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These minutes are for informational purposes only. For official minutes, please contact the Town Clerk's Office.
MINUTES
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
JUNE 11, 2002
CALL TO ORDER
Emil Dahlquist, Chairman, called the Regular Meeting of the Design Review Board to order at 5:51pm in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. The following members were present: Charles Stephenson, John Stewart, William Gardner and Kevin Gray. Also present was Leonard Tolisano, Senior Planner.
APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES
Chairman Dahlquist appointed Charles Stephenson to serve for Matt Koch.
PRESENTATION
Mr. Gardner made a motion to amend the agenda to present items III B & C before item III A. Mr. Stewart seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Application of Mary Lou Cobb, Director, and Philip Doyle of LADA, P.C., Applicant, for a Site Plan Amendment for an addition to The Cobb School – Montessori, 112 Sand Hill Road.
The Board was heard a presentation of the proposed addition to the Cobb School. The plan calls for a 15 x 37’ addition encompassing approximately 500-570 sq. ft. of added space to the upper elementary classroom. The area where the addition is to be built is in an interior courtyard and will not be visible from any of the surrounding streets or properties. It is strictly an internal renovation to accommodate the existing student population. The proposal does not call for any additional parking, employees, students, lighting, or signage. The materials used will match what is currently in existence on the building.
Application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury – Owner, for a Site Plan Amendment for construction of a shop building, 68 Town Forest Road.
Mr. Sawitzke presented the plans for this application to the Board. The proposal calls for the construction of a joint building and grounds services facility to be placed on the 38-acre site on Town Forest Rd., immediately adjacent to the existing highway maintenance building on the site. The proposed building will be a prefabricated steel utilitarian building to be light green or light tan in color, with a low roof line approximately 23 ft. high. The building will house some offices, a map storage and retrieval room, and a meeting room, a joint shop facility, and a bay for four light services trucks. The new building will match the one already there in both color and general shape (the current building also has a flat roof line). Mr. Sawitzke explained that the site is about 1300 feet from
the nearest home and is separated from the residential area by severe vertical elevations in the surrounding terrain. A 60-ft. wide mature tree buffer will be maintained along Town Forest Rd. The building will have public water connections, and is over a quarter mile from Town Forest Pond. There are no wetlands implications from this proposal.
Design Review Board Minutes
June 11, 2002
Page 2
Application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury – Owner, for a Site Pland Amendment for additional parking and drives, and including building additions at the Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow Street.
Mr. Stewart recused himself from the Library application discussion and vote. Mr. Dale Cutler presented amended site plans and architectural drawings for the project. The Board members discussed the plans, making some suggestions for maximizing the architectural impact of the building, specifically with respect to dropping columns down from the projections on the upper level, and clearly identifying the main entrance by bringing out a canopy. Mr. Cutler clarified that the application covers the entire project, including the drive and parking, as well as the building additions. Mr. Tolisano mentioned that the zoning application does not have the building additions as part of the application, and said Mr. Cutler should have that added before the upcoming presentation to the Zoning Commission.
The Board members discussed aspects of the plans, including the site lighting, and Mr. Cutler responded to the members’ questions by saying that any additional mechanicals will be screened, the trash is staying as is, and the sign was just redone, so there will be no new signage associated with this project.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE VOTE
Application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury – Owner, for a Site Plan Amendment for additional parking and drives, and including building additions at the Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow Street.
Mr. Gray made a motion to approve the application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury -–Owner, for a Site Plan Amendment for additional parking and drives, and including building additions at the Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow Street, as presented on drawing L1.1, titled “Site Layout”, site reference CR3, dated 5/1/02, and on Cutler architectural drawings dated 2/11/02. Mr. Stephenson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Application of Mary Lou Cobb, Director, and Philip Doyle of LADA, P.C., Applicant, for a Site Plan Amendment for an addition to The Cobb School – Montessori, 112 Sand Hill Road.
Mr. Gardner made a motion to approve the application of Mary Lou Cobb, Director, and Philip Doyle of LADA, P.C., Applicant, for a Site Plan Amendment for an addition to the Cobb School – Montessori, 112 Sand Hill Road, as presented on the LADA plan, drawing AA, dated 3/7/02, and on the site plan L4, dated 6/1/02. Mr. Gray seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury – Owner, for a Site Plan Amendment for construction of a shop building, 68 Town Forest Road.
Mr. Gardner made a motion to approve the application of Richard L. Sawitzke, Town Engineer, Town of Simsbury – Owner, for Site Plan Amendment for construction of a shop building, 68 Town Forest Road, as presented on the plan labeled job #02-03, dated April 2001, and on the elevation plan A200 by PBS Engineering, dated 4/17/02. Mr. Stewart seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Design Review Board Minutes
June 11, 2002
Page 3
DISCUSSIONS
Design Guidelines
Chairman Dahlquist told the members that he had met with the Chairman of the Zoning Commission, as well as with Mr. Voelker, Director of Community Planning and Development. There is much sentiment to seriously examine and completely rewrite the zoning regulations since the constant process of amending them is no longer working. The feeling is to try to accomplish this massive task internally rather than bringing in an outside consultant. Chairman Dahlquist will continue to represent the Board in these discussions and will keep the members updated as progress is made. Chairman Dahlquist mentioned that he had received some feedback from the members on the design guidelines and will keep working on this for future meetings. He also said he will get information to the members regarding New
Urbanism.
CORRESPONDENCE
None
STAFF REPORTS
Mr. Tolisano told the members that he had conveyed to the Planning Commission the Board’s discussion of character places and that he had suggested to the Commission to add character places to the Land Use Map. He said that these areas should be identified in the Plan of Development to get special treatment. The Planning Commission thought that was an interesting idea and indicated they were considering a design element for the Plan of Development. Mr. Stewart mentioned that he will not be present at the next two Board meetings.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES of May 28, 2002
Mr. Gardner moved to approve as presented the minutes of May 28, 2002. Mr. Gray seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Gardner moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:55pm. Mr. Stephenson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
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Kevin Gray, Secretary
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