June 5, 2009

Landmarks gives antenna a pass, paint a veto

By Elroy King
of The Chronicle

     Applicants batted .500 in public hearings before the City of The Dalles Historic Landmarks Commission when that panel met May 27.
     An application from Kay Jewelers to approve the yellow exterior paint that was applied to the front of the building last fall was denied. An application from Mid-Columbia Center for Living to install a wireless antenna and to construct an ADA lift to their facility at 409 Lincoln St. was approved.
     In denying the request to keep the yellow paint, the commission found the color used on the front of the store did not meet the historic color pallet for buildings in the downtown history district, associate planner Dawn Hert said.
     The applicant said the yellow is the Kay Jewelers corporate color.
     The commission ruling gives the applicant 30 days to come up with a softer yellow color of paint or a color that more closely fits into the historic district color pallet and 60 days to paint over the current color.
     Hert said she had received numerous complaints about the new paint job since it was done some time prior to October of last year, when she had the first correspondence with the applicant. Some of the complaints came from commission members. No one showed up at the hearing on the paint color application, she said.
     The application from the Center for Living seeks to install an antenna to network the Lincoln Street site to the primary facility at 419 E. Seventh St. and to construct the ADA lift to make the historic building handicap accessible.
     The historic name of the Lincoln Street property is the Historic St. Peter’s Rectory and it was occupied by Tenneson Engineering until last year.
     The application for the antenna will now move on to the city planning commission as a conditional use permit, Hert said. The applicant will also have to submit plans for a building permit for the lift.
     One person attending the hearing was concerned about the lift, but testimony said it would only be visible from the side yard at St. Peters Landmark.      Representatives from CFL and the contractor that will be doing the work were also at the meeting.