Plain City Council recently upheld a decision from the village’s Design Review Board to reject the proposed deck, modeled from the photo above, at 150 W. Main Street. Council members told property owner Tim Dawson that they felt the design does not fit within the historic district. He was encouraged to explore other design options for a second-floor balcony. (Photo submitted)
Tensions flared between a local property owner and a council member, as Plain City Council upheld two denials by the village’s Design Review Board.
Tim Dawson, who owns several properties in the Uptown district, appealed recent DRB decisions regarding his plans to add a balcony and patio to separate buildings.
He argued that rulings against him may be slanted because he believes one council member, Frank Reed, has a personal vendetta against him.
“I’m not going to have a fair and impartial jury,” Dawson said.
He noted that former and current council members – Darren Lee and Michael Terry, respectively – have critiqued Reed’s “personal attacks” toward Dawson during open meetings.
Reed insisted that his decisions are driven by his perspective on historic preservation, not his feelings toward Dawson.
“Rest assured, I do not have a personal agenda against you,” Reed said to Dawson. “Your entrepreneurial spirit, I admire.”
However, he made apparent his agreement with the DRB denials.
“It would be best for the historic district if you could color within the lines,” Reed said to Dawson.
On April 28, DRB denied Dawson’s application to add a front deck to the building façade of 150 W. Main Street, including a balcony for second floor apartments.
Zoning Inspector Taylor Brill said Tuesday that the first floor of the building will be zoned for business uses, below the future residences upstairs.
The addition would extend approximately 5 feet 8 inches from the current façade, with black posts from the ground floor to the second story. The balcony itself would be surrounded with a metal railing and topped with a dark, corrugated metal roof that matches that of The Grainery.
During their initial review, DRB members said they felt the structure was inappropriate for the existing building.
Member Todd Boyer said he felt the scale and mass of the of the structure would too significantly alter the building.
Several residents spoke during the public hearing in agreement with members of DRB.
Ina Medici said she appreciates Dawson’s efforts to “revamp” the area, but feels his design “goes against the historic nature of the downtown area.”
She said the proposed deck would cover the “greatest portion” of the building, would not retain or preserve the historic character, uses contemporary materials, is not a historic color and is an inappropriate size.
Dawson argued that DRB did not have sufficient reasoning to deny his application, as the addition would “not remove an historic brick.”
During the public hearing, he said he feels the “only real reason” his application was denied was that DRB members “didn’t like it.”
“It’s very much a matter of opinion and nothing more than that,” Dawson, who sits on DRB, said of the process.
Despite this, council members echoed sentiments expressed by DRB members.
Council member Shannon Pine said she “highly respect(s)” the opinion of Boyer, who also sits on Columbus’ Italian Village Commission. She said she agrees that the scale and mass of the addition is inappropriate.
She said she felt the denial should be upheld, though she believes a balcony would be an asset to the building if a different design and materials are considered.
“I just didn’t see it fitting in the Uptown with what we have now,” Pine said.
Fellow council members agreed and voted 4-0 to affirm denial of the application. Council member John Rucker abstained, as he sits on DRB, and Terry was absent.
Council rendered the same vote to uphold a denial for Dawson to install railings along the front of Pioneer Pizza, 132 N. Chillicothe Street.
Dawson proposed using the same material approved for The Grainery, powder coated spindles, to fence in a patio area on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.
During the public hearing Monday, resident Eric Medici said DRB rendered the only decision they could, as Dawson presented “no drawings, no measurements and no data.”
He said DRB members offered Dawson the opportunity to table the matter until he could provide more information, but he declined.
Pine asked Dawson if the data given to council Monday was presented at the April DRB meeting.
He said it was not. He affirmed that he was asked if he wanted to table the discussion, but felt the dimensions DRB requested were “irrelevant” to the design.
Dawson said he felt as though the denial was based solely on the presence of a telephone pole in the area that would require him to acquire a right-of-way license to install the patio.
Brill explained that DRB cited the telephone pole as one reason for their denial, along with a lack of information.
Pine said she feels the patio and proposed materials are appropriate but DRB “did not have the information they believed they needed” to approve his application.
She added that, even if the proposed material was already approved for use at The Grainery, “each site needs to be considered separately.”
Council members encouraged him to submit a new application to DRB, including appropriate measurements and architectural drawings.