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2018-12-05 DRC Final Minutes CITY IS OF ORANGE DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES — FINAL December 5, 2018 Committee Members Present: Tirn McConnack - Chair Anne McDermott—Vice Chair Mary Anne Skorpanich Carol Fox Robert Imboden Staff in Attendance: Bill Crouch, Community Development Director Marissa Moshier, Historic Preservation Planner Robert Garcia, Senior Planner Chad Ortlieb, Senior Planner Ashley Brodkin, Associate Planner. Simonne Fannin, Recording Secretary Administrative Session — 5:05 Chair McCormack opened the Administrative Session at 5:05 p.m. and inquired about Policy/Procedural Information. • Staff will notify the Committee with a date for Council Chambers technology training within the next week. • At this time, staff is unsure as to whether the December 19 meeting will occur. • Chad Ortlieb provided an update on the status of the Metrolink parking structure which should be completed in February. o The Committee asked if the brick area around the sign had been changed. Mr. Ortlieb stated the contractor is fixing it at their cost. o The Committee stated they noticed a sample of the grout between the precast panels. Since the beginning, the Committee has been concerned about large joints. Mr. Ortlieb stated the majority of the construction is precast panels; when it came to the towers, the brick is hand applied. It is anticipated that the joints between the panels will fade over time, tone down, and blend in. o The Committec asked about the paseo that connects to the rail station. Mr. Ortlieb responded staff is reviewing a plan for the parking lot at the corner of Lemon and Chapman. He believes, at this time, the plan is only for the lot portion and the paseo improvements will come in later. Ms. Moshier stated the City did a paseo study that anticipated a potential private development on the block between Atchison and Cypress. A public alley would be used between Cypress and Leinon as a potential paseo to add on to the parking structure after it is completed. o The Chair askcd about the size of tree wells for street trees around the parking structure. Mr. Ortlieb stated the City Council approved something smaller than what the DRC ultimately wanted. There are various utility lines running under the sidewalk so the tree wells have been pushed back further onto the property rather than being in the sidewalk area. • Ms. Moshier introduced Department's new Associate Planner, Ashley Brodkin. Ms. Brodkin provided the history of her background. • Committee Members provided edits to the November 7, 2018 minutes. City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 2 of 9 Committee Member Skorpanich made a motion to close the Administrative Session of the Design Review Committee meeting. SECOND: McDermott AYES: McCormack, Imboden, Skorpanich, McDermott, and Fox NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None MOTION CARRIED. Administrative Session adjourned at 5:24 p.m. City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 3 of 9 Regular Session —5:35 p.m. ROLL CALL: Committee Members McCormack, Imboden, Skorpanich, MeDermott, and Fox were present. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Opportuniry for Members of the public to address the Design Review Committee on matters not listed on the Agenda. There were no speakers. CONSENT ITEMS: (1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: NOVEMBER 7, 2018. Committee Member Skorpanich made a motion to approve the November 7, 2018 minutes as emended in the Administrative Session. SECOND: Imboden AYES: McCormack, Skorpanich, McDermott, Fox, and Imboden NOES: None ABSENT : None ABSTAIN: None MOTION CARRIED. City of Orangc— Design Review Committce Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 4 of 9 AGENDA ITEMS: Continued Items: None New Agenda Items (2) DRC NO. 4899-17 — MS INTERNATIONAL • A proposal to demolish four existing industrial buildings and a storage shed and develop a new 81,000 SF industrial building. • 2105 N. Batavia Street • Staff Contact: Robert Garcia, (714) 744-7231, r a�a(a�Cityoforange•org • DRC Action: Recommendation to Planning Commission Robert Garcia, Senior Planner provided an overview of the project consistent with the staff report. He stated the square footage on the agenda should be corrected to 86,069 SF. Michael Vock, architect far MS International added they created a warehouse building that will also include the corporate headquarters offices. Bharesh Gandhi, MS International, provided a history of the company. Chair McCormack opened the ineeting for public comment; there were no speakers so he closed the public coininent portion of the meeting and brought it back to the Committee. Committee Member questions: • Committee Members asked if the height of the corner element is allowable. Mr. Garcia stated it is allowed because it is an architectural eleinent and is less than 25% the square footage of thc total building. • The Committee asked about the tree sizes on sheet L3. Mr. Vock statcd those are shown as the installed hcight; they will mature and grow. • The Coinmittee asked about the relationship to the building that is on the other side of the tracks. Mr. Vock responded that the current building on Batavia is predoininantly a warehouse, but it contains corporate offices and some outside sales. The showroom and storage will remain in the older building. The corporate headquarters offices and additional storage will move to the new building. They have already worked with the railroad and created a railroad crossing connecting both properties; all traffic will remain on site. • The Committee asked if there was an intention to keep a separate identity between the two buildings. Mr. Vock stated they wanted a