The Beacon Hill Architectural Commission unanimously approved a design review application for new signage for a bank branch opening on Cambridge Street during the commission’s monthly public hearing held virtually on Thursday, Nov. 20.
The application for Chase Bank, which is taking over the space at 250 Cambridge St., last occupied by a TD Bank branch, included the installation of a new, wood blade sign using existing hardware and a new banner sign, among other exterior changes.
The motion to approve the application as submitted put forth by Commissioner Maurice Finegold, which was unanimously approved by himself, along with Chair Mark Kiefer, Vice Chair Arian Allen, and Commissioner Ralph Jackson, came with a proviso that the final approval of the details for the exterior hardware be delegated to staff (Nicholas Armata) for final approval.
In another matter, the commission approved as submitted by a majority (with Vice Chair Allen casting the sole dissenting vote) a design review application for 101 Pinckney St., which proposed the removal of a portion of the rear garden wall to allow for the construction of a new garage door opening.
Chair Kiefer, who made the motion to approve the application as submitted, noted the city’s recent settlement agreement regarding an appeal of the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission’s determination on Dec. 21, 2023, to deny a design review application for a proposed garage entry door at the rear of the Eben Jordan Mansion at 46 Beacon St., which ultimately resulted in the issuance of a Certificate of Appropriateness to the applicant. (He added the city settled the case with the applicant over his “strenuous” objections.)
In deliberating the matter at hand, the commission’s determination must be “restricted to architectural and historical appropriateness,” said Chair Kiefer, and should not consider any external factors outside of its purview, such as traffic, noise, and light.
And while the BHAC’s own guidelines might say that no new openings should be made in a façade visible from a public way within the Beacon Hill Historic District, Chair Kiefer countered that the garden wall at the rear of 101 Pinckney St. doesn’t actually qualify as a ‘façade.’
“A façade is a face of a building,” said Chair Kiefer, adding that as opposed to the application for the new opening in the garden wall at 101 Pinckney St., the design review application for 46 Beacon St. proposed a garage door opening in an original building façade.
Chair Kiefer also noted the garden wall was neither original, nor was it historically significant, and that it’s also located on what could rightfully be considered a service or ‘back street,’ with several other garage doors located in the immediate vicinity. The commission has previously approved several other new garage door openings in the district, he said, and in 2015, the commission also approved a new opening in a garden wall for a pedestrian door.
In another matter, the commission unanimously approved a design review application for the revised design of a fifth-floor dormer at 9 Louisburg Square; this determination came with a proviso that the new window casings in the dormer be made of wood; that they be true divided-light windows; and that the windows not comprise low-e glass.
The same applicant had been before the commission at its Sept. 18 virtual public hearing with a previous iteration of the proposed dormer, which was then denied without prejudice as part of an earlier design review application. (All other aspects of that application were unanimously approved by the commission at that time.)
The commission approved as submitted by a majority a design review application for the installation of a new display box on one of the exterior brick piers at The Whitney Hotel at 170 Charles St., to display a menu for the hotel’s Peregrine restaurant.
Agnes Hayes, general manager of the hotel, noted that Peregrine currently has no blade sign and only window signage.
Chair Kiefer noted the BHAC guidelines had been updated some time ago to allow one display box per business within the Beacon Hill Historic District.
The motion to approve the application, put forward by Commissioner Finegold, came with a proviso noting the preference of some commissioners to see the display box mounted to the side of a brick pier, instead of facing the street. The placement of the box would ultimately be left to the discretion of the applicant, however.
Commissioner Allen cast the sole dissenting vote on the motion to approve this application.
On a design review application for the installation of new HVAC equipment at the ground level at the rear of 94 Charles St., the commission unanimously approved the proposed work, with a proviso that the dimensions and final design of an enclosure for the unit be delegated to staff for final approval.
In another matter, the commission voted unanimously to approve as submitted an application for the addition of a condenser to a sixth-floor balcony at 145 Pinckney St.; this determination came with a proviso that a proposed enclosure for the unit not be included in the final project design.
On a design review application for the restoration of the front stoop handrail at 24 Brimmer St., the commission unanimously approved the proposed work as submitted, with a proviso that the new railing extension continue onto the entryway, and that the railing be “replicated identically on both sides.”
The commission voted unanimously to approve as submitted a design review application for the installation of a new, redesigned gate at the rear of 160 Mount Vernon St.
The commission also unanimously denied without prejudice a design review application for the proposed redesign of the rear dormer at 52 Chestnut St., which included the replacement of several non-historic, inoperative casement windows, to allow the applicant sufficient time to explore other options.
Meanwhile, a violation review for the ratification of an unapparoved intercom system at 28-32 Derne St. was removed from the agenda by staff.