Things are moving along for the Connor family’s new retail building on Garfield Parkway, with Rita’s Water Ice nearly ready to open its doors to a summer crowd of cool dessert seekers. That means the business needs a sign to advertise its new location, and that need meant a meeting for the Bethany Beach Commercial Architecture Design Review Committee (DRC) on Friday, May 9.
Committee members reviewed plans for the new sign, which will advertise Rita’s, as well as one or two other businesses that are expected to eventually move into the remaining space in the new structure.
Connors’ representative Dean Phillips said the sign had been selected specifically so that its construction would be inexpensive for the family, with brothers J.T. and Brad as the primary owners. That, he said, kept in mind that the town has been discussing changing signage ordinances to restrict the pole signs that are common in that section of town and which the Connors planned to erect until those changes are made.
Committee member and Planning Commission Chairman Lew Killmer said there were no technical issues with the sign as presented to the committee.
Vice-Mayor and DRC Chairman Tony McClenny verified with Phillips that the Connors were aware of the potential future change to the town’s signage ordinance, which he said they were. McClenny also asked that the Connors ensure that the as-yet-unknown other tenants have their spots on the sign filled with blanks, rather than leaving them open.
“They’re ready to go,” Phillips said of Rita’s. “So they need their sign.”
Committee members voted 4-0 on May 9 to approve the sign, pending a required review by consulting architect John Hendrickson, who was unavailable last Friday. He was expected to review, and likely to approve, the sign this week.
DRC gives go-ahead to halted Sunsations awnings
Committee members on May 9 also addressed plans for an awning revamp at Sunsations’ downtown Bethany store. Those plans had proceeded without a review by the committee or a permit, as required, and Building Inspector John Eckrich had issued a stop-work order on the project once the illegal work was discovered.
Coming before the commission last Friday, the project was noted as being virtually identical to the existing awning structure, with its quarter-cylinder awning bearing the Sunsations’ name and two side towers.
Contractors on the project had already done repairs to the existing awning frame, using a reinforced stainless-steel frame to replace one that had broken and stained the building. A new heavy-duty fabric replaces the old awning fabric, with the primary color being blue and the tower “domes” being red.
The awning will be lighted from inside, using an electronic ballast that won’t flicker or hum.
Committee members focused briefly May 9 on whether the project should even have come under the scrutiny of the committee, which has been in place for about a year.
While there had been firm support of the group overseeing new and replacement signage in the town, the question of just how much of a change or repair to existing signage should require their attention had not been fully settled.
But DRC members on May 9 agreed that any signage change should really be coming to their group for approval.
“They should come to us unless it is the same color and everything,” said Killmer, pointing out that business owners could come up with a wide variety of color and design options and move immediately to put them in place unless the town has some control over such things through the DRC.
“This is exactly why we included signage and colors in the guidelines,” agreed Eckrich.
The group voted 4-0 to approve the Sunsations’ awning on May 9, again pending Hendrickson’s review.
Next meeting set for May 23
Committee members last Friday also noted the development of new guidelines for submissions to the DRC, which are aimed at providing applicants with a detailed list of exactly what the committee requires and would like to see as part of a presentation for approval.
Finally, they set their next meeting for a little sooner than their regular schedule, planning to meet Friday, May 23, at 2 p.m., with two applications on their slate and both with a timetable for completion of as soon as possible.
The committee will hear on May 23 from business owner Carol Schultze, regarding a request for a new sign at Captain Jack’s Mini-Golf.
And they will also hear a request from Rita’s — this time for a sign for the business itself, to be placed on the building.