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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-07-09 ��•�� CITY OF PALM DESERT ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMISSION ' MINUTES July 9, 2013 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Current Meeting Year to Date Present Absent Present Absent Chris Van Vliet, Chair X 11 1 Karel Lambell, Vice Chair X 12 John Vuksic X 11 1 Allan Levin X 11 1 Paul Clark X 11 1 Gene Colombini X 12 Michael McAuliffe X 9 Jim McIntosh X 8 1 Also Present Lauri Aylaian, Director Tony Bagato, Principal Planner Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner Pedro Rodriquez, Senior Code Officer Diane Hollinger, Landscape Specialist Christina Canales, Assistant Engineer Janine Judy, Recording Secretary Cancelled meetings: 05/28/13 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: June 25, 2013 Action: Commissioner Levin moved to approve the June 25, 2013 meeting minutes. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Clark and carried by a 7-0-0-1 vote with Commissioner McIntosh abstaining. ARCHITECTURAL RE ;W COMMISSION MINUTES July 9, 2013 V CASES: A. Final Drawings: 1. CASE NO: PP 12-223 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): AUBREY COOK MCGILL ARCITECTS, Attn: Nick Fotias, 1045 14th Street, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92101 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Final approval of construction drawings; Whole Foods and Nordstrom Rack LOCATION: 44-419-44-491 Town Center Way ZONE: P.C. (3) Mr. Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner, presented the construction drawings for Whole Foods. After consulting with the applicant, he pointed out that the trellises in the front are considered columns and pop out about four to five feet so that it has ADA clearance behind it, but the rear trellises are flush against the wall. The applicant will consult with the architect whether they can pop these out. ACTION: Commissioner Vuksic moved to approve subject to revising the pilasters supporting the trellises in the rear of the Whole Foods building to be free- standing columns and project out from the wall. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lambell and carried by an 8-0 vote. 2. CASE NO: MISC 13-24 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): WEA PALM DESERT LP, c/o Westfield LLC, 11601 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA 90025 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Final approval of north building only; Westfield Palm Desert LOCATION: 72-840 Highway 111 ZONE: P.C. (3) S.P. G:'1'1ann1ny\JanineJudy\Word Files\1 ARC\1Minutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 2 of 7 ARCHITECTURAL REW COMMISSION law MINUTES July 9, 2013 Mr. Bagato, Principal Planner, presented the final construction, drawings for Westfield's north building. The top half will be Dick's Sporting Goods and the bottom half will be World's Gym. There have been no changes since the preliminary approval. The south side has changed and those changes have not yet come back to staff. He informed the Commission that signage is not included at this time and staff is waiting for a full sign package. Commissioner Clark asked if there were landscape plans for the entire area or just around the building itself. Mr. Bagato said this was just around the building. Commissioner Clark said the overall landscape for the whole shopping center is tired and the parking area has a lot of tree wells and finger planters that are empty especially on the eastern side. Mr. Bagato said they have talked with Westfield about the landscaping because they are not maintaining what they currently have. ACTION: Commissioner Lambell moved to approve. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Levin and carried by an 8-0 vote. 3. CASE NO: SA 13-213 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): COMBINED SERVICES, 149 New Street, Decatur, GA 30030, and Neon Designs 112 Mauldin Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30004 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Final approval of a paint color change to a portion of exterior building to blue and a new wall sign for PGA Tour Superstore within the old Mervyn's/Von's building. LOCATION: 72-280 Highway 111 ZONE: P.C. (3) Mr. Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner, presented a paint color change for the PGA Superstore who will be occupying 50,000 sq. ft. of the old Mervyn's building located in the Waring Plaza shopping center. The PGA elevation faces Fred Waring and the other area facing Highway 111 remains available for two possible tenants. PGA is not planning on doing anything to the exterior of the building except putting up a wall sign and painting one section of the building royal blue. He presented paint chips and a photo sim GAPlanning\Janine Judy\Word Files\1 ARC\1Minutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 3 of 7 ARCHITECTURAL RE N COMMISSION *460 MINUTES July 9, 2013 provided by the applicant. They are allowed 155 sq. ft. for the sign and the letters will be white. Staff is not recommending approval of the royal blue for the front facade. The applicant argues that painting that portion of the wall blue it would reflect in the evening time and be very visible. Staff suggests white letters, but with the color of the building a rosy pink the white letters would fade into the building during the day. MR. ROBERT HUFF, sign contractor for PGA Superstore, stated that Superstore has a licensing agreement with PGA Tour and they are limited with what they can do with the blue. The problem they have at night is that the blue letters turn into a blur. To clean it up they like to use white letters on a blue background. He presented photos of local stores that were similar. The building they have leased is a little rough looking and the fascia currently has two different colors. It is his understanding that the landlord will repaint the building with the existing color. Painting the fascia with the blue background will give it a little more contrast so people will see it from a distance. Since this store does not have visibility from Highway 111, they are trying to grab some attention. Commissioner Lambell said she was perplexed that the landlord will be repainting the building using the existing color. The existing color is from the 1980s; it's faded and it needs to have today's