Board of Architectural Review Meeting   4/21/2026

Do I need a vote to pull that off, or can I just do it right to discuss?

You pulled it, and then I would just make clear that with the adoption of the consent agenda, then the recommendations, the recommended approval motions in each of the staff reports would then become part of the record, so that we're clear on that.

Any comments or questions on that consent agenda?

Do you need a motion?

I would like a motion.

Move to approve the consent agenda.

All right.

Should I modify my motion just to say that it consists of our agenda items B1 and 3?

Or I can just go straight to the couple questions I wanted to talk about.

Oh, first off, make sure Hana and Annie are online.

Okay, great.

I don't know how the cat will play into this, but I think the cat may have passed, right?

Yes, but unfortunately, he's gone on to cat heaven.

Any questions for me?

Okay.

Do we have any questions from the public?

Sorry.

Ana and Annie, you can unmute yourselves and go ahead and join us.

Can you all hear us?

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Excellent.

Did you want to give any sort of overview?

So I will let Anna take that if that works for you.

This is Ana Bechtenstein, the landscape architect.

It's obviously a really tight site.

And a built-in grill, and then a bluestone pad and raised planters that we sent had us to receive a water feature that the owner will be providing themselves.

That's not it, but I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

The summary that we received said that the front yard would be enclosed by a three-foot wrought iron fence.

Yes.

So the front, let me just make sure I write it correctly.

I'm having difficulty hearing you.

It may be just me.

Is this better?

A little bit.

If you'll go to L2.00 in your packet, there you go.

Rotter and gate.

So the transition point is just before the bay window of the addition to the cell.

And what is the rest of the hatched black line that joins the feature that's pointed out as a wrought iron gate on L1.0?

I believe the wrought iron gate returns on the house on the north corner, front north corner.

I guess maybe a question to ask is there's a dashed line on the plan.

In the front yard.

I believe that's the setback.

just for privacy.

Sorry, yeah, the site plan with materials.

There we go.

Do you see on the northwest corner of the front porch there's a note that says Blue Stone Steppers and there is a gate, it's a little bit hard to read admittedly because it's on top of the steppers but the raw iron gate is right there.

The West Side.

And so we have to custom make those two panels to match in order for it to work on that path.

And pivots from a?

Yeah, so it meets, there's two posts in the ground.

Thank you.

I guess my question was essentially, what's the purpose of removing the dogwood?

That was that we could not get enough seating space for the family in that front yard without moving the tree, which meant taking out the dogwood and replacing it with a similar tree.

Could you put the photo up that we saw in the pre-meeting showing that dogwood?

Is there a plan that shows the existing conditions?

It's not in the planting version.

There's a demo plan.

Yeah, if you go to 0.02, that is the demo plan and the trees on that.

But it doesn't say demo, right?

Seven inch caliber dogwood for removal.

Everything that's being demoed is red.

I mean, look, it's six inches off that retaining wall, if that.

It's more the north-south orientation than the east-west.

Yeah, go ahead.

And what material is the decking you're proposing for the front yard?

And actually, if you all go to our submission packet, existing conditions photos, the first page center top photo has that dogwood in it.

Just a little bit further off the property line.

It just seems like it's not that much different from location-wise of where the proposed dogwoods go in.

Or the proposed Redwood.

It sounded like you're putting it straight on grade to be adjacent to the Bluestone walkway.

And then it's about seven inches off grade as you get to the west side, the second street side.

OK.

The grading you need to do for the deck?

I don't think so, but let me confirm that.

So we're not going to try and get too hung up on.

The Dogwood can't be any further to the south on this property.

So I think I don't have a problem with removing the dogwood, personally.

So if you have any interest in joining our happy band, you'd be welcome.

Are you going to give me this dogwood?

It's not a negotiation.

And believe it or not, that three feet really made a difference in the occupiable space.

Gotcha.

OK.

Having considered the standards set forth within the city code, the ADC district design guidelines, I move to find that the proposed rear door overhangs and site modifications at 410 Second Street Northeast satisfies the BAR's criteria and are compatible with this property and other properties in the ADC district, and that the BAR approves this application as submitted.

Second.

Ms. Lewis?

Aye.

If you're not interested to know others in the landscape architect fields, please spread the word.

Thank you all.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

So I'll turn it over to staff.

I said, no, you don't.

Cut it down.

The granite plinth next to the one that has the 25th anniversary plaque.

And where are those?

What's that?

They will stay.

And we'll see what happens.

that Mr. Rader appealed the matter of it being within the mile or something of student grounds and went to the Board of Zoning Appeals and it lost two to two and they needed a three vote to overturn it and the third

It's officially outside the zone.

It's inside the zone.

It's inside the half mile.

It's allowed to be student housing.

Right.

The appeal was questioned.

The issue for the mark was if it was outside of that, they would have to pay substantially more into the affordable and provide for it on site.

That's why developers are gunning for the student housing designation.

Yeah, I've got a question.

And I'm like, hmm, they talked to Jeff about that.

It's supposed to be sitting there by the grace of God and wait.

I just wanted to see it, Chris, talk to you about it.

If it's not just sitting on the mall, I'll be here.

I couldn't tell if there was a plank that was anchored on the bottom, and they had already built up beyond it.

I can't get anyone to acknowledge who put that up, but I'm wondering if there's others elsewhere on the mall.

Well, aren't the masons in that building?

And I'll check on that.

And I guess they're obviously allowed to do that.

They have a, they had.

It's more substantial now than it was before when it was just kind of a steel plate that was kind of cut

I don't know, two years ago or so.

Are you talking about the Commonwealth Plaza?

Yeah, yeah.

And how about the, just since we're talking about outdoor spaces, how about the furniture, for lack of a better word, outside Rapture on Third?

That's all part of that.

So I had heard actually that they were in the process of restoring that bench.

They were supposed to be re-varnishing it, yes.

I thought it was a condition of our approval of the art panels.

and also...

Like maybe there's some thirsty dogs on the downtown mall.

I think we were girding for a longer fight.

However... Let's just take yes as an answer.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Those, the issues that happened with a lot of, a lot of, what's the right word to use?

The original ones.

And I will insist that you all are part of it.

But let's get some tables that are shared and not private space on the downtown mall.

Yeah.

There are tables and chairs at the pavilion, but maybe there was something going on that night.

It's just not as nice.

It's true, yeah, and I do get asked that, yes.

The city created a position as a mall manager?

I'm not sure what is it, what's the exact?

Brenda Kelly, our downtown strategy manager, and she's within economic development.

Economic development.

Yes.

So we do have some say.

Move to adjourn.

No opposed.

But my god.