look into that. There's a urethane primer last about five times as long as a just a standard primer. It had not much difference in cost. Great. And again that doesn't affect anything it's just the the type of material it's a really good quality that lasts a long time. Any other comments questions or suggestions? Okay we can go through the criteria for this sign. The size, location, design, color, texture, lighting and material of all exterior design all exterior signs within the design review district shall be compatible with the pulling and structures of the site and surrounding properties acceptable. Is there any lighting on the sign? We are not installing any lighting no. Okay just just and there is nonexistent. Okay no that's fine I was just curious if you were thinking of it. Where appropriate signing shall respect the original sign placement and sign bands on historic structures acceptable. It is recommended that sign placement be centered over building entries this freestanding sign in front of the building is fine acceptable. Sign installation shall minimize damage to character defining materials on the building and the sign on the building is acceptable as well. Sign design color and typography shall respect historic precedents where appropriate and shall be the appropriate scale for existing and new buildings acceptable. Sign support structures should be compatible with the building architecture and must not be overly complex or dominant in and of themselves acceptable. All in favor of the proposed signs speak your names. Then. Martha on the yes. And Steve says yes as well. Passes four to nothing in favor. Wanted to describe his next step. So Steve we will need to do a very quick administrative site plan just because of the ground sign to confirm the locations on that so it'll take a little bit longer than if we didn't have to do that but we should be able to get this out pretty quick. Okay and are we sending are we letting you know when it's ready or should we reach out to the Vermont Lantris contact? Directly to me. Okay. And I'll inform them as soon as you tell me. Okay because yeah it'll need to be get picked up and the blue notice card put on the property. Yes okay. Okay. Yeah send it to me and we'll we'll get it on. We'll mail it to you. And will that administrative plan have a very specific distance from the road to the front post? Yeah. Okay good. Yeah for that location. I was gonna the existing structure is my guide but I'd rather have a real a solid number. Yeah I think because I think that's on assuming that's on here but yeah we'll we'll we'll we'll I'll I'll email you tomorrow. Okay I'll go through and make sure we have everything we need for because we have to have the location for the administrative site plan and if Otto didn't get the exact distance we'll need to check that. So okay at the very least there there'll be a guidance about how close it can be. Our plan is to exactly where the old one is or further back so if I have a number that would be great. Okay sounds good. Thanks so much. Thanks Steve. Thank you very much and good luck with your project. I guess we have no minutes. Uh yeah there was a long delay in getting them so if we didn't have them by the time we had to send these out um we actually had somebody uh we have a Bethel who just signed on may I ask we just finished all of our applications so I'm curious what you're on for. You'll need to unmute yourself if you want to talk. Okay uh yeah we don't have any minutes today we'll bring this up the next meeting. Okay then our next meeting is June the 6th. Do I hear a motion to adjourn? I'll second. All in favor of adjournment speak your names. I stand. Martha. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you all very much.