Historic Preservation & Architectural Review Board Agendas and Minutes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COHOES HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD MEETING HELD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21 AT 6:30PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Barbara Hildreth, Vice Chair Evan Lamb John Frainier ABSENT: Daniele Cherniak Chair ALSO PRESENT: Sharon Butler, Administrative Assistant Tess Drauschak, Assistant Planner Vice Chair H i l d r e t h called the March 21, 2023 meeting of the Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board to order at 6:28PM. Roll Call; Members present; Vice Chair Hildreth, Member Lamb, Member Frainier Absent; Chairperson Cherniak CONSIDERATION OF THE JANUARY 17, 2023 MEETING MINUTES Vice Chair Hildreth; the minutes of the January 17th meeting have to be tabled because there aren’t enough members present to vote CONSIDERATION OF THE FEBRUARY 21, 2023 MEETING MINUTES Vice Chair Hildreth; the minutes of the February 21st meeting have to be tabled because there aren’t enough members present to vote on them. CONSIDERATION OF A SIGN AT 239 REMSEN STREET Vice Chair Hildreth; next item on the agenda is 239 Remsen Street, she asked the applicant Don Russell to tell them about the sign. Mr. Don Russell explained to the board that this is the former Miron’s Building, all the apartments are completed and the sign had already been discussed at a previous meeting, he had to come back once the colors were picked out for it because he didn’t have the colors. He stated that he is looking to open in June, they are waiting on refrigeration for the deli. Vice Chair Hildreth asked if there was going to be any lighting on the sign Mr. Russell responded yes, the sign is going to be done by Vital Signs and will mimic Anthony’s sign so the lighting will be recessed in to kind of give that glow to the outside. Vice Chair Hildreth asked about the front of the building Mr. Russell stated that the front of the building will get painted this spring, it will have an awning which was already talked about, the colors will be similar to what’s on the sign for historic purposes. It will have a permanent canvass awning on it, not a retractable one. The wood that is on there now will be covered by the new awning. Vice Chair Hildreth asked if any board members had questions, being none asked for motion to approve the sign application. Motion was made by Member Lamb 2nd by Member Frainier all in favor AYE motion carried unanimously.  YES NO ABSTAIN Daniele Cherniak ABSENT Barbara Hildreth X Evan Lamb X John Frainier X Vice Chair Hildreth next item is the sign for 171 Remsen Street. She confirmed with the applicant that they were looking to paint the building and add a small sign under the Smith’s sign; Public House. She asked the applicant what color they were painting the building Mr. Daniel Oh responded they wanted to get the opinion of the board. He stated they reviewed all the guidelines and he is submitted for state and historic federal tax credits, they applied to SHPO, they were told that basically short of polka dots, it is usually approved because it is historic colors. He told the board that they wanted to go a little bit extreme and go for the dark theme which would be primarily black with the dark grey trim. Vice Chair Hildreth; black isn’t a color, white and black aren’t colors Mr. Oh they are colors on the historic palette, he wanted to speak about the spirit of staying in line with the historic nature of the building and the historic nature of the property, stating the building was built in 1873 and was taken over by Smith’s so the history of the building is associated with Smith’s who was Mike Smith and he was pretty much a larger than life eccentric almost a flamboyant guy, he did things he wanted to do. He put a 50-foot bar in, he put in a gigantic fireplace, he did things to stand out, he drove his rolls Royce all around, so we’re kind of pushing towards that. We are looking for support of this being in the spirit of what Mike Smith did we’re thinking this could have been something he would have done and some people might love it some people might hate it but I think it’s going to stand out and we’re going to back it up with a fantastic business. At the end of the day the historical guidelines are it can’t be something that isn’t repairable or have irreversible damage to the historic trim or details and that is not happening here its being painted. He went over the color choices that were submitted. Tess; looking at this color chart here your first choice is the black and charcoal grey 2nd choice is burgundy with cream trim and 3rd choice is garrison red with white trim? Mr. Oh yes that is correct Vice Chair Hildreth if you do the black with charcoal what color are you making the awning Mr. Oh there isn’t going to be an awning Vice Chair Hildreth any questions from board members? I can’t imagine it being black but….. Would anyone like to make a motion on the application and the colors? Member Frainier made a motion to approve the application 2nd by Member Lamb all in favor AYE motion carried unanimously YES NO ABSTAIN Daniele Cherniak ABSENT Barbara Hildreth X Evan Lamb X John Frainier X There was a discussion with Mr. Tario (gentleman opening Smith’s restaurant) regarding when he was going to open and him participating in the Eat in the Streets event, Sharon stated he would go through the LDC for Eat in the Streets and that Vice Chair Hildreth is on the LDC and Mr. Tario would go through the LDC for all the details of the event and what he needs to do to participate as the LDC sponsors the Eat in the Streets event. With no other business to discuss, Vice Chair Hildreth closed the meeting at 6:38PM