stronger element with a corporate look on the new building. • The Coinmittee asked if the railroad gates will stay closed at all tiines. Mr. Vock responded the gates are there for ramp security and will be closed at night. • The Coinmittee stated that normally with an application like this they receive cut sheets with light fixtures, light poles, fences, trash enclosures etc. Mr. Vock stated they do not have cut sheets. The trash enclosure is drawn to detail on sheet SB 1. • Committee agreed the corner elements are beautiful and asked if there are any columns that support the roof. Mr. Vock stated the building is a concrete tilt up, and the front offices City of Orangc—Design Review Committcc Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 5 of 9 will have a different roof. The front will be a column based floor and structure;the columns will be inside the glazing. They are still in the design phase and haven't done the working drawings yet. � The Committee asked if the front glass is mullionless. Mr. Vock explained the location of the mullions in the glazing. • The Committee commented that the rendering only shows the corner element and does not show the extent of the west elevation; there is a whole section of the north side that is not shown on the rendering. • The Committee is concerned about the length of the building because it has a consistent pattern throu�hout the entire length of the fa�ade, especially on Che south side and asked if the applicant considered some breaks to make it appear less dominant. Mr. Vock explained there is a panelized paint scheme, but the purpose of this building is for warehouse use. Mr. Vock stated they did not render the south elevation; however it has landscape screening that complements the architecture and conforms to the drought tolerance requirements. He is amenable to include different colors or paint schemes or even a different pattern in the cast panel. The Committee stated that they do not like to solely rely on landscaping to make a building ���cll dcsi<�n�d. • The Committee asked about the finished surface of the corner element and how is it treated. Mr. Vock stated the first two panels are concrete tilt-up panels that wrap around from the south side then it transitions to metal Alucobond panels with mullions in some of the areas; the glass will be supported from the interior of the building. There is a horizontal element that is a canopy and accent piece. • The Corninittee asked about the depth of the canopy. Mr. Vock stated it is approximately 2 feet but varies because of the angle along the west side. • The Committee asked if there was any infornlation on fencing. Mr. Vock stated a portion will be a block wall and the remainder will be a wrought iron gate that will be open during business hours. • The Committee is concerned that the HVAC units could be large and visible on the roof. Mr. Vock stated they will screen the equipinent and will confornl to the City standards in the inost aesthetic way, but it has not bcen detailed yet. Only the offices will be air- conditioned and the units can place it behind the parapet. • The Committec asked about the water drainage from the roo£ Mr. Vock stated it is sheet flow on to a common drain to the street or the landscaping. • The Coininittee inquired about the access doors with gravel in front of them. Mr. Vock stated those are access doors use only by the Fire Department; the doors have no hardware on them. • The Committee asked if this project has a required tree count. Mr. Garcia stated no. The project originally had enough trees to meet the commercial code; however,the Community Services Departnlent recoinmended reducing the count to allow the trees to grow. One of the Committee Meinbers felt the planting areas are not large enough to accommodate larger trees. Larger trees would allow the required tree count to come down. Mr. Crouch stated staff can relay the comments to Community Services. Committee Member comments: • The Committee agreed it is a very attractive building and is very elegant for an industrial building. It is very contemporary and a huge upgrade for the neighborhood. • The Committee has questions as to how it relates to the context. City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Mecting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Pagc 6 of 9 • The corner, which is at an intersection of two streets, is very blank and has no features compared to everything else. Some Committee members would like to see a different way of addressing the corner on Grove and Batavia. Mr. Vock stated they had to place the tront of the building at the opposite corner due to parking and accessibility of the site. � A Committee member commented that the plantings have a lot of pink and magenta in the landscape which will clash with the red on the building and recommended making sure the landscaping coordinates with the colors that have been chosen on the building. • Some Committee members are concerned about the long expanse of the building on Grove Avenue. • The Alucobond and other materials need to be called out on the elevations. • The word "sign" should be removed from the color legend to avoid confusion. Mr. Garcia stated the sign would be approved administratively. • The Committee recommended that the trash enclosure be constructed of painted stacked bond block. • The Committee wants to ensure that the HVAC is not visible from the street and would like to see a line of sight drawing. • There seems to be a misunderstanding on the part of the applicant as to what the Committee's role is; the Committee's comments are not a criticism, they are expressing uncertainty about what has not been presented to them. Mr. Vock stated he is frustrated because he went beyond what the client wanted and they are trying