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Midas touch wins break on building's color scheme
(by Sue Reid - September 22, 2010)
Midas touch wins break on building's color scheme
By SUE REID
The lack of consistency on the part of the city's planning commission with regard to approval for a color variance on a commercial building in the city was noted last week by one of its members.
Following unanimous approval of a site plan for facade renovations and a building color variance for upgrades to Midas Auto Service and Tires, Councilwoman and commission member Toni M. Richmond said there was a lack of consistency with the decision.
Midas had proposed modifying the facade of the building at 33655 Station St. and replacing design elements on all of the elevations. Company representative Ian Katz told the commission the current facade is showing wear and is unappealing, and the change would be consistent with Midas' imaging.
The variance required as part of the proposal had to do with the fact city code states that building colors in commercial districts be earth tone in nature, and what Midas asked for was not.
The business would replace everything with bright red and yellow, which is the standard Midas colors. It had been the commission's understanding the front elevation was going to stay exactly as is, which was a good rationale for approving the color variance, city Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said. The existing color pattern on the east-side elevation of the building is not earth tone either but is legally nonconforming. The elevation was grandfathered and it would be a minor expansion, he said.
"It sort of caught us off guard, but I still believe it was the right thing to do," commission member William M. Mazur said of approving the color variance. "It is slightly redder than we would like."
The city has insisted as part of past practices that buildings use the earth-tone colors, Ms. Richmond said. "They're no different from other businesses," she said of Midas. She cited recent proposals from the Arby's and Applebee's restaurants, where it was clear that they toned down their color choices to meet the city's requirements. Midas should be held to those same standards, she said. "If we are going to hold other buildings to that standard, then we need to be consistent."
Mr. Frankland agreed that it's better to be consistent.
"If we are going to achieve aesthetic change to the city, you need to follow a plan," Mr. Frankland said. It is codified in the city ordinances and in the master plan, he said.
"The only way you can achieve quality change over time is to follow standards," Mr. Frankland said. "It's something I would not recommend we deviate from on a regular basis."
"But it's an enhancement to what is there now," Mr. Mazur said. "We have an existing building trying to improve their property in this economy."
Mr. Frankland said the improvements are good to a degree, because they upgrade the building, "but it weakens the argument for the color variance."
Mr. Mazur said Applebee's and Arby's were "open to the suggestions of the city and in a much more prominent location within the city. Midas caught us off guard that they were doing the whole building. We thought it would be only the south side."
"It's an improvement to the appearance of the building," commission member George K. Hrabak said.
Ms. Richmond said, "I reluctantly voted for it, because it wasn't in a prominent location."
Mr. Mazur said, "We're better off with something that is an upgrade than what is currently unattractive."
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