The Beacon Hill Architectural Commission unanimously approved as submitted a revised design review application entailing a blade sign for a new candy store at 115 Charles St., during the commission’s monthly public hearing held virtually on Thursday, Aug. 20.
The double-sided wood sign, measuring 35-by-35 inches, would be emblazoned with the business name, ‘Sweets by Swedes,’ in rust-colored metal lettering (described as an “Aztec” shade), according to Emil Krastanov, owner of Sign Center Boston.
The proposed new sign would reflect the branding already used by the business’s first store located in Nantasket, said Krastanov,, and it will be hung using an existing bracket.
Chair Mark Kiefer put forth a motion to approve this design review application as submitted, which was unanimously supported by himself, Vice Chair Arian Allen, and Commissioner Sandra Steele.
In another matter, the commission unanimously approved a design review application for 107 Charles St., which proposes using “off-the-shelf,” brown insulating tape to help obscure six HVAC lines, along with an electric line and a drainage line, all located 18 inches above a wall at the rear of the property.
“The [tape] color is a reasonable solution for the challenge we have before us, which is to make these as innocuous as possible,” said Chair Kiefer, who put forth a motion to approve this application as submitted, which came with a proviso that a tape sample be submitted to staff (Nicholas Armata) prior to installation.
Chair Kiefer also noted the proposed tape would only be visible from a small portion of the rear façade, which is already cluttered with other utility lines, and that even then, it could only be seen from a small portion of a dead-end lane.
At last month’s hearing held virtually on July 16, the commission had voted unanimously on Chair Kiefer’s motion to deny without prejudice a design review application for 107 Charles St., which proposed the installation of covers over the lines at the rear of the property that would be visible from Cedar Lane Way.
Also, the commission unanimously approved as submitted a design review application for the placement of HVAC equipment on the flat of the roof at the rear of 109 Charles St.
Chair Kiefer, who put forth a motion to approve the application, said he had visited the site and confirmed that a mockup installed by the applicant wasn’t visible from a public way.