look. She was hesitant to approve the royal blue until they see what the rest of the building will look like. Mr. Bagato, Principal Planner, said they can't force the owner of the building to change the color. They are repainting it the existing color to clean up all the patching and the wearing. The Commission reviewed the existing colors on the exhibit and photos presented by the contractor. MR. HUFF said the fascia currently has two different colors. Commissioner Clark pointed out there is decorative elements on the building above the wooden canopy that are not shown on the exhibit. Commissioner Vuksic pointed to the photos of the local stores and said the buildings are either more contemporary or have more of a whimsical look, but with the style of this architecture it doesn't seem natural. He feels that no matter what the rest of the building is he would have a hard time with the blue with this style of architecture. He pointed out another building similar in style and said they used multiple colors and it was done very effectively. Commissioner Lambell said PGA has a very recognizable logo and she didn't see G\^fanning\Janine Judy\Word Files\1 ARC\1 Minutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 4 of 7 ARCHITECTURAL RE�.W COMMISSION MINUTES July 9, 2013 any problem with that, it was just the amount of blue and what it will go up next to. Commissioner Levin pointed out they are proposing blue letters for the monument sign. MR. HUFF said they can't change the color of the monument sign according to the landlord and if they put white letters on the building you will not see them. The Commission discussed the lighting on the sign. MR. HUFF said the letters on the building will be internally lit with channel letters and the letters on the monument sign will be internally lit. The Commission discussed property maintenance issues regarding the building, parking lot, and landscape. Mr. Bagato said from a staff level they will have Code Compliance go out and look at these issues. However, at this time the tenant is proposing the blue color and it's the responsibility of the Commission to approve it or not. He also pointed out that the Commission can choose not to approve the blue based on it not fitting in with the architectural style of the building until they come back with a scheme for the entire building. Commissioner Vuksic said the way the blue is applied is not going to make it. There are two possibilities, one is the way it is on the monument sign using halo lettering or doing what Lowe's did with their sign. Lowe's didn't paint the whole building blue they just created a big prominent sign; a blue background with white letters. Commissioner McAuliffe agreed and said that no matter what they do with the rest of the building the architecture and the blue just don't fit. It works on the former Best Buy building and Staples, but this building is a more classical and traditional form. The blue changes the architecture versus a sign on a building. The other thing to keep in mind is if this building is freshly painted and we don't have any recourse to have the rest of the building revisited, we've got to address the signage. Chair Van Vliet asked the Commission to give the applicant some direction with the sign. Commissioner Vuksic asked the applicant not to try and do the minimal to get it approved because you want to nail this the next time around. It has to have some relief to it and have a sense of quality and not just different paint colors on a surface. Mr. Swartz suggested said if MR. HUFF didn't want to continue this, he could apply the blue lettering. G1Planning\Janine Judy\Word Files\1 ARC\1Minutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 5 of 7 ARCHITECTURAL RE ,;;IiN COMMISSION MINUTES July 9, 2013 Commissioner Levin asked MR. HUFF to find out from the landlord what their intentions would be for painting the center. Mr. Bagato asked MR. HUFF to resubmit an accurate photo simulation of the colors. Commissioner Clark asked that the photo simulation include the decorative elements on the building. ACTION: Commissioner Lambell moved to approve a wall sign with blue letters or allowing the applicant to resubmit white letters with a blue background and return to the ARC for approval. Motion was seconded by Commissioner McIntosh and carried by an 8-0 vote. 4. CASE NO: MISC 13-212 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): PREST-VUKSIC ARCHITECTS, 44-530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite 200, Palm Desert, CA 92260 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Final approval of exterior paint color change: San Pablo Professional Building LOCATION: 44-530 San Pablo ZONE: OP Mr. Bagato, Principal Planner, presented a paint color change to the San Pablo Professional Building. MR. JOHN VUKSIC, Prest-Vuksic Architects, stated this is a proposed color change for their 9-year old building. The building currently has a warm feeling to it with a lot of the terra cottas, as well as taupe and purplish colors that are tired looking. They would like to go with something just a little cooler, but still have the earth tones. He presented the proposed colors and said one of the colors has a greenish hue that would be applied to the accent elements on the building. The rest of the building will have a mixture of earth tone colors. The roof and trim is metal and will stay as is. ACTION: Commissioner Colombini moved to approve. Motion was seconded by Commissioner McAuliffe and carried by a 7-0-1-0 vote with Commissioner Vuksic abstaining. G\ tanning\JanineJudyMordFiles\1ARCNMinutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 6 of 7 • . ARCHITECTURAL REW COMMISSION ,, MINUTES July 9, 2013 B. Preliminary Plans: None C. Miscellaneous Items: None VI. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES UPDATE — Commissioner John Vuksic Nothing to report at this time. VII. COMMENTS Staff updated the Commission on the Palm Desert Country Club maintenance facility, Zoning Ordinance, parking calculations, and pedestal signs on El Paseo. Vill. ADJOURNMENT Upon a motion by Commissioner Levin, second by Commissioner Vuksic, and an 8-0 vote, the Architectural Review Commission meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m. TONY BAG TO, PR CIPAL PLANNER SECRETARY ,_JM INE JUDY RECORDING SECRETARY GAPlanning\JanineJudy\Word Fi1es\1 ARC\1Minutes\2013\130709min.docx Page 7 of 7