to do the right thing in pushing the envelope on what llas been done in that neighborhood. • A Committee member stated projects go to the Committee for a discretionary review. The Com�nittee's questions do not doubt the design or its intent; it is siinply asking questions about eleinents that are not on the drawings. It is not the intention to have the project redesigned; it is to keep going with the design that they have proposed and bring the details back to the DRC so they know what they are approving. • Committee feels they can move the project ahead and create a list of things for the applicant to bring back to tlle DRC with dctails prior to obtaining building permits. • The Coin�nittec discussed the lack of windows in the officc and lunchroom area. • The Cominittec feels the simple long fa�adc could possibly improve with differences in paint colors and should be explored. • A Comnlittee member discussed creating interest by recessing the storefront window system in the opening to create a shadow. The applicant stated that causes issues with waterproofing. • Another exterior paint color could be added to create more interest. Mr. Vock agreed to explore adding more color. • The south side of the building has a fair amount of deciduous trees. • Although all of the lights are on 25 foot poles, the wattage is diffcrent and one is in conflict with a tree. There should be a consistent tree and lighting cadence on the north elevation. A Committee menlber recommended creating planting diamonds to equalize growing conditions for trees on the north side of the property. • The planting edge should be more architecturally and evenly spaced on the north side. • The Coinmittee recommended using a multi-trunk Rhaphiolepis or Crepe Myrtle tree to reduce monotony. • The Committee is concerned about the quantity ofwater from the roof eroding the landscape area; rocks could be added to slow the water down before it reaches the landscaping. City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 7 of 9 • The Committee is supportive of approving the project with the condition that the applicant would come back to the DRC for specific items prior to the issuance of permits. • The materials for the underside of the white canopy material need to be called out. Summary of discussion for items to return to the DRC: • Details for fencing and railings. • Will trash enclosure get painted or will it be a stacked bond or running bond. • Glazing treatment. � Details on lighting above the side of the building from an exterior perspective. • HVAC screening material and location. • Coordination of landscape plan versus site lighting, as well as the diamonds along the parking curve so that there is a solid integration. • Consideration be given into breaking up the fa�ade with paint or texture. • Consideration of incorporation of multi-trunk trees; perhaps the Crepe Myrtle. • Remove "sign" from the color legend. Committee Member Imboden infot-med the applicant that the Committee will approve the item this evening with conditions that specific items must return to the DRC for approval prior to the issuance of the building permit. This allows the applicant to move on to the next approval body. Should the applicant decide that he wants to change something, it should be included in the drawings that are brougl�t back to the DRC so they can approve the changes. Committee Member Imboden made a motion for a recomn7endation to the Pla�uling Commission for DRC No. 4899-17 finding the project consistcnt as dcscribed in the staff report and in compliance with the conditions and findings in the staff report. The following items shall be added as conditions: 1. Thc following elements shall return to the DRC for review prior to the issuance of building perinits: • Design intent for fencing and railings throughout the project � Additional infonuation on thc glazing system at the front of the building • Site and building extcrior lighting • Intention for HVAC screening at the rooftop • Stronger coordination of exterior lighting with landscape and the planting diamonds along the perimeter of the parking area • Additional details on the exterior metal paneling system to be used on the building • Details for the metal wrapping on the canopy • Inclusion of�nulti-trunk trees, possibly Crepe Myrtle, in the landscape plan 2. The trash enclosure shall be constructcd of a stackeded bond block. 3. The word "sign" shall be removed from the color legend on sheet A.1 4. The applicant shall reconsider treatment of the long north and south building fa�ades; the Committee recommends more break up rather than a continuous treatment along that fa�ade. The Committee also made the following recommendation: City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Mceting Minutes for Decembcr 5, 2018 Page 8 of 9 1. The applicant should consider the sustainability of the landscape in relation to the drainage from the building. Mr. Crouch stated that MS International is an important source of mudstone (soapstone) for historic properties and is a useful resource for restorations of kitchens under the newly amended Mills Act program. Committee Member Imboden wants the applicant to know that they are in support of the direction they are going to; they just need the details. SECOND: Skorpanich AYES: McCormack, Skorpanich, McDermott, Fox, and Imboden NOES: None ABSENT : None ABSTAIN: None MOTION CARRIED. City of Orange—Design Review Committee Final Meeting Minutes for December 5, 2018 Page 9 of 9 ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made to adjourn at 7:24 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. MOTION: Fox SECOND: Skorpanich AYES: MeCormack, Skorpanich, Imboden, McDennott, and Fox NOES: None ABSENT: None MOTION CARRIED. Meeting adjourned at 7:24 p.m.