(Aug. 11, 2016) A process that began in February to develop an empty lot on Gay Street in Berlin inched closer to completion during a Historic District Commission meeting last Wednesday.
Patrick Vorsteg, who received approval from the Berlin Planning Commission earlier this year to rezone 15 Gay Street from R-1 residential to B-1 town center district, was asking the historic commission for approval to start construction.
He planned to build a mixed-use structure with storefronts on the ground level and apartments overhead.
Initially, commission members Carol Rose, Robert Poli and Laura Stearns praised the plans. Stearns called it “beautiful … in keeping with the other buildings in town.”
“I think it’s going to be a great improvement,” she added.
Poli concurred, and Rose said she “loved it.”
Mary Moore, however, predicted she would be the “odd man out.” She said the front of the building appeared “very handsome,” but worried that the sides and rear were too stark to attract upscale renters, particularly because the entrance was in the rear.
Her advice was to add a few more windows, along with shutters, similar to those on the front of the building, to add “character.”
“It’s not what I would call an inviting entrance,” she said, adding that it was “totally lacking in curb appeal” and comparing it to Section 8 housing.
“I have seen what rental properties can do, negatively, for a neighborhood,” she said. “Although I’m saying this is a great addition — the front looks good, but … I would like to see something done.
“Make an effort to give some substance to it – some, for lack of a better word, dressmaker detail,” she added. “Right now, just looking at it the on paper, there’s nothing to me that I could find attractive about wanting to live there.”
As Vorsteg said he did not have a groundbreaking date, he agreed to come back with slightly altered plans – perhaps with a few more windows and shutters – on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 5:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., on the same day, he will seek final site plan approval from the planning commission.
Also during the meeting historic district meeting, the commission granted approval to Lisa Hall’s new butcher shop, on Williams Street, to install gooseneck lights over her exterior sign. Rose voted against the approval, saying she did not have enough materials to properly consider the proposal.
Patrick Vorsteg, who received approval from the Berlin Planning Commission earlier this year to rezone 15 Gay Street from R-1 residential to B-1 town center district, was asking the historic commission for approval to start construction.
He planned to build a mixed-use structure with storefronts on the ground level and apartments overhead.
Initially, commission members Carol Rose, Robert Poli and Laura Stearns praised the plans. Stearns called it “beautiful … in keeping with the other buildings in town.”
“I think it’s going to be a great improvement,” she added.
Poli concurred, and Rose said she “loved it.”
Mary Moore, however, predicted she would be the “odd man out.” She said the front of the building appeared “very handsome,” but worried that the sides and rear were too stark to attract upscale renters, particularly because the entrance was in the rear.
Her advice was to add a few more windows, along with shutters, similar to those on the front of the building, to add “character.”
“It’s not what I would call an inviting entrance,” she said, adding that it was “totally lacking in curb appeal” and comparing it to Section 8 housing.
“I have seen what rental properties can do, negatively, for a neighborhood,” she said. “Although I’m saying this is a great addition — the front looks good, but … I would like to see something done.
“Make an effort to give some substance to it – some, for lack of a better word, dressmaker detail,” she added. “Right now, just looking at it the on paper, there’s nothing to me that I could find attractive about wanting to live there.”
As Vorsteg said he did not have a groundbreaking date, he agreed to come back with slightly altered plans – perhaps with a few more windows and shutters – on Wednesday, Aug. 10 at 5:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., on the same day, he will seek final site plan approval from the planning commission.
Also during the meeting historic district meeting, the commission granted approval to Lisa Hall’s new butcher shop, on Williams Street, to install gooseneck lights over her exterior sign. Rose voted against the approval, saying she did not have enough materials to properly consider the proposal.